Shaun Evans Drama 'Until I Kill You' To Debut in 2024
Anna Maxwell Martin as Delia Balmer looking in the mirror at Shaun Evans as John Sweeney in 'Until I Kill You's key art
ITV
With Endeavour's final season closing the book on the Inspector Morse Universe in 2023, ITV quickly announced that Shaun Evans would not be gone long from the small screen. On the heels of the series' swan song in the U.K., the network announced it was greenlighting a new limited series from World Productions (the same outfit that produced hits like Vigil and Karen Pirie) based on the autobiographical memoir Living With a Serial Killer penned by Delia Balmer, who survived being in a relationship with serial killer John Sweeney, known as the "Scalp Hunter Killer." (Why do they all have nicknames like that? I have questions.)
At the time, the series was going into production under the working title of Delia Balmer, with Anna Maxwell Martin (Line of Duty) attached to star as the titular Balmer and Evans doing a full one-eighty after becoming a household name for a decade of playing the noble detective by taking on the role of Sweeney. However, since then, the project's moniker has been altered, with ITV revealing the new, updated title Until I Kill You in October at Mipcom 2023. The project was considered one of the significant attractions going into the TV festival, in which European producers usually land American distributors. However, the recent October attacks and economic worries largely overshadowed the event, and if ITV picked up a buyer, it was not announced.
Even though Until I Kill You does not have a home announced in America as yet, ITV is pushing forward with the project, listing it as part of the upcoming 2024 slate during the year-end ITV Palooza, along with the Joanne Froggatt-starrer Breathtaking, the Sophie Turner heist thriller Joan, and the dark comedy thriller project Passenger.
Here's the official series synopsis:
When Delia meets John Sweeney in a local North London pub, he seems like the kindred spirit she has been searching for. She has no idea he is a killer, but as his artistic, anti-establishment persona gives way to a darker side, he becomes violent and finally confesses to murdering his former girlfriend. Sweeney is arrested but then released on bail after a catastrophic failure by the court to recognize how dangerous he really is, leaving him free to subject Delia to a near-fatal attack, and what follows is gruesome.
Maxwell-Martin and Evans are joined on the project by Evans' former co-star on Endeavour, Simon Harrison, as well as Jack Franklin (Masters of the Air), Clare Foster (Nolly), Stephanie Street (The Couple Next Door), and Renu Brindle (The Nevers). The four-part series was written by Nick Stevens (The Pembrokeshire Murders), with Julia Ford (The Bay) directing and Ken Horn (The Devil’s Hour) as the producer.
Until I Kill You is expected to premiere on ITV in the first half of 2024, and while it may not have an American distributor right now, if it doesn't wind up on BritBox, I'll be shocked.
