‘The Sixth Commandment’ On BritBox Is The Rare True Crime Drama More Interested In Its Victims Than The Culprit

Thou shalt not kill. The true crime adaptation appears to have gone out of its way lately to glorify and glamorize those who disobey this sixth commandment while simultaneously paying their victims dust. Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, for example, essentially gave Ted Bundy a glow-up by casting eight-pack-flaunting heartthrob Zac Efron. And Ryan Murphy not only tried to humanize Jeffrey Dahmer in Dahmer, but tastelessly recreated his brutal killings in graphic detail, too. That’s not an accusation, however, which can be leveled at BritBox’s latest import.

Written by Sarah Phelps, best-known for her subtle small screen reinventions of numerous Agatha Christie classics, The Sixth Commandment (now streaming on BritBox) is far more interested in honoring those who fell under their deceptively charming tormentor’s spell than justifying or excusing his actions. It’s a refreshingly sensitive approach which leaves you with an overwhelming amount of sadness and compassion, yet without feeling like you need to take a shower, too.

The four-part series grounds its drama in the twisted, and scarcely believable, crimes of Ben Field (Éanna Hardwicke) which took place in the otherwise sleepy British village of Maids Moreton in the mid-2010s. On the surface, a softly spoken, unfailingly polite young man, the aspiring priest was, in fact, a cold-hearted, gaslighting sociopath who conned his way into the hearts, and the finances, of the elderly and the vulnerable before resorting to murder.

Hardwicke, who you may remember as Paul Mescal’s best friend Rob in Normal People, is astonishingly good as the man who appeared to inflict misery for fun. Watch the custody scene where he calmly asks for a book to pass the time, and the real-life footage in Channel 4’s documentary about the case (Catching a Killer: Diary from the Grave), and it’s impossible to tell the pair apart. Thankfully, Phelps never presents him as a hero. Field can be amiable company, but he’s also an awkward, deeply narcissistic individual without any hint of charisma or self-awareness. Be prepared to cringe at the amount of time he spends taking shirtless selfies and recording terrible early Eminem-esque raps, too.

The only individuals celebrated in The Sixth Commandment are those who got caught up in Field’s web. His first target, Peter Farquhar, is a particularly heartbreaking figure. Played with genuine affection by Mike Leigh regular Timothy Spall, the retired schoolmaster spent the entirety of his adult life alone tormented by the contradictions between his devout faith and sexuality. He can scarcely believe it, therefore, when a student at least 40 years his junior, expresses an interest in him, firstly on a theological level and then something far more personal.

“You cannot imagine my life before [meeting Field] and I need you to imagine it,” Peter explains to brother Ian, (Adrian Rawlins) understandably perturbed by this sudden, significant age-gap romance. “I need you to imagine my absolute despair… Your life is full, but me, I have to be untouched, unloved and live only a fraction of my life.” This desperate need for companionship – in another hugely affecting scene, he reassures Field that sex holds no interest (“I want to hold and be held”) – only makes what happens next all the more horrifying. 

Indeed, the beloved teacher’s suffering is further compounded when Field’s seemingly caring declaration – “I’m going to be waiting on you hand and foot” – takes the darkest of turns. He starts poisoning Peter’s food and drink with hallucinogens to make him fear he’s losing his mind, starts spreading rumors the lifelong teetotaler has now developed a concerning drinking habit and ultimately alienates him from everything he holds dear. By the time Peter realizes what’s happening, it’s tragically too late. 

Rightfully, The Sixth Commandment gives just as much screentime to second victim Ann Moore-Martin, an 83-year-old retiree who, in another sign of Field’s lack of criminal nous, lived just three doors down from the first. Sympathetically portrayed by British national treasure Anne Reid, Ann and Peter had much in common. She, too, had never been partnered, worked in the educational sector and was also deeply religious, a trait which Field preyed upon in particularly heinous ways: see the scheming mirror messages about changing her will he purported to be from God. 

Phelps wanted The Sixth Commandment to be a story of love, particularly of the familial kind, which explains why the victims’ closest relatives are prominent throughout. Ann’s dedicated niece Ann-Marie (Annabel Scholey) is particularly compelling as a woman who senses Field’s nefarious intentions but finds herself utterly powerless to intervene. Ian and his equally good-natured wife Sue (Amanda Root) also help confirm that, despite being eternal singletons, the victims were still very much loved. 

Perhaps inevitably, the final two episodes drift into more conventional crime investigation territory as a team guided by Anna Crilly’s kindhearted detective Natalie Golding tries to put the pieces of the disturbing puzzle together. Nevertheless, often copied verbatim from the various diaries, workbooks and police transcripts Phelps was given access to, the script largely avoids the usual cliches. There’s no courtroom melodrama here, with the only outburst revealed to be a figment of a grieving relative’s imagination. 

The Sixth Commandment doesn’t answer all the questions such a baffling ripped-from-the-headline case throws up. It never quite clarifies the involvement of Field’s susceptible magician friend Martyn (Conor MacNeill). Was he heavily manipulated by a man he thought had saved him from loneliness, too, or was he incredibly lucky to escape jail time for seeming to willfully turn the other cheek? And it’s a shame we don’t get to see more of intended third victim Elizabeth Zettl (Sheila Hancock), the sprightly 101-year-old who became the oldest murder trial witness in British history. 

However, it’s clear the series, which had the full co-operation of the victims’ families, has been created with immense respect. Peter and Ann’s lives aren’t defined here solely by their deaths. And unlike Dahmer and Bundy’s recent sagas, no-one’s going to start worshipping its monster. The Sixth Commandment is as true as the true crime drama gets. 

Jon O’Brien (@jonobrien81) is a freelance entertainment and sports writer from the North West of England. His work has appeared in the likes of Vulture, Esquire, Billboard, Paste, i-D and The Guardian.