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

BridgetPark

Yes it was during his Auf Wiedersehen Pet days, he had a brummie accent for the character, and alluded to the thickness of brummies in general.

I know exactly what you mean.

I love Tim Spall, but…

Well, I must have missed it 😀

tickingbird

One of the most disturbing things for me happens when truly evil Ben visits an elderly lady in a care home and films the conversation. He basically torments her by reiterating she has no family, no friends and is all alone in the world and that’s her fault. It’s shown in the series but in the documentary the detectives are seen watching this interaction and one has his head down and appears to be wiping tears away. I found that really chilling - pure evil.

Absolutely, I found this scene one of the most upsetting in the whole series.
I hadn't heard of this case at all but thank you for bringing it to my attention, wonderful acting throughout
It's so sad to realise that this happens to vulnerable people and though terribly upsetting,.I feel it does need highlighting and television as a medium can do this.

Watched Part 3 tonight. It was absolutely brilliant in the way it was done. I wouldn’t normally watch this kind of programme but so glad I did. What a harrowing story so well portrayed.

Very much better episode tonight; calm, practical, engrossing and utterly chilling. I actually found Ben Field the weakest character; no flash of personality whatsoever, no insight onto what motivated him, no representation of his family and his interaction with them. Martyn was far more convincing.

We saw that on two occasions in tonight's episode, both Martin and Ben were transported in the same police van. Surely (in all the police dramas I have seen - no first hand experience!) there is no opportunity given for 'getting together' and swapping information in the back of a van. And each prisoner's' safety should be a consideration?

no, that would not happen in real life.
guess it was done for dramatic purposes.

Ixion and welbeck I think you re wrong I think they do transport prisoners together Do you remember that man who killed his five children by setting fire to the house ( forgotten his name) one of the ways they convicted him were conversations him and his fellow murderer ( girlfriend) had in the police van they were cooking up what they would both say

You’re mistaken there BlueBelle. They actually bugged the hotel room they were staying in as their house had burned down.

Without giving too much away, we watched the final episode last night but I was disappointed not to hear the judge's summing up.

I have a question about Martin, but will wait until it’s all been screened.

I have a few questions about Martin

Oh good - it’s not just me then.

I watched the final episode last night and it was so well done, how each little clue was picked up and knitted in until a full picture emerged.

Ben Field was such a horrible callous individual, but very well portrayed.

I too have questions with regard to Martyn, as onscreen he appeared a very simple and gullible individual, but there was mention of him and changing a will.

I thought Eanna Hardwicke was exceptional as Ben. He looks and sounds nothing that in real life. Yes I know thats what acting is. But still.

nothing like that

I would like to have known more about Ben Field and where he came from, what motivated him, was it just money he was after or was it the power and control? There was no attempt to go behind the facade.
I believe his father was a vicar; where were they during the trial?(actually sitting with Peter's brother, but this was not shown.

eazybee

I would like to have known more about Ben Field and where he came from, what motivated him, was it just money he was after or was it the power and control? There was no attempt to go behind the facade.
I believe his father was a vicar; where were they during the trial?(actually sitting with Peter's brother, but this was not shown.

where were they during the trial?(actually sitting with Peter's brother, but this was not shown. Really?

I think his father was a Baptist Minister.

It was excellent but a couple of aspects were lacking explanation, as you say, his background and also the judge's summing up and directions to the jury, why the jury verdict was not guilty of attempted murder of Anne.

Perhaps some living people refused to be portrayed in the production.

I was surprised at how long the jury took to reach a verdict. Perhaps they had asked for a lot of the documents to look at. When I was on a jury it only took us a couple of days. If it had taken any longer I would probably have murdered the foreman as his belief was that the accused had probably done something at some time so we might as well find him guilty.

It's probably a bit optimistic to expect to learn much about Ben's background and motives, I wonder if prison psychiatrists got very far with him. Obviously convinced of his own mental superiority though.

I think that showing his motives would be guesswork at best. Also, the writer wanted to tell the story from the perspective of the victims, rather than centring the murderer.

Was Martyn in Ben’s thrall too? I think that their relationship could have been explained more, and I agree that it would have been good to know why there was a not guilty verdict for the death of Anne. There didn’t seem to be justice for her at all. I suppose the fact that the charge was murder, rather than attempted murder would explain it, but why was there no attempted murder charge brought?

A minor detail, but I thought the chap who played the police boss looked too young for the part, seeing as he was almost retired.

I realise they can probably be in their late 40’s or so, but just thought he looked too youthful.

After being rather upset at the end of the first episode I was drawn to watching the rest. Despite it being rather painful at times I did enjoy it. Well acted and well written.

We watched the penultimate episode last night, when Ben was bailed to the ‘family home’ who were the family, or was I not paying attention?
Last one tonight.

I watched it last night .
It sent chills down my spine :
I felt really upset when Ben Field forced that elderly lady in the care home to listen to his negative comments .

I also thought that Jonathan Aris was a bit young to retire .
He is a youthful 52 !

I must pay tribute to Eanna Hardwicke as the villain .

I found this series compelling and thought the actors were good. I didn't quite understand fully what part Martyn played in Ben's activities though. And why was he found not guilty.
And, yes I agree, it would be good to know more about Ben's background.
I'd like to see a documentary now explaining all these details.