ITV viewers have been stunned by the harrowing new series Until I Kill You, which tells the true story of nurse Delia Balmer’s shocking ordeal of realising her boyfriend of three years was a serial killer.
The series, based on Balmer’s 2017 memoir Living with a Serial Killer, stars Motherland ‘s Anna Maxwell Martin as Balmer and Vigil actor Shaun Evans as serial killer John Sweeney. It depicts everything from the beginning of the pair’s relationship to all the moments Balmer tried to leave Sweeney, up until when he attacked her using an axe.
While episodes have been airing on ITV1 since 3 November, the series is fully available to watch in its entirety on ITVX.
Already, viewers have proclaimed Maxwell Martin’s performance to be the “best” of her career.
“Anna Maxwell Martin is outstandingly good in this. What an actor, able to straddle comedy and serious drama so brilliantly. She should be winning everything (and should have been for a long time),” said one viewer on X/Twitter.
Another said the actor is an “absolute powerhouse” in the series, and is “right up there with the best British actresses”.
“Just watched pt 1 and halfway through pt. 2 tears in my eyes and shouting at the TV. Anna Maxwell Martin MUST GET AN AWARD FOR THIS,” wrote one viewer.
“#DeliaBalmer is a freaking warrior!” said another viewer. “To go through that trauma and be treated appallingly by the Met and survive. I just binged #untilIKillYou because I did not want to stop watching. Every award should go to this production and #AnnaMaxwellMartin is fabulous!”
Another person praised the series for portraying coercive control in such a nuanced light.
“Until I Kill You is a terrifying watch,” they said. “Coercive relationships are extremely difficult to identify when you’re in one and fooled. My heart goes out to anyone who is trapped in an abusive relationship. Please seek help.”
Balmer and Sweeney met in a pub in London’s Camden in 1991 and instantly got along when they learnt of each other’s love for travelling.
When their relationship began, Sweeney would gift Balmer flowers and shower her with affection. Balmer later realised that these attempts at showing love were manipulative as he gradually became more controlling and physically abusive as time went on.
Writing in her memoir, Balmer remarked that the changes happened slowly at the beginning. “I should’ve known something was wrong but I am too soft and trusting. I’d never come across anything like it before,” she wrote.
Balmer attempted to get out of the relationship but she feared for her safety. She briefly left Sweeney in 1994 and changed the locks on her front door. She asked the police to investigate a suspicious bag hidden behind a bathroom panel, which she describes in the book as a “body disposal kit meant for me”.
Despite Balmer’s attempts to warn the police, Sweeney broke into her home and held her hostage for four days, tying her to a bed and threatening her with a gun. When Sweeney did leave the flat, Balmer fled to report what had happened to the police. They arrested Sweeney for holding her hostage but allowed him out on bail.
In harrowing scenes recounted in both the book and series, Sweeney then attacked Balmer with an axe, until she was saved by a neighbour who rescued her by striking Sweeney with a baseball bat.
In the subsequent trial, Balmer said: “He had the axe above his head ready to finish me off. Then the man next door came out and risked his life. I had just curled up ready to go.”
Sweeney was arrested in 2001 and was given four life sentences for the attempted murder of Balmer, and for having four guns when he was arrested while on the run.
In 2010, while serving this sentence, he was charged with the murder of two women and sentenced to life imprisonment. According to the BBC, authorities believe he may have killed three more women who had gone missing in the area between 1970 and 1990.
The national domestic abuse helpline offers support for women on 0808 2000 247, or you can visit the Refuge website. There is a dedicated men’s advice line on 0808 8010 327. Those in the US can call the domestic violence hotline on 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org
