True crime drama Until I Kill You is based on the story of Delia Balmer who was in a relationship with murderer John Sweeney
Until I Kill You: Anna Maxwell Martin stars in ITV trailer
The release date for Until I Kill You has been announced, and it’s closer than you might expect.
The true crime drama is inspired by the real-life experiences of Delia Balmer, who was in a relationship with murderer John Sweeney. Anna Maxwell Martin will portray Delia, while Shaun Evans, best known for his role in Endeavour, will play John Sweeney.
The series is based on Delia’s memoir, Living With A Serial Killer, which recounts her encounter with John at a local pub. As an agency nurse, Delia finds comfort and love in John, and their relationship quickly blossoms. However, he soon reveals his true nature and attacks her, confessing that he murdered his ex-girlfriend and disposed of her body in an Amsterdam canal.
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Sweeney is eventually arrested but is released on bail, after which he nearly kills Delia before managing to flee. Years later, as Delia starts to rebuild her life, Sweeney is arrested again for murdering another girlfriend, reports the Mirror. She is compelled to confront him in court, her testimony crucial in ensuring his incarceration.
Anna portrays Delia in the ITV drama, but she was firm in her decision not to meet her beforehand.
“I’ve played quite a few real people and I have never met them before. I don’t choose to do that, that’s how I work. Our writer, Nick, filmed a lot of footage of his meetings with Delia, which I had access to,” she explained.
“I did meet her very briefly during filming, but only because she wanted to visit the set and of course I was respectful of that. I didn’t do lots of research into abusive relationships either, instead I just focussed on the character, on who she was, how she responded to things, and what I could gauge about how she interacted with people. Then you go from there and you try to be as accurate as you can in terms of how that person would behave and respond.”
Shaun, portraying John, added: “I think what’s unusual about it and what drew me to it is that we are focusing on the victim and telling her story but not glorifying anybody else except the victim.
“You’re getting into the weeds of what that was like after the event and that’s what I think is interesting and that’s what is agonising and painful about it. I think that’s unusual for any broadcaster. If you look at the sort of things that have been made recently within the same genre, they are focusing more on the perpetrator and not the victim,” he explained.
Until I Kill You is on ITV1 and ITVX from 3rd to 6th November at 9pm followed by the companion documentary Until I Kill You: The Real Story on 7th November at 9pm.
