Locals' fury at 'insensitive' BBC over Sixth Commandment

EXCLUSIVE: Locals’ fury at ‘insensitive’ BBC for releasing drama The Sixth Commandment about sickening murder of teacher that tore their picture-perfect village apart

• Peter Farquhar, 69, was killed by Benjamin Field in village of Maids Moreton
• He subjected victim to campaign of gaslighting and physical and mental abuse 

Locals in the picturesque village where a retired English teacher was murdered by a twisted church warden have expressed their dismay at new BBC drama The Sixth Commandment. 

Peter Farquhar, 69, was killed by Benjamin Field, who was in his early 30s, in the village of Maids Moreton, Buckinghamshire, in 2015.

The much-loved academic had suffered a campaign of gaslighting and physical and mental torture at the hands of Field.

The pair were in a romantic relationship that Mr Farquhar believed was genuine, but which Field pursued in an ultimately successful bid to get his hands on his victim’s house and money.  

Field, who is now serving a minimum 36-year term for murder, went on to ensnare Mr Farquhar’s 83-year-old neighbour Anne Moore- Martin, though was cleared of her killing at trial.

Retired English teacher Peter Farquhar (left) was murdered by Benjamin Field in 2019 in a case that shocked the nation. New BBC drama the Sixth Commandment sees Timothy Spall (right, in character) portray him

Timothy Spall portrays Mr Farquhar in the new drama, which began on Monday evening, whilst Irish star Éanna Hardwicke depicts Field and Anne Reid, 88, plays Ms Moore-Martin.  

READ MORE: The Sixth Commandment viewers left in tears by Anne Reid’s performance as retired teacher seduced by psychopathic church warden 

But, speaking today, friends and neighbours of the former head of English at Stowe private school have said it was ‘insensitive’ and too soon to revisit the horrific trials of the pair at the hands of Field.

Most of the neighbours who knew Mr Farquhar and Ms Moore-Martin intimately wanted nothing to do with the new BBC drama, with most only adding that they were unhappy with it.

One neighbour said: ‘I knew Peter well and I am not happy with the drama. I don’t want to talk about it.’

An elderly woman who moved to the road two years ago and therefore didn’t know either of the victims admitted she thought it was too soon to write a drama about the deaths of Mr Farquhar and Ms Moore-Martin.

She said: ‘I remember thinking at the time, “I wouldn’t want to live there”.

‘I didn’t want to watch the TV show. I think it’s quite insensitive. It wasn’t very long ago.

‘I was shocked when I first saw they were going to do it… It doesn’t seem like a suitable subject, to be honest.

Mr Farquhar suffered a campaign of gaslighting and physical and mental torture at the hands of Benjamin Field (left), who is serving a minimum 36-year prison sentence for his murder. Field is portrayed by 26-year-old Irish star Éanna Hardwicke (right)

Anne Moore-Martin, 83, was Field’s second victim. She too was seduced by the criminal. She is portrayed in the drama by Anne Reid, 88

‘I don’t even know where it happened, but I don’t want to know.

‘I just feel very sorry for all the people caught up in it.

READ MORE: The evil churchwarden who drugged, gaslit and murdered elderly gay university lecturer in twisted bid to inherit his estate: Shocking true story behind latest BBC drama The Sixth Commandment 

‘It’s pretty incredible that a church warden could get away with all of this.’

Another neighbour, whose mother used to attend the same poetry group as Mr Farquhar and was a good friend of his, told MailOnline: ‘I think it’s good to have the drama, because people should know about it.

‘But they are too like them… It’s too hard; it’s too real and close to home. I think people are very upset by the show, to be honest.

‘People contacted the BBC and they said they wouldn’t show the village, but they did.

‘Ultimately, you have to respect the wishes of the family. It’s the kind of thing you don’t expect, so maybe we should be more aware.

‘But for the people who spent time with them, it’s very hard.’

She added that Field used to attend the poetry group, prompting her mother to say: “There’s definitely something wrong with him.”   

‘She said, “[Peter] brags about this man… A student he thinks is gifted – but he’s really creepy.”

‘She asked why he would want to hang around with people of their age.’

