
TV Series
Des
In 1983, Scottish serial killer Dennis Nilsen was arrested after the discovery of human remains which had blocked a drain near his London home.
Trailer

Cast

David Tennant
Dennis Nilsen

Daniel Mays
DCI Peter Jay

Jason Watkins
Brian Masters

Ron Cook
DSU Geoff Chambers

Barry Ward
DI Steve McCusker

Faye McKeever
Linda Jay

Ben Bailey Smith
DC Brian Lodge

Bronagh Waugh
Charlotte Proctor

Jay Simpson
DS Chris Healey

Alex Bhat
DS1

Alex Bhat
DS Jones

Joel Morris
Tim Wells
Andy Jaye
News Correspondent

Chanel Cresswell
Lesley Mead

Jonathan Coy
Professor David Bowen

Oscar Salem
Juan

Cal MacAninch
Neil Sinclair

Neil Edmond
Clerk of the Court

Ross Anderson
Douglas Stewart
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Comments
10 Comments

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Not in the class of other police procedurals, such as Spiral or Prime Suspect. The chosen approach of cataloguing the aftermath of Nilsen's crimes robs the drama of any tension whatsoever. Tennant seems to just play himself. Certainly no masterclass, as others have said on here. Nothing remotely chilling about his portrayal of Nielsen. Nothing seems to happen in episode 2, so there is a loss of pace, with episode 3, finally attempting to answer the question of why he did his crimes. A triumph of hype over substance. Disappointing.

This was such a well written and well developed script! Absolutely amazing acting by David Tennant who deserves all the awards for this. Knocked it out of the park. Daniel Myers and Jason Watkins were wonderful as well. All in all, a very well acted, and sensitive real life drama.