The Sixth Commandment: Maids Moreton TV writer left out most 'distressing details'

The writer of a true crime BBC TV drama said she had to leave out some of the most "distressing details" for the sake of the victim's relatives.

The Sixth Commandment tells the story of an author murdered by a churchwarden in Maids Moreton, Buckinghamshire.

Actor Timothy Spall plays Peter Farquhar, who was manipulated and killed by Benjamin Field in 2015.

Executive producer and writer Sarah Phelps said: "There are details that really needed to be left out."

Field was sentenced to life in prison in 2019 for the murder of Mr Farquhar, 69, who was his lecturer at the University of Buckingham.

The "well-practiced and able liar" was also accused of plotting to kill Mr Farquhar's neighbour Ann Moore-Martin, 83, but was found not guilty.

Field admitted duping both Mr Farquhar and Miss Moore-Martin into fake relationships with him as part of a plot to get them to change their wills, but denied any involvement in their deaths.

Miss Moore-Martin died of natural causes.

Ms Phelps said she "didn't want Ben Field to be the main character" and instead focussed on telling "Peter and Anne's story - I wanted to make it clear that their lives really mattered before Ben Field came along".

She told the BBC: "What can happen sometimes in true crime is you spend a lot of time with the killer and you kind of get glamourised by them, you sort of see the world through their eyes."

She added it was "important that we understand how these really intelligent people were deceived".

Mr Spall said he was honoured to be playing "the remarkable Peter Farquhar", who he described as an "extremely charismatic and inspiring" teacher.

He told the BBC he watched news footage and read Mr Farquhar's diaries to help him embody the role - describing him as a man with "lots of friends" but with an underlying "loneliness and desire for affection".

"It's a massive responsibility to play another human soul - I wanted to give him the best shot I could," he said.

The drama has been made with the blessing of both families, who Ms Phelps said were at "the forefront of my mind" as she wrote the script.

"It's very difficult for them to revisit these events," she said. "What I didn't want to do was to cause them even more distress.

"I had to make some choices about what I was going to leave out, because as I'm sure you can imagine, some of the details are really, really distressing."

The four-part drama started on BBC One at 21:00 BST on 17 July and is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

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