Shaun Evans, the star of ITV's Endeavour, has already started filming scenes for a new crime series.

The last episode of the Inspector Morse prequel was shown on Sunday and series nine is to be the last.

The actor has been quick to take on a new screen role and this time he will be on the wrong side of the law in a true-crime series.

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Mr Evans is to lead the cast of Delia Balmer, alongside Line of Duty and Motherland actress Anna Maxwell Martin.

The series, which is currently in production under the working title Delia Balmer, will explore the real-life story of Delia who survived a near-fatal relationship with murderer John Sweeney.

Oxford Mail:

The four-part series will air on ITV1 and ITX and sees Anna portray the title character and Shaun Evans play John Sweeney, who is currently serving a life sentence for murdering his former girlfriends.

John Sweeney committed his first crime more than 30 years ago.

Delia's story has been told before in various true crime documentaries and in her book, Delia Balmer: My Story, Living With a Serial Killer. 

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The book details how Sweeney soon became violent and controlling, before then confessing to previous murders, leading Delia to live in fear she would be his next target.

Mr Evans said: "I'm looking forward to joining forces to tell this story. A story that is quite rightly told through the victim's lens, Delia.

Oxford Mail:

"We have an excellent script from Nick Stevens and I couldn't be more delighted to work with Anna."

Ms Maxwell Martin said in a statement about taking on the role of Delia: "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. 

"As it is brought to life by Nick Stevens, hopefully we will do Delia due diligence."

Filming started last month and it is not yet known when the series will be screened.

In 2021, Mr Evans appeared alongside Suranne Jones in submarine drama Vigil.

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It attracted an audience of over 13 million viewers across 30 days for episode one, and the series overall had an average of 12.6m viewers.

Mr Evans played coxswain Elliot Glover, who was poisoned towards the end of series one but reunited with his family in hospital. It's not yet known if he will return for series two.

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This story was written by Andy Ffrench, he joined the team more than 20 years ago and now covers community news across Oxfordshire.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Andy.ffrench@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter @OxMailAndyF