BBC COMMISSION TRUE CRIME DRAMA 'THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT'

BBC One has commissioned brand new true crime drama The Sixth Commandment (w/t), which explores the death of Peter Farquhar in the village of Maids Moreton, Buckinghamshire, and the extraordinary events that unfolded over the following three years.

It tells the story of how the meeting of an inspirational teacher, Peter Farquhar, and a charismatic young student, Ben Field, who bonded over their love of books and involvement with the Church of England, set the stage for one of the most complex and confounding criminal cases in recent memory.

It also focuses on how suspicions around Ben’s relationship with Peter’s deeply religious neighbour Ann Moore-Martin, also targeted by Field, unlocked a series of stunning revelations, culminating in a headline-grabbing trial.

Sarah Phelps, writer and Executive Producer, says: “This is such a shocking and brutal case; how a murderer hid his manipulation and malevolence in plain sight of a small community, how he insinuated his way into the lives of his victims. It’s a heartbreaking story of such desperate longing and loneliness but even within the darkness, there is the most astonishing blazing love and courage. I’m honoured to have been asked to write this drama and to be trusted with the memories and experiences of Peter and Ann’s families.”

Piers Wenger, Controller of BBC Drama, says: “The death of Peter Farquhar and the grooming of Ann Moore-Martin at the hands of Ben Field shocked the small church-going community in which these crimes took place. Who better than Sarah Phelps, with her vivid imagination and forensic understanding of the criminal mind, to tell this tragic story and to honour the memory of its victims.”

More details will be announced in due course.