Maids Moreton, the Buckinghamshire village where Mr Farquhar was murdered, is seen today

St Edmund’s Church in Maids Moreton, pictured today

The BBC filmed the show in Bristol, Keynsham, Clevedon and Bath.

The neighbour also recounted an occasion when she walked her dog past Ms Moore-martin’s house and saw Field looking up at the elderly woman in the window.

READ MORE: Actor Timothy Spall says gay academic murdered by a churchwarden had a ‘loneliness’ and a ‘desire for affection’ as he reveals how he prepared to portray him in new BBC drama The Sixth Commandment 

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She said it was like a scene from William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet. 

‘I was watching Anne’s house,’ she said. ‘It was after Peter had died.

‘She was in the window… It was an almost Romeo and Juliet situation.

‘There was something strange about his face and the whole situation. She was so coy and I thought, “That’s so strange”.

‘When I came back after 40 minutes, they were still there. He wasn’t aggressive, but I thought I should tell the police… But I wasn’t sure what I would tell them.

‘No one thought he was anymore than anyone’s lodger.

‘This is such a lovely village, and very safe. How could it be that something like this happened?”

The woman added that Field’s horrific actions had left their mark on many in the village, including her own daughter.

‘I work from home and all these horrendous things were happening around me,’ she continued.

‘It’s just really sad. It affected everyone. It affected my daughter.

‘She would go and talk to Ben [Field] at the fish & chip van… He was often there.

The former home of Peter Farquhar in Maids Moreton, Buckinghamshire

‘Now I think, “She was talking to a murderer.”‘ 

Meanwhile, Micaela Careddu, an Italian mother who only recently moved to the area, says she was completely oblivious to the village’s dark past until she watched the Sixth Commandment series.

READ MORE: National treasures make this true crime drama all the more chilling: CHRISTOPHER STEVENS reviews last night’s TV 

The 46-year-old account manager said: ‘We only moved here two years ago, so I didn’t know anything about it.

‘My son is at university in Buckingham, and one of his teachers mentioned it – I didn’t know anything before that.

‘I was watching the show, going, “That’s my road!”. It was quite shocking.

‘No one told me anything when we moved, so it’s probably something they don’t like to talk about.

‘It’s a lovely, lovely village with lovely people, so it was a big surprise. It can happen anywhere.’

Another man, living just across the road from Mr Farquhar’s old house, was still today oblivious to what had happened to residents living on his road years before he moved to the area.

Another elderly couple, who knew both victims but wished not to be named, told a chilling anecdote about when Field refused to let another neighbour in the house to see Mr Farquhar, shortly before he was found dead in his home by a cleaner.

‘It was a bit grim, really,’ the elderly woman replied, asked what it was like living in the village when the true story was revealed.

‘I suppose we were more wary afterwards, but we didn’t know anything about it at the time.

Field (played by Éanna Hardwicke, pictured) pretended to be deeply religious so he could worm his way into his victims’ affections

‘A friend once went to take Peter some cakes, and that wicked man wouldn’t let her in.

‘He took the plate with the cakes on and that was it.

READ MORE: What is the Sixth Commandment? The true meaning behind the BBC drama’s name

‘We have lived here a long time, but Peter didn’t live here that long.

‘He lived here about 35 years, but we have been here for 50.

‘Peter kept himself to himself, really.’

However, Phillip and Susan Todd, who have lived in the county of Buckinghamshire for nearly 20 years but in Maids Moreton for just five years, said they thoroughly enjoyed the new BBC drama. 

The couple, who have one daughter together, said the programme helped fit together the pieces of the puzzle they had heard.

Mr Todd, an 86-year-old retired distribution worker, said: ‘It was very good, I thought. We watched the first two episodes last night.

‘It was what it was; it happened so you can’t get away from what happened.

‘I think it was put over very well, really. It was nice for people to think, ‘Maids Moreton’s on the TV’.’ 

BBC1’s new series The Sixth Commandment tells a sinister true story which began with the 2015 death of elderly teacher Peter Farquhar in a Buckinghamshire village. Pictured: Éanna Hardwicke, with Timothy Spall and Anne Reid

Mrs Todd, a 79-year-old retired typist, added: ‘We linked the pieces up when we watch it.

