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Every weel the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.

This week, Siobhan Synnot and Scott Bryan join Naga Munchetty to review new ITV true crime drama, Until I Kill You.

Based on real events, Until I Kill You follows the story of nurse Delia Balmer and construction worker John Sweeney who meet in a Camden pub in the 1990s and begin an unexpected relationship.

At first caring, John soon turned violent and abusive after Delia broke up with him in 1994. On more than one occasion John would hold her hostage and once confessed to her the murder of his previous girlfriend.

John was arrested in 2001 for the attempted murder of Delia and given four life sentences.

Naga: “You know when you're just constantly waiting for something bad to happen? That's how I felt the whole time I watched this.”

Scott: “I mean, it is a Must Watch. I've seen all four [episodes], I saw all four in one go and I think I had that emotion the entire time. Anna Maxwell-Martin, of course, she's been in Line of Duty, Motherland, I think this is her greatest role to date - she is completely compelling.

“As Siobhan was just saying, she meets a carpenter called John. The relationship initially starts out fine, but then his behaviour becomes all the more stranger.”

Scott: “He disappears for weeks at a time without really telling her where he's going. She feels more trapped then experiences repeated physical and sexual assaults from him. Then it becomes apparent that she is living with a serial killer.

“He confesses to the murder of one of his ex-girlfriends. You're wondering at that point, because it's a very difficult watch, where is the focus of this drama going to be? The drama's strength is that it taps into the failures of institutions that are supposed to be there to protect.

“This is set in the early '90s. She goes to the police, tells them about the horrific experiences that she's been through, and she's having to do it in a whole room full of strangers.

“When she's told about the physical and sexual assault that she's experienced, and she says that her brain has been shut down from those experiences, she's then told ‘well, if you can't remember exactly, how do you know that you've not given your consent?’ - she finds drawings that suggest culpability for a murder, but the police just downplay it and immediately assume that she is eccentric.”

Scott: “What I found so compelling about this is that it really meticulously just went into failure. It's the failure of the communication between police departments and investigations, which allowed John to slip through the cracks. After arrest, he’s released for Christmas to be with his family, while Delia is told that she can’t visit her family abroad because of the ongoing police investigation.

“Time and time again she warns them that her life is at risk, and time and time again they fail her. Her fears are either dismissed or downplayed. The thing that stands out to me, all of the people who are dismissing or downplaying are all men, it's the women in her life who have to pick up the pieces.

“My fear was replaced with a growing sense of rage, and I feel that that is going to be the case for viewers.

“I think Anna Maxwell-Martin and Shaun Evans, who plays John, are just fantastic. It's been handled very well because this is based on a memoir by Delia Balmer, who is Anna Maxwell-Martin, but she works with Nick Stevens, who wrote this, who’s behind The Pembrokeshire Murders.

“She was consulted with scripts and they tried to ensure an accurate depiction of her story. What I really found so engrossing was that her character is treated with such complexity.

“I have on my phone a list of the best shows of the year. On there, I've got Criminal Record, Big Boys, Baby Reindeer. This show… it’s on there - straight out.”

Scott: “It's a drama of its time, but it really reminds you perhaps of how little has changed. Just a few weeks ago, the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ reported on how three quarters of sexual offence victims say that when they’re questioned in court, they are still questioned on myths and stereotypes. This is a drama that I think really makes you wonder when you're watching this, how much has really changed?”

Naga: “Yeah, the way she [Anna Maxwell-Martin] plays her character as well, I think, shows just the lack of sympathy because she's not a likeable character, and that adds to the mix, but everything you said, is bang on about how she is ignored and treated. Unfortunately, there are echoes of it still. Siobhan?”

Siobhan: “I thought this was terrific. It’s gripping and also outrageous in the story that it tells, and it is a serious contender as the new Mr Bates vs The Post Office. I think it's very much not about a serial killer and this is an important move forward.

“Look at the Sixth Commandment on the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ or the Long Shadow on ITV, very much focused on the people who were attacked rather than in any way trying to glamourise the killers.

“So the focus on Delia, she's very strong and very resilient. But as you're saying, she's not a conventionally easy character. She's quirky; she doesn't have a TV, she doesn't read papers, she dresses in an old-fashioned way, she sleeps on the floor, she can be a bit pretentious, she can be blunt, she can be frustrating.

“It's that loneliness and that quirkiness that leads her to connect with John Sweeney. This is very much a deep dig into character. It also reflects how deceptive first impressions can be, because at first it's John Sweeney who seems likeable and relatable. There's an incident where he spills tea on her carpet and it is Delia who freaks out, disproportionately.”

Siobhan: “It's a gradual reveal that Delia has qualities of strength and independence and intelligence, whereas Sweeney just gets darker - especially after the worst family Christmas dinner ever.”

Naga: “I haven't got to that bit yet, I don't know if I'm going to.”

Siobhan: “As Scott says, Delia's character doesn't fit conventional victim profiles. So her friends, some of them are heroic, but the legal system - the police, they don't know what to make of it.

“The police can't cope with how she expresses herself. You do hope that things have moved on, but the mid-90s and the mid-00s aren't that far away.

“I thought this was a terrific piece of drama. I can be a bit snobby about true crime, but so much of this drama reflects on how society treats people that are a little different. That's one of the things that makes this story great. It also doesn't pander to the audience, it respects our ability to assess character and Anna Maxwell-Martin and Shaun Evans were just uncompromisingly brilliant.”

Naga: “I don't know if I can watch the last three episodes, I feel like I should. I just don't know if I've got that in me.”

Siobhan: “I would say it skirts the horror that you're anticipating. I think it treats the characters with dignity, and it's not as explicit and exploitative as you might fear.”

Scott: “I agree, I also think that as we review TV there are, as the year goes on some very difficult moments. Then you think to yourself, 'What am I putting myself through by watching this?”, 'will I regret watching this?', when I have finished all four parts, will I think, 'that has been taxing on me'. It's a very difficult drama, but I found it so compelling, informative and educational. I have not regretted watching this, and I doubt you will either, it's one of my favourite shows of the year so far.”

You can watch all episodes of Until I Kill You on ITVX now.

But before all that, why not contact Scott and Hayley with the shows you’ve been loving, loathing or both on mustwatch@bbc.co.uk.

Must Watch is released as a podcast every Monday evening on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Sounds.

This week the team also reviewed The Diplomat and Day of the Jackal.