The Sixth Commandment

:

Season 1
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 7 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7

Critic Reviews

  1. The Guardian
    Reviewed by: Lucy Mangan
    Sep 11, 2023
    100
    Altogether it is as fine a piece of television as you will ever see. Clearly intensely researched and forged with love and respect.
  2. The Observer (UK)
    Reviewed by: Barbara Ellen
    Sep 10, 2024
    80
    There’s true crime as it too often is (base, grubby, sensationalist, focused on the perpetrator), then there are dramas like this, which give victims their humanity and dignity.
  3. Decider
    Reviewed by: Joel Keller
    Oct 4, 2023
    80
    The Sixth Commandment lays out the true story of the Ben Field case in a deliberate but effective manner, punctuated by some fine lead performances.
  5. The Telegraph
    Reviewed by: Ed Power
    Sep 11, 2023
    80
    The Sixth Commandment refuses to be dazzled by the gaslighting Field, a small, banal man capable of unspeakable evil. The tale is told at pace, with little verve. But Phelps never forgets Field’s victims were real and suffered horribly.
  6. The Times
    Reviewed by: Carol Midgley
    Sep 11, 2023
    80
    Heartbreaking, compelling drama.
  7. i
    Reviewed by: Gerard Gilbert
    Sep 11, 2023
    80
    These true-crime dramas may be 10-a-penny nowadays, but this was a well cast, unexploitative and yet chilling addition to the genre.
  8. The Independent
    Reviewed by: Nick Hilton
    Sep 11, 2023
    40
    The writing, while always sharp, becomes more generic. All the cliches of cop thrillers are here (a dawn raid that involves a perp fleeing in their undies, a detective on the brink of retirement roped in for “one last case”) and courtroom proceedings grind the emotional narrative to a halt.