National treasures make this true crime drama all the more chilling: CHRISTOPHER STEVENS reviews last night’s TV
The Sixth Commandment
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Why Sharks Attack
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An extra layer of chill lies over The Sixth Commandment (BBC1). Somehow it’s made even creepier by the fact that each of its victims is so immediately recognisable.
Bad enough to murder Timothy Spall, a much admired character actor since the days of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. Far worse to target the magnificent Anne Reid, whose credentials go all the way back to Hancock’s Half Hour and the dawn of Coronation Street.
But now the clerical killer in this true crime drama has Sheila Hancock, grande dame of the English stage, in his sights. Is no one safe? Please could someone go round and check on Dame Judi Dench?
THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT: An extra layer of chill lies over The Sixth Commandment (BBC1). Somehow it’s made even creepier by the fact that each of its victims is so immediately recognisable
THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT: Bad enough to murder Timothy Spall, a much admired character actor since the days of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT: But now the clerical killer in this true crime drama has Sheila Hancock, grande dame of the English stage, in his sights
With this calibre of stars and an exceptional supporting cast, Ben Field’s cold-hearted plots and manipulation are all the more shocking because we feel as though we know his victims so well — we’re personally involved.
Each of the first two episodes this week has centred on one death. In the first, Spall as retired English teacher and amateur novelist Peter Farquhar sailed just this side of caricature, relishing the typical eccentricities and pomposities of a public schoolmaster.
Reunions of the week
Animal detective Lisa Dean told Live: Lost Dogs With Clare Balding (Ch5) how she tracks down stolen pets.
Thefts are on the rise, fuelled by the high price of puppies.
Lisa’s phone footage of dogs reunited with their owners was heart-melting.
He was fussy, repressed, vain and self-centred, but Spall saved him from becoming ridiculous by constantly revealing the inner sadness of the man. He was desperately lonely, and always had been, but with encroaching age he was no longer able to hide it.
The love of his brother Ian and his wife (Adrian Rawlins and Amanda Root) only emphasised what he did not have: a partner.
When Field (Eanna Hardwicke) befriended him, declared his love and moved in with him, Peter’s self-delusion was forgivable, even understandable.
Part of me was irrationally glad for the old fellow, to see him snatch some happiness.
So far the story, based in the Buckinghamshire village of Maids Moreton and carefully faithful to the real events, had echoes of an Agatha Christie. Perhaps it was this that attracted screenwriter Sarah Phelps, who has adapted several Christies for television.
But Field’s machinations shifted to the stuff of horror movies in the second episode. Reid played another retired teacher, Ann Moore-Martin, equally eager to believe this young man was besotted with her… unaware he had broken into her house and searched through her papers, looking for evidence of wealth.
Both Peter and Ann were churchgoers, a trait Field exploited ruthlessly. We knew the plots were carried out in the same way because the camera gave us visual clues: a hand grasping dizzily at a bannister post, dark dregs in a teacup.
WHY SHARKS ATTACK: The killing machines in Why Sharks Attack (BBC1) seemed almost benign by comparison, as scientists explained that, when humans become prey, the motive is either desperation or a mistake
WHY SHARKS ATTACK: Phone video footage of two deaths in the water at beach resorts was alarmingly graphic for a documentary airing at 8pm
But the method was not made explicit until Ann chirped up to her niece, ‘Ben made me a smoothie — banana, yoghurt and blueberries. It was delicious.’ Who would have thought that a smoothie recipe could sound so ominous?
By the end of the second hour, we — like Ann’s niece — saw Field as satanic. Hardwicke captured the weirdness of the man, making puns in a funeral eulogy and unable to hide his excitement at the thought of killing.
The killing machines in Why Sharks Attack (BBC1) seemed almost benign by comparison, as scientists explained that, when humans become prey, the motive is either desperation or a mistake.
Phone video footage of two deaths in the water at beach resorts was alarmingly graphic for a documentary airing at 8pm. So too was gory film of an attack on a young woman in Florida, who survived only because her brother fought off the shark.
We were repeatedly told that death by shark is rare — not much comfort to the holidaymaker who becomes fish food.
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