NEW INTERVIEW: David Tennant Is On Killer Form In Des


David Tennant's new true crime drama Des will be coming to ITV in September and David has been talking about the series and giving an insight into playing one of the UK's most notorious serial killers, Dennis Nilsen.
The new three part drama, which David also executively produces, is based on Killing For Company, the biography of Nilsen written by Brian Masters which includes conversations with the killer who would go by the name of 'Des'.

The true story of serial killer Nilsen has been the subject of multiple books and documentaries over the years and David says "I had read Killing For Company a long time ago and always thought there was a story to be told. There was another screenplay I remember reading around the time of 9/11, but it was shelved because it was seen as very much not what the world needed."

The version of events that Des covers has been a long time in the making, "This particular version has been four years in the making. As an actor, you're trying to make sense of the man, joining the dots between him and normal members of the human race, while not being sucked into his world. I did find myself spending more time in a solitary state than I normally would on set - I felt it would have been disrespectful to those who suffered to be cavorting around."

Despite his heinous crimes Des doesn't turn Nilsen into a 'bogeyman' either as David explains 'There's no point in doing that, because in a way that empowers someone like Nilsen.
We understand things through a dramatic retelling in a way no amount of fact-finding can illuminate. This is a very peculiar, dark corner of what it is to be a human being, but that doesn't mean it isn't valuable. I think people will be surprised by it."

Des will air on ITV in September
Find out more about the making of Des in the new issue of Total Film

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