‘I thought it felt quite genuine. We have picked up the pieces since we moved here and the pieces fell into place when we watched the show.’

Field was a 20-year-old undergraduate student when he first met Mr Farquhar.

On discovering that both he and his neighbour were wealthy, Field decided to seduce them to get his hands on their money.

Pretending to be in love first with Mr Farquhar and then Miss Moore-Martin, he was sexually intimate with both, despite dismissing his male partner as a ‘faggot’ and having feelings of ‘indifference’ towards his female victim.

Once he had gained their trust, Field carried out sinister mind games and plied the pair with alcohol and drugs.

Mr Farquhar’s health deteriorated to the point where he was at times rambling, incoherent and suffering from hallucinations.

In the mornings he would often find himself covered in bruises and his prized possessions missing, with no memory of what had happened.

Undated handout photo issued by Thames Valley Police of Peter Farqhuar (right) and Benjamin Field

Viewers were blown away by Timothy Spall’s performance as Peter Farquhar, a gay academic murdered by a churchwarden, in new drama The Sixth Commandment last night

He told his vicar: ‘Pray for me. There is evil in my house.’

Mr Farquhar had taught English at the private Manchester Grammar School before moving to the prestigious Stowe in 1983.

He was head of English there for 21 years, before deciding to retire in 2004 so he could write novels.

When Mr Farquhar was found dead by his cleaner in October 2015, the first person she called after the emergency services was Field, who everyone believed was his loyal partner.

In March the previous year, the pair had pledged themselves to one another in a London church service.

The day was particularly special for Mr Farquhar, who wrote in his journal: ‘It is one of the happiest moments of my life. Gone are the fears of dying alone.’ 

In 2014, the same month as his and Mr Farquhar’s church ceremony, Field began a relationship with another woman, Setara Pracha, an admissions tutor at Buckingham University, where he had been a student. 

Field went on to become a deputy church warden at St Mary’s Church in Stowe and boasted to a friend how he was going to become a vicar.

However it’s not long before Peter’s health begins to decline, and he falls down the stairs in his home 

  The abuse he subjected Mr Farquhar to included torturing a pet chihuahua he had given him and making him believe he had dementia.

After his will had been changed in Field’s favour, Mr Farquhar was murdered. He was found to have consumed prescription sedatives and alcohol, and police believe he may also have been suffocated with a pillow.

Field initially avoided suspicion and pocketed £20,000 from his victim’s will. When Mr Farquhar’s house was sold by his brother, Field got a further £142,000.

He then moved on to his second victim, Ms Moore-Martin, who he had been introduced to by Mr Farquhar.

The retired teacher and devout Catholic quickly fell under his spell, giving him a key to her house and telling friends she loved him.

Above her dressing table she even hung a framed photograph of him bearing the words: ‘I am always with you’.

In 2016, she gave him £4,000 to buy a car. Having no intention of actually purchasing a vehicle with the money, Field hired a car for a day to dupe her.

He then conned the woman out of £27,000 telling her ne needed the money to help his brother, who he claimed was desperately ill.

On mirrors in her home, he would scrawl messages in white marker. One read: ‘Ben makes you whole, Give the whole to him.’

Another stated: ‘All that you give him will be returned tenfold.’

Convinced by his act, Ms Moore-Martin changed her will in Field’s favour at the end of 2016.

In February 2017 she suffered a seizure and ended up in hospital.

It remains unclear what caused the decline, but she did tell friends days earlier that Field had given her ‘some powder’ which helped her sleep.

Field was however cleared of attempting to kill her.

Once his victim was in hospital, Field was unable to get access to her and the pensioner’s niece, Anne-Marie Blake, became suspicious.

As police began an investigation, Ms Blake changed her aunt’s will to write Field out.

In March 2017, Field was arrested for the first time, but two months later, Ms Moore-Martin died for a massive stroke.

Her niece said in evidence to the jury at Field’s trial: ‘She was tortured by it and found it very difficult to get her head around the betrayal.

‘She said to me, “I am such an intelligent woman. How could I let this happen to myself?”

In January 2022, Field began a second bid to have his conviction overturned. The Court of Appeal dismissed a previous challenge in 2021.

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