#Snap lens studio serial#

Shaun Evans continued: 'I've previously worked with World Productions and ITV separately, so I'm looking forward to joining forces to tell this story. 'As it is brought to life by Nick Stevens, hopefully we will do Delia due diligence,' the actress added. The drama Delia Balmer will premiere on ITV1 and ITVX and will be based on Ms Balmer's book. Filming will commence during February 2023.Īnna Maxwell Martin said: 'Telling an important story with the excellent team from World Productions, producer Ken Horn, director Julia Ford and a brilliant cast is always an exciting proposition! However, Ms Balmer did eventually inform police of what had happened and Sweeney was remanded in Pentonville Prison, only to be allowed out on bail and immediately track her down prior to his brutal attack. Prior to the attempt on her life, Sweeney had held her captive and repeatedly raped her in a week-long ordeal, for which he was arrested but released on bail This culminated in Ms Balmer being tied down to their bed and sexually abused for seven days, with Sweeney threatening to cut off her tongue if she screamed for help.ĭuring this sickening campaign of abuse, he confessed to killing Miss Halstead and dumping her body in a Rotterdam canal in 1990. Her relationship with Sweeney, from Merseyside, turned sour as possessive behaviour turned to death threats and assaults.

#Snap lens studio serial#

Ms Balmer - who wrote a book Living With A Serial Killer (2017) about her ordeal - said it was: 'A body disposal kit meant for me.' Ms Balmer knew she would likely suffer the same fate as Miss Halstead when she found gloves, a ground sheet, rope, a saw and masking tape. ITV has commissioned four-part true crime drama, Delia Balmer, featuring Motherland star Anna Maxwell Martin (pictured right) as Delia Balmer and Endeavour actor Shaun Evans (pictured left) as John SweeneyĪt that time, she had no idea that he had already murdered one former partner, Melissa Halstead, and also would go on to kill Paula Fields. She had first met Sweeney at a pub in Camden, north London, and the two became close after sharing a love of travelling. Retired nurse Ms Balmer correctly predicted she would be Sweeney's next target before she knew of his murderous past when she found a 'body disposal kit'. I am going to die in pain, mentally and physically.' She said in 2017, via The Mirror: 'He wanted me to die in pain, and he’s got his wish. The fact he was locked up for life for a double murder conviction in 2011, 21 years after his first killing, was of no consolation to Ms Balmer.

Three other women who Sweeney was known to have dated have never been found. Sweeney went on the run for six years and killed 31-year-old mother Paula Fields, whose body was found in Regent's Canal, London.

'So I wasn’t happy when I woke up in an intensive care unit. I don’t want to live in this anger and pain' Ms Balmer previously revealed she was devastated to wake up in intensive care after the attack, admitting: 'On the doorstep, I saw this finger fly through the air, and I thought:, 'That’s it. Delia Balmer was hacked to within an inch of her life by John Sweeney (pictured together), who she had dated for three years