The actor portrays the notorious murderer in a new drama, Des. But, he says, the show goes out of its way not to titillate and examine how Nilsen was able to go unpunished for so long
Many actors would think twice before agreeing to play an infamous serial killer. But for David Tennant, who stars in ITV’s three-part true crime drama, Des, the opportunity to play Dennis Nilsen had been building for a long time.
Nilsen, who was convicted in 1983 of a series of murders, was a very ordinary monster with a simple yet disturbingly successful method. 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.
