ITV will be observing the gruesome killing spree of Dennis Nilsen in its new true-crime drama series, Des.
The three-part series, which stars David Tennant as the ‘kindly killer’, sees the murderer make his confession to Detective Peter Jay (Daniel Mays) as he sets out to uncover Nilsen’s victims.
Nilsen’s crimes made international news and he has since become one of the most infamous serial killers in modern British history – with his motives for murdering from between 12-16 individuals still unclear.
Here’s everything you need to know about the real events that form the basis of this true-crime drama.
Who was Dennis Nilsen?
Born in Aberdeenshire in 1945, Nilsen was the middle child, with an older brother and a younger sister. While his parents had a difficult marriage that ended in divorce, Nilsen was particularly close to his grandfather, who died suddenly from a heart attack in 1951.
Nilsen was good at school, and once he finished his studies, he joined the army to train as a chef as part of the Catering Corps.
His work saw him stationed in Germany, Aldershot, the Shetland Islands and Plymouth, before retiring from the army in 1971. Following a fallout with his family, Nilsen moved to London, and in 1973, completed his training to be part of the police force. However, he then quit the role a year later, and began working as a civil servant in 1974.
Throughout his life, Nilsen was uncertain about his sexuality, believing he could be gay, but also has previously written about having bisexual feelings. Homosexuality was illegal in the UK until 1967, and was still frowned upon in several circles in subsequent years.
How many crimes did he commit?
During Nilsen’s arrest, in which police had found human remains in his flat, he was asked whether the remains in his flat belonged to one or two people. Nilsen replied that he had killed between 15 to 16 people since 1978.
It has since been confirmed Nilsen had killed at least 12 young men.
However, as Nilsen often preyed on the homeless and vulnerable, not all of his victims have been formally identified.
How was the serial killer caught?
While Nilsen carried out the majority of his crimes undetected at 195 Melrose Avenue – strangling then drowning his victims, dismembering them, burying them beneath the floorboards then burning their remains, he struggled with his method of disposal when he moved to 23 Cranley Gardens – now in an attic flat, he was forced to dismember victims, and would keep their remains hidden around his house, or by flushing them down the loo.
The flushed remains got caught in the drains, resulting in a blockage several people in the flat complained about – including Nilsen himself.
When the plumber called out to solve the problem found skin and bone and commented it looked like human flesh, Nilsen said: “It looks to me like someone has been flushing down their Kentucky Fried Chicken.”
However, the police were called, and upon entering Nilsen’s flat and finding human remains, Nilsen was arrested – and confessed to his crimes.
When did he die?
After being sentenced to life imprisonment in 1983, Nilsen was first sent to Wormwood Scrubs, where he remained until he was attacked by another prisoner using a razor blade. His life sentence was upped to a full life tariff by then-Home Secretary Michael Howard.
He died in May 2018 after being transferred to HMP Sutton.
An inquest in 2019 found Nilsen died “in excrutiating pain” after he suffered a blood clot as a result of surgery he had received a few days prior which was to remove a ruptured aneurysm.
What has David Tennant said about playing the serial killer in ITV's Des?
Tennant revealed people had often said he looked similar to Nilsen.
“You start investigating this story and you think – this is unfathomable,” he said during a Zoom roundtable.
“I knew him as a sort of bogeyman from the 80s, but the more I looked into it, I was like, this is a story that is worth telling.”
While he gives a chilling performance as the killer, Tennant still doesn’t understand Nilsen’s motives or psyche any better.
“You’re trying to get to the truth of something who has a psychology which is so difficult to access,” he said.
“I found it hard to join the dots for someone like Nilsen, and I don’t know if he ever managed to do that himself. He had a strong sense of his own righteousness which I think is quite useful to key in to.”
Des launches Monday 14th September at 9pm on ITV, and continues throughout the week.
