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. Almost 40 years later, Nilsen remains a cautionary tale in north London; proof that you never know what your unassuming neighbour might be doing. For Tennant, who as a young man lived near that infamous address, Nilsen’s story had a further interest. “London is where people go to fall through the cracks, and it tended to be those people Nilsen preyed on.

Source: The Guardian September 10, 2020 13:30 UTC