Finding tonight's play 'The Sixth Commandment' a difficult watch

My husband’s aunt had all her money and her house taken by a ‘lovely couple’ who moved in with her when she was a lonely widow. She ended up very poor and homeless and moved in with my husband’s mum who wasn’t very wealthy but took her in because she was kind. There are some horrible people, around and very convincing,too.

I thought last night's episode was excellent. Anne Reid is a great actress. The most disturbing aspect of this whole dreadful thing is how Ben made the two victims ashamed of themselves, took away their self respect which was very important to two such private, quiet, respectable people. With Peter, Ben gloried in telling him of his (alleged) disgusting behaviour when under the influence, of soiling himself, of masturbating. The pain in Peter's face as he repeatedly apologised was awful. Then when Anne realised that she had been fooled, had been 'deluded' enough to believe that a younger man could be sexually attracted to a much older woman, a woman who had sacrificed her personal life to her career and then caring for her Mother.

I may not have expressed it properly, but this aspect disturbed me the most, taking away these people's peace of mind just before they died, taking away their hopes of eternal life in Christ (both devout Christians) was breathtakingly cruel.

The programme also showed how important it is for relatives to try and protect their vulnerable and lonely loved ones

It's not easy as the victim often cannot believe that they are in such a relationship and are convinced that their abuser is the only person who truly cares about them. They will become defensive, as we have seen in this portrayal.

I'd seen the documentary on the murders so knew what was going to happen. No amount of not watching would have changed the outcome in real life, but no one needs to watch any programme if they don't want to.
It has been harrowing to watch but it made me think a lot
We are always wise after the event aren't we but it showed a lot of tactics of abusive people.
Managing to hone in on vulnerable people, love bombing, including moving quickly, finding out what meant a lot to them, eg writing poetry to them, using religion,, making themselves irreplaceable, cutting them off from their family's support, in different ways in this case, in Peters situation, blackening his name by claiming he was an alcoholic, in Anns case by trying her loyalty to her niece and him, making it hard for normal things such as meeting the family.
Gaslighting, spiritual abuse, animal.cruelty, all there
The programme also showed how important it is for relatives to try and protect their vulnerable and lonely loved ones. Had the niece not acted as she did would he have gone.on to kill more vulnerable people, yes indubitably. No idea if it was true but the taking on of the coffin bearer role to sniff out grieving partners was an indication that yes always on the look out for a new victim
Also how difficult it is for relatives when cases do come to trial, how the press behave. You can begin to understand how sometimes victims say of child sex abuse just cannot bring themselves to speak against their abusers even many years later because of having to relive the trauma and risk not being believed after all that
I'm surprised that the red flags around a young member of the church with a responsible role befriended 2 vulnerable people and moved in with them. That should have raised some safeguarding issues eventually surely

I am watching and appreciating the production at the same time feeling uncomfortable knowing what is to come. Harrowing that such a wonderful man should have suffered so much. Timothy Spall plays this role so well.

I think it’s a timely reminder to older people to be very careful about people getting too close to them too soon.

A few years ago we had a very nice near neighbour who was 80 and a widow. She was smart, intelligent and loved socialising. She advertised for someone to do odd jobs for her and found someone who lived in the next village but was not a “local”.

I used to see him washing her car or weeding the garden. We invited a few people round one night and she was one of them. She asked whether she could bring a friend and we said that was fine. She turned up with him in tow, carrying her basket of goodies and making a great fuss of her. He was about 60 then. The rest of us were quite surprised as he was stuck to her like glue.

Some months later she died suddenly and her daughter came up from London. We were chatting and she told me that her Mum had “loaned” him lots of money and given him cash gifts and allowed him to use her car etc and she was very uncomfortable about it. She said her Mother was the last person she could ever imagine being duped but she feared she well and truly had been because she had found evidence in notes in the house.

He then left the village but I did see him trotting around carrying another lady’s shopping elsewhere and we made eye contact but he had to look away because he knew I knew! I did wonder how many ladies he has fleeced.

I watched it and found it to be truly horrendous .

I guess that any of us could be taken in by someone , who is charming and plausible especially a man of the cloth !

I hope not !

My weathy aunt - a strong minded intelligent woman settled in the States and married a rich industrial chemist .

Sad , lonely and widowed she formed an attachment to much younger man . I think that he did her DIY originally .
She didn't die in suspicious circumstances , but he took every single cent of her considerable estate .

Timothy Spall is an amazing actor .
He's been in remission from leukaemia for some years .
I understand that his weight loss was due to a healthier lifestyle .

I also thought that Anne Reid was brilliant and is in every role that she plays .

