'Until I Kill You' Will Premiere on BritBox in November

The Shaun Evans-Anna Maxwell Martin thriller Until I Kill You has finally landed a streaming home in America only days after ITV dropped the official trailer. As I predicted almost a year ago, upon writing up the series' first images, the limited series will stream on BritBox in the U.S.; the service has confirmed it scooped up the series to stream in November 2024. (BritBox viewers, please note this will be a U.S. debut only; Until I Kill You has been streaming in Canada since April 2024 on the Hollywood Suite channel.) 

The series is Evan's first follow-up to his decade tenure as Young Endeavour Morse for ITV and Masterpiece in the hit series Endeavour. However, the project should be considered Maxwell Martin's, as she plays the character the show was initially named for, Delia Balmer. Balmer, a real-life NHS nurse, met her boyfriend, John Sweeney, in 1991 and moved in with him before realizing something was profoundly wrong. But by the time she'd put two and two together, it was too late; Sweeney, a serial killer who had murdered his previous girlfriend, was already attempting to kill her.

Balmer's case is famous in the U.K.; she survived Sweeney's multiple attempts on her life and the London Metropolitan Police's complete incompetence that allowed him to escape. When Sweeney's next girlfriend wasn't so lucky, Sweeney was arrested, and Balmer was called upon to testify in open court about her experiences. The result gave him the nickname "The Scalp Hunter" and put him away for life; Balmer subsequently wrote a best-seller detailing the experience, which is now the basis for the series.

Here's the series' full synopsis:

In 1991, Delia led an itinerant and solitary life in London, working as an agency nurse. When she meets fellow free-spirit John Sweeney in a local pub, it seems like the connection she has been searching for. As the relationship develops, Sweeney’s artistic, anti-establishment persona gives way to a darker side, culminating in a series of violent attacks on Delia, during which he tells her he killed his former girlfriend and disposed of her body in an Amsterdam canal.  

Sweeney is arrested but, due to a catastrophic failure by the court to realize how dangerous he is, granted bail. He immediately pursues Delia and subjects her to a horrific, near-fatal attack. She survives, but Sweeney evades capture and disappears. Shattered by the trauma and injuries inflicted by Sweeney, Delia bravely seeks to rebuild her life. But Sweeney returns seven years later and is arrested for the murder of another girlfriend in North London. Delia’s fragile recovery is shattered all over again as she has to face Sweeney in open court, her testimony vital to the prosecution case against him.

Along with Maxwell-Martin and Evans, the series co-stars Kevin Doyle (Downton Abbey) as Delia's boyfriend after Sweeney, plus Clare Foster (Nolly), Amanda Wilkin (Am I Being Unreasonable?) and Jack Franklin (Masters of the Air) as Delia's besties who arguably saved her life. Laura Morgan (Victoria) plays the cop who listened to her; Steve Edge (The Madame Blanc Mysteries) and Matthew Aubrey (Steeltown Murders) are the ones who didn't. The series also features Evans' former co-star on Endeavour, Simon Harrison, Sallie Harmsen (Van der Valk), Lucy Thackeray (Call the Midwife),  William Brand (The Serpent), Stephanie Street (The Couple Next Door), and Renu Brindle (The Nevers). 

Nick Stevens (The Pembrokeshire Murders) wrote the four-part series, adapted from the real Delia Balmer's autobiography, Living With a Serial Killer, with director Julia Ford (The Bay) helming all four installments, and Ken Horn (The Devil’s Hour) produced it. World Productions produced the series for ITV and ITVX. Until I Kill You will premiere on ITV, ITVX, and BritBox in November and air in four installments over four nights on both channels. This is the second series BritBox is trying out the "daily installments" schedule.

ITV has not confirmed the release date for Until I Kill You in the U.K., but it will start streaming on BritBox in the U.S. only* on Thursday, November 7, with new episodes daily through Sunday, November 10, 2024. 

(*Canadians, don't feel bad! On November 7, you'll finally get Avoidance Season 2 instead.)