ITV Finally Releases Trailer for Shaun Evans Thriller 'Until I Kill You'

It is never easy to know what to do with a major TV star when the breakout series they starred in is over, especially when that series ran for an entire decade. Not every actor manages to transition to other roles; Game of Thrones' Emilia Clarke, for example, is still floundering, attaching herself to flop after flop, while her co-star, Kit Harington, only just found his footing with Industry Season 3 after flirting with returning to the role of Jon Snow for lack of being able to land a role in anything else. The same is happening to Shaun Evans, whose ten years as Morse on Endeavour are proving hard to shake, as his follow-up, Until I Kill You, has been stuck in a cycle of delays.

In defense of programmers, Until I Kill You feels like a Walter Presents title, a slightly stiff, literal translation of a title that reads much better in the original language, or maybe one of those godawful movies of the week that used to fill the hours on Lifetime. The series' original title was Delia Balmer, named for the lead character played by Anna Maxwell Martin (A Spy Among Friends), the real-life survivor of serial killer John Sweeney (Evans), whose testimony put him away for the rest of his life. That was suitable for U.K. viewers, who would recognize the name, but failed at broader appeal. 

Moreover, the series itself is a bit of a hard sell, as Evans' decision to take the role of real-life Sweeney is a classic "casting against type" move most actors aim for after playing the same role for years on end, despite audiences not wanting to see their favorite hero as a serial killer, no matter how much he's itching to play one. However, Evans has already moved on from Until I Kill You, announcing he'll star next as an MI-5 anti-hero in Betrayal, also commissioned for ITV. But Until I Kill You was slated to air before the end of 2024, and ITV is keeping that promise, dropping the official trailer that assures those who want to see it that the show is forthcoming before year's end.

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.

Maxwell-Martin and Evans are joined on the project by Evans' former co-star on Endeavour, Simon Harrison, as well as Kevin Doyle (Downton Abbey), Laura Morgan (Victoria), Sallie Harmsen (Van der Valk), Lucy Thackeray (Call the Midwife), Steve Edge (The Madame Blanc Mysteries), Clare Foster (Nolly), Amanda Wilkin (Am I Being Unreasonable?), Matthew Aubrey (Steeltown Murders), Jack Franklin (Masters of the Air), 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, Julia Ford (The Bay) directed it, and Ken Horn (The Devil’s Hour) produced it. World Productions produced the series for ITV and ITVX.

Until I Kill You is expected to premiere on ITV before the end of 2024, and hopefully, an American distributor will be announced soon after.