I try to visit some of my father's old friends :
They aren't as sick as he is , but all of them are increasingly housebound and depressed .
Loneliness is their worst problem .

One of them has a daughter , who makes it obvious that I'm not welcome .

Her mother is alone and never knows when her daughter will visit . When she does she does a big shop for her so there is food in the house . I have shopped for her in the past .
Her bungalow is clean as she has a regular cleaner and the huge garden given a quick mow by the gardener - but otherwise this lady smells .
It's so bad that I've retched a few times and pretended to be ill .

I'm sad to see her in night clothes reading the paper and doing puzzles - increasingly rambling and realise that her daughter thinks that I have an ulterior motive in visiting .

I remember the actual documentary and how gentle loving and kind Peter was . I'm unsure what actual part or knowledge Martyn had ,I won't say , it's worth watching the documentary on channel 4 . But to meet pure evil , someone who seeks out good kind vulnerable people is definately something older people need to be wary of . Ben was liked by the church and community . These evil beings have no remorse or conscience. Their brains must be miswired

We watched the first episode last night, a brilliant performance by all. Goodness knows where or what I was doing when this actually happened as I don’t recall it.
Part two tonight.

I watched some of the second part and again found it deeply uncomfortable to watch; the focus lingered too long on the quasi -sexual relationship with Anne Reid and presented no insight into Ben's character and motivation whatsoever; presented as far too bland and superficial.
Perhaps the remaining two episodes, presumably dealing with the investigation and trial, will expand on this.
I cannot get away from the fact that this is regarded by some as entertainment when it is dealing with harrowing and very recent family tragedies.

How did I manage to miss this when it happened? I have always followed the news, but can’t remember this case at all.

Watched the first two episodes last night. I didn’t find it a difficult watch, tbh, though very sad.

Remember watching a documentary about it a while ago, how the truth came out. It was fascinating. I then recalled it being on the news at the time when Ben Field was convicted.

I thought he actually smothered Peter at the end, but that was not shown in this version, if that was what happened.

Just watched the first two episodes on catch-up. Brilliant performances by Timothy Spall and Anne Reid in particular. The story is so sensitively portrayed too, which must be some comfort to the families involved. Such a chilling tale, of pure, unadulterated evil. That inhuman creature should never be released. Certainly the best drama DH and I have seen for some time. Totally engrossing. Final two episodes planned for tonight. Don't understand complaints about "spoilers". It's not fiction, and was not only massively reported at the time, but the TV drama has regenerated media interest, so the details are everywhere again.

JenniferEccles I totally agree one of the best written /acted plays I ve seen in a very long time it definitely deserves an award
Every one of the main actors is unbelievably real it’s a long time since I ve watched a drama and not had to rewatch it as
I ve felt myself nodding off but this is magnificent with the saddest of subject portrayed with such honesty and care No wonder the families were comfortable enough to say yes

If only every drama true or imagined was this good

Sounds good, I’ll watch it if we get it. I like the true crime dramas but always wonder how the people who have been involved must feel. It would be hard for them revisiting things.

It was miserable, dreary, verbose and boring, especially the church/sermon bits. I didn't realise it was another of these "true events" serials otherwise I wouldn't have watched. I don't get what's so fascinating about "true crime" - the outcome is alreeady known so why waste time watching it? It's like turning to the last page of a novel first.

I think this portrayal of the true story should be in with a chance of winning an award.
Superb.

I'm fascinated by real life murder stories. This one is particularly good with great acting.
And it's a salutory warning to us to be careful who we trust.

Read todays report by Lucy Manegan in the Guardian newspaper.

She explains it beautifully.

I watched it tonight - with my stomach churning. It was such an uncomfortable watch, and though I am not a violent type, I just wanted to punch Ben's smug face! Excellent acting from all.

I couldn't bear to watch it.

DH and I are both incredibly moved and horrified by this, in equal measure. It's one of the most brilliant pieces of acting/writing we've seen for a long time and we are really shaken by it; even though we remembered the case, seeing it come to life like this is quite different to reading about it in a newspaper or watching an item on the tv news.

Wow what a well acted second episode, Ann Reid playing a blinder there
It’s not a subject to enjoy but I m really enjoying the acting and the writing

I met Timothy Spall when he was in Auf Wiedersehen Pet. He was lovely and very down to earth. He’s a wonderful actor and I hope he wins awards for his portrayal of Peter Farquhar.

I am very interested in this. A family member was a civilian forensic scientist who worked on this case, she has said she hopes they treat the victims sympathetically which I think so far they have.
I know her and colleagues worked night and day to provide evidence to bring the perpetrator to justice. It will be interesting to see the court case and how they show the evidence.