Des is on ITV in three parts from Monday 14 to Wednesday 16 September.
David Tennant undergoes a chilling transformation as serial killer Dennis Nilsen in this three-part, true-crime drama, documenting his arrest for the killing of at least 12 men across London in the 1980s and subsequent trial and meetings with biographer Brian Masters, whose book the series is based on.
Tennant’s eerily understated performance is accompanied by Jason Watkins as Masters and Daniel Mays as the investigating detective, DCI Peter Jay, tracking him down amid increasing media scrutiny.
"I think Dennis Nilsen himself became rather obsessed with his legacy after he was caught," the star says. "Anyone who had known him at all, it seemed, said he was at best unremarkable and at worst bloody boring to be around. And yet, If you read his own writings about himself, the self-aggrandisement and the narcissism is breathtaking."