Is Until I Kill You a true story? – Until I Kill You is the latest true-crime drama that brings to the screen the crimes of serial killer John Sweeney and his victims.
Is Until I Kill You a true story?
Until I Kill You is based on a true story, with the story being based on extensive research, interviews and published accounts. The series is also based on the book published by Delia Balmer about her experiences.
Several elements have been created for the purpose of the series, with scenes and characters added for dramatisation.
Some names had been changed for the series, including Dave, the character who strikes up a relationship with Delia in the later episodes. ‘We changed some names out of reverence to the families,’ explains producer Ken Horn. ‘So the person who she has the relationship with in the last two episodes, played by Kevin Doyle, that wasn’t his real name.’
What is Until I Kill You about?
Ken also revealed that the character of Leah was actually an amalgamation of Balmer’s friends. ‘You’re trying to condense a story of such magnitude into four hours of television, it’s difficult, and it was set over quite a long time period,’ he said.
‘What makes this drama unique in a sense about a true-crime drama is that the victim survived and we see the story through her eyes, whereas normally you tend to have to work with the police,’ Ken explains.
Who is in the cast of Until I Kill You?
Anna Maxwell Martin
Anna Maxwell Martin will play the role of Delia Balmer after her well-known portrayal of Julia Johnstone in the BBC sitcom, Motherland.
Martin already may also be recognised by fans for an appearance in the comedy series Mandy.
The Bafta-winning actress has already played a number of serious roles 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” after his gruesome murders.
The 44-year-old is also known for portraying Coxswain Elliot Glover in Vigil and first made a name for himself when he portrayed Endeavour Morse on the ITV drama Endeavour from 2012-23.
Evans, as well as acting, has directed three episodes of BBC’s Casualty and four episodes of Endeavour.
In 2025, he will appear in another ITV drama where he plays MI5 agent John Hughes in Betrayal.
Kevin Doyle
Kevin Doyle has appeared in some of the biggest shows to air on British TV over his four-decade career.
Doyle is most well-known for roles including John Parr in the television series The Lakes, DS John Wadsworth in Happy Valley, and valet/footman Joseph Molesley in Downton Abbey.
He has also made appearances in The Crimson Field and Coronation Street and in addition to a Royal Television Society award for best actor, he has won two Screen Actors Guild awards.
In Until I Kill You, he plays David who supports Delia in her court case against John.
Clare Foster
Clare Foster is best-known for playing PC Millie Brown in the television show The Bill on ITV.
Foster also starred in the 2011 London revival of Crazy for You, which took place at the Novello Theatre, and the 2018 West End Revival of Consent.
She also performed in Rossum’s Universal Robots, a musical adaption broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2022.
Steve Edge
English actor Steve Edge will be playing DS Collins in the series.
Viewers may recognise him from the 2014 film Paddington, when he plays a security guard at the Natural History Museum.
His character this time around is focused on tracking down the notorious Scalp Hunter as he steps away from his usual light-hearted roles.
How to watch Until I Kill You
The true-crime series will land on ITV on 3 November, 2024 and will continue to air every night for three more nights.
It will start at 9pm but viewers can also catch-up on ITVX.
There will be four episodes in total.
Who were John Sweeney’s other victims?
John Sweeney is still in prison and serving a life sentence. He was arrested in 2001 and given four life sentences for the attempted murder of Balmer, and for having four guns in his possession.
Melissa Halstead is believed to be Sweeney’s first victim, with the torso of the American photographer found in a canal in Rotterdam, Holland. The pair had been travelling across Europe after her work visa in the UK had come to an end.
The mutilated body had its hands and head severed, in an attempt to prevent identification, with the missing body parts never found.
It wasn’t until 2008 that Melissa’s body was identified, after Dutch detectives matched DNA of her body to family members.
Sweeney then attacked Paula Fields while on the run following his axe attack on Delia Balmer in 1994.
The dismembered and headless body of Fields was found in London’s Regent’s Canal in 2001.
Sweeney was found guilty of both murders at trial in 2011 and sentenced to life imprisonment. It’s thought that he could be responsible for several more murders of women who had gone missing in the area between 1970 and 1990.
Where is Delia Balmer now?
Delia Balmer was involved in the making of the series, with the TV drama including some events that didn’t appear in her book. ‘I gave him detailed critiques of the drafts he had written,’ Balmer said. ‘He followed my wishes and made certain changes where possible, and as I had suggested.’
In the aftermath of her experience, Balmer received sessions from a clinical psychologist at a PTSD clinic. While still experiencing depression and anxiety, Balmer continues to do therapeutic massages, take ballet dance classes, and travel whenever she can.
After feeling like her story had not been portrayed correctly in the media, Balmer wrote a book about her experience with John Sweeney and the Criminal Justice System, though claims that still much was omitted by the book’s editor.
