Until I Kill You: who is its star Anna Maxwell Martin and what has she been in?

Move over, The Sixth Commandment and The Long Shadow: Britain has a caller existent transgression obsession.

ITV’s caller series, Until I Kill You, tells the real-life communicative of Delia Balmer, a pistillate who strikes up a narration with John Sweeney. The lone problem? Sweeney is simply a murderer, and soon Balmer finds her ain beingness successful danger.

The amusement is based connected her memoir, Living With A Serial Killer. So who is the histrion that plays her, Anna Maxwell Martin? Here’s what to know.

Martin was calved successful Beverley, East Yorkshire, successful 1977. Her parents were scientists – her begetter was the managing manager of a pharmaceutical company, portion her parent was a researcher.

“My parents had nary thought wherever I came from, but they fto maine get connected with it,” Martin told the Mail connected Sunday. “I’d formal up successful small outfits and I’d get to sing solos. I retrieve dressing arsenic a pearly queen for 1 performance, but Whitney [Houston] was my idol.”

As a child, she said, she was besides “a spot strung out. I utilized to get wholly hyperactive and past wholly depressed. I’m overmuch much level now”.

Nevertheless, by the clip she was 11, she’d decided that she was going to spell into acting. A spell astatine Liverpool University, past LAMDA followed. When the clip came to articulation Equity, Martin added Maxwell to her sanction to separate her from different Anna Martin.

Success rapidly followed for Martin. She made her debut successful 2001 astatine the Donmar Warehouse successful a accumulation of The Little Foxes. By 2004 she was getting rave reviews for playing Lyra successful the National Theatre’s accumulation of His Dark Materials; the lone amusement her begetter saw earlier helium died.

She was aged 24 astatine the time. "When it happened to maine erstwhile I was 24, I was precise lonely," she aboriginal told BBC Women’s Hour. "I was precise isolated due to the fact that nary 1 I knew had been done it what I'd been done - I didn't cognize those people.”

Despite the tragedy, her enactment saw her nominated for her archetypal Olivier, and past 2 BAFTAs (which she won) for her enactment successful Bleak House and Poppy Shakespeare.

As Martin’s vocation blossomed, truthful did her backstage life: she fell successful emotion with manager Roger Michell. 21 years older than her, Michell had been joined antecedently and had 2 children.

“When I met him helium felt similar my person,” Martin aboriginal joked. “I groomed him to autumn successful emotion with me.” The brace joined and had 2 daughters unneurotic – Maggie and Nancy – earlier separating successful 2020.

“I haven’t truly spoken astir it due to the fact that it isn’t just connected each the radical involved,” she said erstwhile it happened. “There are 4 children to deliberation about. It’s taken an tremendous magnitude of time, but we are each getting done it successful a steadfast way… you get connected with life. We speech each the time.”

Though occurrence successful America ne'er rather happened, Martin forged a estimation successful the UK for being a precocious prime actress. In 2016, she appeared successful the award-winning drama Motherland – her archetypal drama – which was followed by a stint arsenic the loathed Patricia Carmichael successful Line of Duty.

At the time, bid creator Jed Mercurio gushed that helium was “delighted and flattered that an histrion of Anna Maxwell Martin’s presumption agreed to play this pivotal role”.

Despite that success, Martin has remained down to earth. “I don’t get offended if idiosyncratic comes up to maine successful Waitrose – for immoderate reason, it’s Waitrose successful peculiar – and says: ‘Oh, I saw you successful Cabaret. I hated it. You weren’t precise good,’” she told the Observer.

In caller years, Martin has appeared successful shows from David Mitchell’s drama Ludwig (which aired successful September) to Prime Video amusement Good Omens.

In 2021, she besides had to woody with the decease of her ex-husband Michell, aged 65, a twelvemonth aft the brace separated. Speaking connected Women’s Hour, Martin described the “financial terror” she felt for herself and her daughters arsenic a result.

"My hubby died 3 years agone and things were truly hard connected each facet of our lives,” she said. “One of those was that there's a batch of worldly that comes with grief, and 1 of them is fiscal terror. And past determination are existent practicalities astir your children and their intelligence health, and supporting them, which is your priority."

"It was horrible to person to spot my children locomotion that road. But I’m beauteous gritty and beauteous strong, and I deliberation I’m rather deft, I hope, astatine navigating life. I thought, 'I’ve conscionable got to support the centrifugal chugging on'."

In September, the BBC announced that Martin would prima other Anna Friel successful a 90-minute play from Jimmy McGovern, the creator of the acclaimed situation amusement Time. It is unclear erstwhile the as-yet untitled caller play is to air.