Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Sixth Commandment’ On BritBox, About The Murder Of A Religious Man By A Man Who Conned His Way Into Being His Fiancé

The Sixth Commandment is based on a true story; Ben Field was convicted of slowly poisoning Peter Farquhar, then killing him in 2015. Essentially, he declared his love for Farquhar as a ploy in order to kill him and inherit his money and home. He was then accused of doing the same with Farquhar’s neighbor, Ann Moore-Martin, but was acquitted.

THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: After a disclaimer saying that “This is a true story,” created through research and interviews, there’s an “In Memory Of” graphic for Peter Farquhar and Ann Moore-Martin, both of whom died in Maids Moreton, Buckinghamshire, 2 years apart. The location of their deaths are isolated for emphasis.

The Gist: Peter Farquhar (Timothy Spall) is retiring from the parochial school where he worked for years as an English professor, and then as the head of the department. He’s well respected, and his brother Ian (Adrian Rawlins) and sister-in-law Sue (Amanda Root) think he parents would have been proud of what he accomplished.

But Peter leads a pretty solitary life. He’s open about being gay, but knows as a devout Anglican that acting on his desires — we see him looking at websites that have male models in hiking gear — would be frowned upon by the church. He says as much to the vicar (Jon Bard) that he goes to for therapy. The vicar would prefer that he be happy in a relationship, even if it was a man.

Peter is a guest lecturer at the local university, and while giving his first lecture, one of the students, Ben Field (Éanna Hardwicke) comes in late. Paul is taken with him, and not just because Ben seems to be the only person who’s interested in the lecture.

Back in Maids Moreton, Peter runs into Ben coming out of a local church; Ben likes to look at churches. The two have some tea back at Peter’s house and strike up a friendship. Ben immediately asks if Peter has a “partner,” then tells him that he has a girlfriend.

Still, the two start spending a lot of time together. Eventually, Ben tells Peter that he’s broken up with his girlfriend because he has feelings — for Peter.

The two eventually get betrothed and they have Peter’s vicar bless their union. On their first night together Peter doesn’t want any sex; he just wants to be held and hold someone else. That’s how deep his loneliness has been over the years.

Soon after Ben moves in, Peter is pretty happy that his house is full — Martyn Smith (Conor MacNeill), the friend of Ben’s that’s been renting a room in Peter’s house, is still around. Peter tells Ian and Sue that he’s made Ben the primary beneficiary in his will. But Peter soon starts being disoriented, during lectures and even at home. Ben asks Ian and Sue if Peter has ever had a drinking problem. Things get so bad that Ben commits Peter to a rehab home. Not long after, Peter inexplicably feels better and goes home. But then things take a turn for the worse.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The Sixth Commandment could be compared to a lot of true crime scripted series, but the one that comes to mind immediately is The Act.

Our Take: What The Sixth Commandment, written by Sarah Phelps and directed by Saul Dibb, wants to convey is how someone like Farquhar could be victimized by someone like Ben. Spall very effectively portrays the painfully lonely Peter Farquhar, who led a life of service to both his church and the school where he taught. He’s essentially sacrificed his happiness for the church, unable to love and be loved because it’s frowned upon. That existential aloneness is palpable in Spall’s performance, as is the joy he feels when Ben expresses his feelings.

Can you see Ben’s ulterior motives in the distance as he expresses his love for Peter? Sure. But that doesn’t take away from either the performances of Spall or Hardwicke as Ben, or the fact that Phelps is approaching this story slowly and with deliberation. The slow build of Ben’s plan works here, because his plan was to make it seem like Peter had a drinking problem. He wasn’t looking to kill Peter with the poison he was feeding him, just to torture him, then kill him when he couldn’t defend himself. It’s pure evil, and the deliberateness of the storytelling brings this out.

Sex and Skin: None in the first episode.

Parting Shot: A housekeeper enters Peter’s home and finds him sitting on the couch, almost lifeless.

Sleeper Star: We see Anne Reid briefly as Ann Moore-Martin in episode 1, but we know that Ben will turn his attention to her her after Peter’s death, and before he’s arrested for both of their murders.

Most Pilot-y Line: Martyn tells Ben about Peter’s house, “He hasn’t done anything to it since the fucking seventies!” As if a college kid would really care about the house’s decor.

Our Call: STREAM IT. The Sixth Commandment lays out the true story of the Ben Field case in a deliberate but effective manner, punctuated by some fine lead performances.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.