The Sixth Commandment: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

The Sixth Commandment tells the story of how the meeting of an inspirational teacher, Peter Farquhar, and a charismatic student, Ben Field, set the stage for one of the most complex and confounding criminal cases in recent memory. It also focuses on how suspicions around Field's relationship with Ann Moore-Martin, Peter's deeply religious neighbour, unlocked a series of chilling revelations.

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 poignantly highlighting the devastating effect of isolation and loneliness, as Field closed in on them. It also celebrates both Peter and Ann's lives as cherished mentors, much loved relatives and adored friends.

Series details

• Title: The Sixth Commandment
• Format: Scripted
• Language: English
• Genres: Drama, Crime
• Premiere date: 2023-07-17
• Final broadcast date listed: 2023-07-17
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Web channel listed by TVmaze: BBC iPlayer
• Network country: United Kingdom
• Typical episode runtime: 58 minutes
• TVmaze community rating: 6.5/10
• TVMaze ID: 69251
• IMDb ID: tt20916306
• TVDB ID: 424968

Cast and credited roles

• Éanna Hardwicke — Ben Field
• Annabel Scholey — Ann-Marie Blake
• Sheila Hancock — Elizabeth Zettl
• Conor MacNeill — Martyn Smith
• Adrian Rawlins — Ian Farquhar
• Amanda Root — Sue Farquhar
• Timothy Spall — Peter Farquhar
• Anne Reid — Ann Moore-Martin
• Ben Bailey Smith — Simon Blake
• Anna Crilly — DS Natalie Golding
• Jonathan Aris — DCI Mark Glover
• James Harkness — DS Richard Earl

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 2023-07-17; final listed air date 2023-07-17; episode order: 4.

Source and licence

Adapted from The Sixth Commandment on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.