"It's something that everyone was always very keenly aware of," he says. "I think Dennis Nilsen himself became rather obsessed with his legacy after he was caught," the star says. “I’d read Masters’s book and found myself drawn to this kind of unknowable psychology – just the fact that it went on for years with nobody even suspecting that Nilsen was anything other than a rather boring and inconspicuous man.”. Des, starring David Tennant as Nilsen – who passed away in 2018 after spending 35 years in prison – will run from 9pm tonight (Monday) to Wednesday on ITV It’s about trying to get some sort of sense of him, not to relate to why he did what he did but to try to understand it. Trailer For David Tennant Thriller Des Has Dropped 4 months ago He said: "After he was arrested, Dennis Nilsen became obsessed with was the legend of 'Des' - the reputation that he left behind. It was never our intention to glorify Nilsen.”, It is partly because of this that Neal and Arnold chose to eschew flashbacks, a standard device in true-crime dramas. Photograph: ITV. "It certainly would seem that those who worked with him at the job office found him pleasant enough. How David Tennant transformed himself into serial killer Dennis Nilsen About to star as the notorious murderer in the new ITV drama Des, the actor explains the extraordinary challenges involved Video. Lucy Mangan @LucyMangan. A third angle is provided by the portrayal of the true-crime writer Brian Masters (Jason Watkins), who became involved after becoming concerned about the way in which the press was covering the case. He unwittingly entered the job centre where Nilsen was working at the time and took the monster up on an offer of a drink before disappearing. That's a fine line to tread in a high-profile prime-time mini-series with him at its centre. Many of Nilsen's victims were homeless and vulnerable. 'I'm Australian - why do I need to prove my loyalty? "But it is none of these.". Available for everyone, funded by readers. David Tennant's latest role may be his most gruesome one yet. David Tennant as Dennis Nilsen (Image: ITV) Nilsen also admitted boiling heads in a cooking pot on his stove to dispose of the brains. VideoWhat's in store for US President-elect Biden in 2021? Here's the chilling true story behind David Tennant's Des and real-life British serial killer Dennis Nilsen. He interviewed the killer regularly while he was on remand, convincing Nilsen to hand over his notebooks and even a portfolio containing drawings of the dead victims. © 2021 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. David Tennant looks like Fraserburgh-born serial killer Dennis Nilsen in the new ITV drama Des, but did he get his accent right? There was so much misinformation out there about the victims, and the coverage was so terrible, “I was really intrigued when I read Luke’s script, not only because it captured the period so brilliantly, but also because the idea of coming into the story at the moment that Nilsen was arrested seemed like the perfect way in, because then you’re not dealing with this potential kind of gore-fest. There was a lot of homelessness, a lot of disfranchised people, a lot of poverty and unemployment – in that sense it’s not impossible to imagine someone like Nilsen doing something similar today.”. The blockage was caused by human remains. “We had no desire to glorify him, and presenting his version of events as the true version would have been doing that.”. ', Why 2021 could be turning point for tackling climate change, playThe train carriage for stray pets. He would invite young men, many of whom were without roots, to his house in the north London suburb of Muswell Hill, where he offered them food and drink before killing them. “There was so much misinformation out there about the victims, and the coverage was so terrible.”, Many newspapers implied that the victims were gay, hinting that their “lifestyle” was partly to blame for their death. David Tennant says people have often pointed out his resemblance to Dennis Nilsen. "Anyone who had known him at all, it seemed, said he was at best unremarkable and at worst bloody boring to be around. Of course, when you do a story like this, everyone involved is very aware that you have to tread carefully and that you must be sensitive to the variety of reactions that it will provoke.". David Tennant (Credit: ITV) ITV has commissioned a new ITV drama, Des , starring David Tennant ( Good Omens ) as the serial killer Dennis Nilsen. David Tennant portrays serial killer Dennis Nilsen in ITV drama Des. In a first look clip of ITV’s Des, we see the Doctor Who star in action as he takes on the lead role.. David Tennant as serial killer Dennis Nilsen from the ITV drama Des. "So you're trying to make sense of who that human being is to the outside world, and link it up to this extraordinary private life at home, which had bodies rotting under his floorboards, and which was about luring people back to his flat, where he seemed to have no compunction about taking the life of a young man who just came home for a bit of supper and a chat.". David Tennant says serial killer Dennis Nilsen was ‘actually rather boring’ Actor stars as the man who murdered at least 15 young men in London during the late Seventies and Eighties “I just thought the story was so extraordinary and unbelievable really,” Tennant says. I was also interested in what it says about our society that 15 people can go missing and nobody really notices. By Jack Newman For … “I really wanted to look at that. David Tennant is set to play the notorious serial killer Dennis Nilsen in the new ITV show Des, and a new trailer shows him in the role for the first time. The murderer, who changed the conversation on killers in the UK after his killing spree between 1978 and 1983 is the star of ITV and Sundance Now's new drama and his story is one that reads stranger than fiction. 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