Delia Balmer on dramatising real-life trauma for Until I Kill You: "I remain an angry person"

The drama charts her emotional journey through the police and criminal justice system as they attempt to prosecute Sweeney for his crimes, and the impact of her time with him.

But speaking about her feelings towards the new series, Balmer admits that she is still left with a feeling of anger about the whole ordeal. Speaking to ITV ahead of the series, Balmer was asked whether she felt any hesitation in allowing this time in her life to be dramatised.

She explained: "When I wrote my original story, I included every detail of what happened. When it came to the final attack on the doorstep, I edited it over and over again, wanting everything to read precisely as it had happened.

"My concern has always been to get the truth out by whatever means. I remain an angry person. Sweeney was let out on bail. The police gave me insufficient protection before his final assault. Later, I was forced to go to court to be further traumatised by the system."

On how she felt about her story being made into a TV drama, Balmer said: "I wrote my own original story because I wanted the facts of what really happened known. Often the media had not portrayed them accurately, and many issues important to me had not been stated. The printed book had been edited and much of what I had written was also omitted.

"I met Nick Stevens, the writer of the drama, in my literary agent’s office. He has included some of the events which I had written about that did not appear in the book. I gave him detailed critiques of the drafts he had written.

"He followed my wishes and made certain changes where possible, and as I had suggested. Nick is very nice, and in his own words says he is trying to help me. The team at ITV have also treated me favourably. I had the opportunity of visiting the set in Wales. It was interesting to watch filming of some of the drama."

The official synopsis for the series reads: "In 1991, Delia leads 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 realise 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."

It continues: "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.

"This is the story of one woman's astonishing will to survive through physical and emotional torment, despite the failings of the institutions which were meant to protect her."

Until I Kill You will air on ITV1 and ITVX from Sunday 3rd November to Wednesday 6th November at 9pm on ITV1.

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