The BBC mini-series 'The Sixth Commandment', starring Timothy Spall and Anne Reid, among others, is currently earning rave reviews.

The series follows the true story of Peter Farquhar (Spall) and Ann Moore-Martin (Reid), two elderly people who were gaslit and manipulated by a psychopath called Ben Field (a chilling performance by ‘Normal People’s Eanna Hardwicke).

A BBC drama is never usually a stranger to the plaudits, but this series has really shone.

It is thanks mainly to the stellar acting line-up who have delivered some surely award-winning performances, but what was the cast famous for beforehand?

The famous cast of BBC's The Sixth Commandment 

Timothy Spall

Timothy Spall is an instantly recognisable name and face on our screens. He is the recipient of some prestigious awards including a BAFTA for his role in Secrets and Lies and a Cannes Film Festival award for Best Actor thanks to his role in Mr. Turner.

Born in London, Timothy began acting when he enrolled at the prestigious National Youth Theatre before going on to study at RADA.

After graduating, he went on to land numerous credits in film and television productions including Quadrophenia, Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, Vanilla Sky, Shooting the Past, and, in later years, The Last Samurai, Harry Potter and more.

Anne Reid

Anne Reid MBE is a British stage, film and television actress, known for her roles as Valerie Barlow in the soap opera Coronation Street; Jean in the sitcom Dinnerladies; and her role as Celia Dawson in Last Tango in Halifax for which she was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress. 

Anne met British television producer, Peter Eckersley, after landing the role of Valerie Barlow on Coronation Street in 1961. During this time, Peter worked as a writer and producer on the iconic soap, having penned scripts for 62 episodes between April 1962 and November 1969. 

Éanna Hardwicke 

Éanna Hardwicke is a 26-year-old actor from Cork in Ireland. He made his big-screen debut in the Irish supernatural drama, The Eclipse, which was released in 2009 and also starred Ciarán Hinds.

Éanna is perhaps best recognised for his role as Connell's school friend Rob Hegarty in the BBC drama, Normal People, which starred Daisy Edgar-Jones and fellow Lir Academy alumnus, Paul Mescal. 

Dame Sheila Hancock 

Dame Sheila Cameron Hancock DBE is an English actress, singer, and author. She has performed in theatre - plays and musicals in London, and her Broadway debut in Entertaining Mr Sloane earned her a Tony Award nomination for Best Lead Actress in Play.

Her 70-year career has spanned everything from theatre on the West End and Broadway, to long-running TV shows such as Inspector Morse (to whom she was later married to the lead, John Thaw), Doctor Who, New Tricks, Hustle, and The Catherine Tate Show.

She is perhaps best known recently for appearing in Channel 4’s Great Canal Journeys and Gogglebox, as well as in EastEnders and Now, Take My Wife.

The Sixth Commandment: Full cast list

  • Peter Farquhar: Timothy Spall
  • Ann Moore-Martin: Anne Reid
  • Elizabeth Zettl: Dame Sheila Hancock
  • Ann-Marie Blake: Annabel Scholey
  • Ben Field: Eanna Hardwicke
  • Martyn Smith: Conor MacNeill
  • Ian Farquhar: Adrian Rawlins
  • Sue Farquhar: Amanda Root

All four episodes of The Sixth Commandment are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.