UNTIL I Kill You is an ITV drama which dramatises Delia Balmer’s relationship with the infamous Scalp Hunter killer.
Delia is played by Anna Maxwell Martin in the series, which takes place after John Sweeney had claimed his first victim.
The show follows Sweeney’s crime spree
The show follows the real-life events which led to John Sweeney AKA the Scalp Hunter’s arrest.
His first confirmed murder was that of his girlfriend Melissa Halstead, who was working as a freelance photographer in London.
When her work visa ran out, she did not want to return to her home state of Ohio and instead went on a journey with Sweeney in 1990.
Then, her body was pulled out of a canal in Rotterdam with its head and hands missing.
Sweeney’s second victim was Paula Fields, a sex worker whom he also met in London.
Her body was pulled out of Regent’s Canal in 2001 and, like Melissa’s, it was missing its head and hands.
Sweeney began dating Delia in 1991, an agency nurse, when he met her in Camden.
They dated for three years before she became suspicious when she discovered rope and gloves under their bed.
When he discovered that Delia was suspicious of him, he held her hostage for four days.
She managed to free herself and escape, prompting him to on the run.
Eventually, Sweeney was arrested but not before he murdered Paula.
Unlike many other dramatisations of true-crime stories, Until I Kill You will focus solely on Delia’s experience with the killer instead of giving viewers Sweeney’s perspective.
Anna said this was a deliberate choice, because they wanted to focus on Delia’s strength.
She added that she wanted to avoid “showing more gratuitous violence against females on TV” and also wanted to avoid giving even more fame to “predatory male killers”.
Star-studded cast
Anna Maxwell Martin
BAFTA-wining actress Anna Maxwell Martin will be stepping into Delia’s shoes and playing the nurse who had a lucky escape from the Scalp Hunter.
Fans of the hit series Motherland will recognise her from her portrayal of mum-of-two Julia, but others may know her for an appearance in the hilarious comedy series Mandy.
Anna has tried her hand at serious roles though, in the past, including a stint as Carmichael on Line of Duty.
Shaun Evans
Liverpool-born Shaun Evans will be playing John Sweeney, the man nicknamed “the Scalp Hunter” because of his gruesome murders.
Shaun made a name for himself when he portrayed Endeavour Morse on the ITV drama Endeavour from 2012 until 2023.
In 2025, he’ll be appearing in yet another ITV drama when he played MI5 agent John Hughes in Betrayal.
Kevin Doyle
Kevin has appeared in some of the biggest shows to air on British TV over his four decade career.
His biggest role was that of headteacher John in The Lakes which he played from 1997 until 1999.
Kevin also played Joseph Molesley in Downton Abbey from 2010 until 2015, but later reprised his role for the film series.
In Until I Kill You, he plays David who supports Delia in her court case against John.
Steve Edge
Benidorm-star Steve Edge will be playing DS Collins in the series.
His character is laser-focused on tracking down the terrifying Scalp Hunter, but the actor is better known for his more lighthearted roles.
Eagle-eyed viewers can spot him in the 2014 film Paddington, when he plays a security guard at the Natural History Museum.
A surprise filming location
The series was primarily filmed in Swansea, which was dressed up to look like London.
Anna said that thought the project would be filmed close to her home in London but was pleasantly surprised to find it would take her to Wales.
She said: “I love the Welsh people and we had a lovely crew, but this is all set literally around the corner from my house, so when I got it I thought, “Brilliant this is easy with the kids” – we’re a single-parent family so I thought it would be great… and then they said we were going all the way to Swansea!
“But I was staying in the Mumbles and I had the kids down over Easter, which was heaven – we went swimming along the Gower Peninsula every day and it was gorgeous.”
When will Until I Kill You be broadcast on ITV?
The nail-biting show will land on ITV on November 3, 2024.
It will kick off at 9pm, but anyone who misses the first episode can catch up on ITVX.
The full series will be available to binge early on the streaming platform.
