True crime BBC drama Sixth Commandment tells story of man who grew up in Harborough jailed for murder and fraud

A TV drama based on the story of a man who grew up in Harborough, jailed for murder and defrauding elderly people he befriended, has been brought to the small screen.

The Sixth Commandment, a four-part true crime drama on BBC One and iPlayer, tells the story of Ben Field, a former student at Bishop Stopford School in Kettering.

Made in full co-operation with members of the families of Field’s victims the programme explores how Field befriended pensioners Peter Farquhar and Ann Moore-Martin with devastating consequences.

Field, who grew up in Harborough, was convicted of murdering Peter Farquhar to inherit his estate and jailed for a minimum of 36 years in 2019.

The teenage Scrabble champion featured in our sister paper the Northants Telegraph in 2007. After school, Field completed an English degree at university where he met former Stowe School teacher and author Peter Farquhar.

Field admitted after he had befriended and later became engaged to Peter Farquhar, 69, he gave him drugs to confuse him, and then inherited his home in Maids Moreton, Buckinghamshire when he died in October 2015. Field had denied murder but a jury found him guilty after a trial at Oxford Crown Court.

The TV adaptation sees Timothy Spall as Peter Farquhar with Éanna Hardwicke as Field. It also focuses on suspicions around Field’s relationship with Ann Moore-Martin played by Anne Reid.

Programme makers say that The Sixth Commandment explores the way in which both Peter and Ann were manipulated by Field, capturing the extreme gaslighting, the gripping police investigation and the high-profile trial, while highlighting the devastating effect of isolation and loneliness exploited by Field. It also celebrates both Peter and Ann’s lives as ‘cherished mentors, much loved relatives and adored friends’.

Field, now 32, could be released in 2055 by which time he will be 64-years-old.

Episode one and two have been shown on BBC One with episodes three and four airing on Monday and Tuesday, (July 24 and 25).

The whole series of all four episodes is available on watch on iPlayer.