Despite being based on a true story, Sarah Phelps believes her new BBC drama has a dark fairy tale quality to it.
New BBC drama The Sixth Commandment has landed on the broadcaster, introducing viewers to the key figures of the true crime that rocked a sleepy Buckinghamshire village back in 2015.
The series stars Timothy Spall and Anne Reid as Peter Farquhar and Ann Moore-Martin, a pair of religious elderly neighbours who fell prey to the much younger Ben Field’s manipulative schemes.
Farquhar would ultimately be murdered by Field, who is played by Éanna Hardwicke in the BBC dramatisation.
Despite being based on true events, writer Sarah Phelps (A Very British Scandal, Dublin Murders) has spoken about the “fairy tale quality” of the tragic story.
“I started out thinking that this was a really twisted, sad story which had a fairy tale quality to it,” she explained.
“It’s about an English village into which walks somebody who is entirely predatory but who quickly becomes absorbed into the life of the village – the university, the church – and he was so good at camouflage that nobody saw the wolf’s clothing.”
She added: “It felt like one of those Hans Christian Andersen or The Brothers Grimm fairy tales which everybody thinks are really cute but they’re not – they’re terrifying.
“I felt that there was something quintessentially English in this dark, dark fairy tale in the sense that you could live in this ordinary place, where everybody knows you, you’re surrounded by good neighbours, and yet you could slowly die in front of them and nobody would know what was happening or say anything.
“That seemed to me to be the story, that tension between public respectability and private yearning, a sexual desire that you can’t speak about that’s at war with your religious beliefs. All those elements drew me to the project.”
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Phelps was also vocal about the importance of centring the victims when it comes to true crime.
“I think the victim is always the most important element. One thing I didn’t want to do was to glamorise the killer.
“A lot of TV programmes give you the sense that you’re falling under the spell of the killer, who’s incredibly intelligent, with some grand plan, but I wanted to understand and honour the victims, to give them life and dignity,” she said.
The series will continue airing tonight (Tuesday 18th July), though all episodes are currently available on BBC iPlayer.
The Sixth Commandment airs on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on.
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