The murder of a retired Scottish teacher by an "evil" churchwarden is to be the subject of a new BBC true crime drama. Award-winning actor Timothy Spall will play Edinburgh-born Peter Farquhar, who was killed by Ben Field after a campaign of physical and mental torture.
Field had a relationship with Mr Farquhar, a published author and a former head of English at Stowe School, and moved in with him. He gave his victim psychoactive drugs to alter his mood and behaviour and convinced Mr Farquhar to change his will so that he would inherit his home in Maids Moreton, Buckinghamshire.
The university student "suffocated him" when he was too weak to resist, and left a half-empty bottle of whisky in Mr Farquhar's room to create the misconception he had drunk himself to death. Field, the son of a Baptist minister, then began a campaign of psychological manipulation involving neighbour Ann Moore-Martin, 83, in order to benefit from her will.
Mr Farquhar, who was also a published novelist, was found dead aged 69 in October 2015 while Miss Moore-Martin died from natural causes in May 2017. Field, 32, was found guilty of Mr Farquhar's 2015 murder at Oxford Crown Court in 2019 and jailed for a minimum of 36 years.
The four-part BBC series on the case is called The Sixth Commandment and has been made in full cooperation with Mr Farquhar and Miss Moore-Martin's families. It is to be broadcast later this year and the Beeb has released images which show Spall in the role of Mr Farquhar, Anne Reid as Ann Moore-Martin and anna Hardwicke as Ben Field.
A BBC spokesperson said: "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."
Field admitted duping both Mr Farquhar and Miss Moore-Martin into fake relationships as part of a plot to get them to change their wills, but denied any involvement in their deaths. He was convicted of Mr Farquhar's murder but found not guilty of plotting to kill Miss Moore-Martin.
Mr Farquhar, who also taught part-time at the University of Buckingham, had three novels published. His third book, A Wide Wide Sea, was dedicated to Field, who delivered the eulogy at his funeral.
In a statement after Field's sentencing Mr Farquhar's brother, Ian Farquhar, said: "Ben Field is a deeply malevolent and thoroughly evil man who callously and greedily seduced his way into my brother's life.
"His sentence today brings some justice to this horrific event in our family's life. Though of course the wound will always remain."
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