He was educated at Latymer Upper School in London and then Churchill College, Cambridge, where he achieved a first-class degree in English.

He was described by his friend and former pupil at Manchester, Michael Crick, as having "an acute understanding of the problems of modern adolescent boys.

The plot was largely based on Farquhar's own experience at Stowe and concerned the struggle of a school chaplain to reconcile his Christian faith with his homosexuality.

[3] Evidence produced in court indicated that Farquhar was 'betrothed' (through a private informal ceremony) to his former student Ben Field in 2014.

At the trial, Zettl became the oldest court witness in British history when she testified aged 101.

It was argued at the Court of Appeal that the trial judge, Mr Justice Sweeney, misdirected the jury over the 'chain of causation' involved in Mr Farquhar's death – specifically, whether the victim was 'tricked' by Field into drinking whisky, or had done so out of choice.

[19] "A Diary From the Grave", a documentary about the murders, aired in January 2020 on Channel 4 as part of the Catching a Killer series.

Moore-Martin is played by Anne Reid, Field by Éanna Hardwicke, along with Smith being portrayed by Conor MacNeill and Zettl by Sheila Hancock.