Timothy Spall: Harry Potter actor plays murdered author

Timothy Spall has described The Sixth Commandment as "an essential story to tell"

A new drama will tell the infamous story of an author murdered by a churchwarden in Buckinghamshire.

Timothy Spall will play Peter Farquhar who was manipulated and killed in Maids Moreton by 28-year-old Benjamin Field.

Mr Farquhar first met Field when he was one of his students at the University of Buckingham. Field faked a relationship with the 69-year-old lecturer to get him to change his will.

He was sentenced to life in prison. with a minimum term of 36 years.

Mr Farquhar died in October 2015 and Field tried to make the death look like an accident or suicide.

The Baptist minister's son was found guilty of murder at Oxford Crown Court.

The "well-practiced and able liar" was also accused of plotting to kill Mr Farquhar's neighbour Ann Moore-Martin, 83, but was found not guilty.

Field admitted duping both Mr Farquhar and Miss Moore-Martin into fake relationships with him as part of a plot to get them to change their wills, but denied any involvement in their deaths.

Miss Moore-Martin died of natural causes in May 2017.

Spall said he was honoured to be playing "the remarkable Peter Farquhar" in The Sixth Commandment.

The Sixth Commandment also stars Sheila Hancock, Ben Bailey Smith and Adrian Rawlins

Although the drama, made with the blessing of both families, is set in the Buckinghamshire village, it has been filmed around Bristol and Bath.

Executive producer and writer Sarah Phelps said: "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 - he was so good at camouflage that nobody saw the wolf's clothing," she said.

The four-part drama starts on BBC One on Monday, 17 July.