Dennis Nilsen was one of the most notorious British serial killers of the 20th century. Active in London in the late 1970s and early 80s, he preyed on the gay community, killing at least 12 men and boys. Nilsen was eventually discovered when his tactic of dissecting his victims and flushing them down the toilet caused the drains in his house to become blocked with bones and human flesh. Funnily enough, I used to live a couple of doors down from that very house and it’s still got a creepy vibe.
His story is set to launch itself back into the public eye later this year with the premiere of three-part TV drama Des. Doctor Who and Good Omens star David Tennant is in the lead role and the show will follow in the footsteps of ITV’s acclaimed series of true crime dramas. Set to premiere in September, the first trailer has now been released and can be seen above.
I’m familiar with the story of Dennis Nilsen thanks to The Last Podcast on the Left‘s excellent multi-part series about his crimes. As far as serial killers go, he’s definitely one of the strangest, known for spending a lot of time alone with the slowly decomposing body after the crime and his extremely scary MO. This involved him asking his victims if they’d like to hear a song, putting headphones on them and playing them Laurie Anderson’s “O Superman.” As they listened to the eerie tune, he’d creep up behind them and strangle them.
Let’s hope we get an air date for Des soon and confirmation that it’s coming to domestic channels. In the meantime, be sure to check out this new trailer and let us know your thoughts on it down below.
