​Des: Series 1/Episode 3
Wednesday 16 September 2020
ITV/STV/UTV
21:00

Written by Luke Neal
Directed by Lewis Arnold

Series Producer: David Meanti
Executive Producer: Kim Varvell
Executive Producer: Lewis Arnold
Executive Producer: Willow Grylls
Executive Producer: Charlie Pattinson
Executive Producer: Elaine Pyke
Executive Producer: Luke Neal
Executive Producer: David Tennant

Reeling from Des' change in plea, Jay and the police throw themselves into proving premeditation.  If they can show the court that Des was undoubtedly of sound mind when he committed his crimes, he will go down and never be released.  If they fail, Des could get a cushier sentence on diminished responsibility and effectively escape justice.

As the trial begins and the defence start to tear strips off key witnesses, Jay and his team are shocked by just how flimsy their case against Nilsen seems to be.  Could this seemingly open-and-shut murder investigation really be close to collapsing?  Meanwhile, Brian is forced to watch the trial unfold in front of him, anxiously wondering how much of an effect his 'friendship' with Nilsen may have had on this turn of events.

​Des: Series 1/Episode 2
Tuesday 15 September 2020
ITV/STV/UTV
21:00

Written by Luke Neal
Directed by Lewis Arnold

Series Producer: David Meanti
Executive Producer: Kim Varvell
Executive Producer: Lewis Arnold
Executive Producer: Willow Grylls
Executive Producer: Charlie Pattinson
Executive Producer: Elaine Pyke
Executive Producer: Luke Neal
Executive Producer: David Tennant

With limited resources, Jay and the police continue to dig into Dennis Nilsen's memories in an effort to identify and convict him for the murder of every one of his victims.  But when Des suddenly withdraws his cooperation and stops talking to the police, Jay fears justice will be lost.

Meanwhile, Des confides increasingly in Brian, which proves a unique obstacle for Jay, who has never had to deal with a criminal biographer before.  As Brian's sessions give Des the opportunity to analyse and confront the possible reasons for his crimes, he considers the prospect that he may not be guilty of murder after all.

Through ingenious detective work, Jay's team manage to identify six victims, yet Jay is deeply frustrated as Nilsen will escape justice for the majority of his crimes.  At the pre-trial hearing, Nilsen shockingly pleads not guilty.  Brian is dumbfounded that he might be partly responsible for this change of heart, while Jay is devastated that having feared he might not get justice for the nine victims they have not identified, now he might not even get justice for the six they have.

Des: Series 1/Episode 1
Monday 14 September 2020
ITV/STV/UTV
21:00

Written by Luke Neal
Directed by Lewis Arnold

Series Producer: David Meanti
Executive Producer: Kim Varvell
Executive Producer: Lewis Arnold
Executive Producer: Willow Grylls
Executive Producer: Charlie Pattinson
Executive Producer: Elaine Pyke
Executive Producer: Luke Neal
Executive Producer: David Tennant

On Wednesday 9 February 1983, Detective Chief Inspector Peter Jay is called to the leafy North London address of 23 Cranley Gardens, where he discovers the drains clogged with rotting flesh and bones.  But the extent of this grisly discovery only becomes apparent when the culprit returns from work.

Dennis Nilsen, a meek man, freely admits to the police that it is not just one or two bodies but "15 or 16, I think".

How had they allowed this to happen under their noses for five years, and what had driven this seemingly ordinary civil servant to commit such atrocities?

As the police try to secure a conviction and identify the victims from scant DNA evidence, biographer Brian Masters attempts to understand why.

A game of chess with 'Des' begins, and while Brian may be exhilarated by his newest subject, he is unaware what this new obsession could do to his life.

Des is a true-crime drama focusing on one of the most infamous criminal cases in United Kingdom history, Dennis Nilsen.

​Known as the 'kindly killer', Nilsen (David Tennant) was a local civil servant who spent five years murdering boys and young men he met on the streets of Soho from 1978 to 1983.

Nilsen would meet and befriend these men before offering them food or lodgings for the evening back at his North London flat.

His victims were often homeless or living off grid, having slipped through the cracks of 1980s society and were therefore welcoming of this stranger's apparent generosity.

When he was finally caught on 9 February 1983, Nilsen had murdered a total of fifteen men over a period of five years, making him Britain's most prolific serial killer of the time. 

After his arrest, Nilsen was astonishing in his honesty: admitting outright to all fifteen murders in the police car outside his flat.

But infuriatingly for the investigating detectives, he couldn’t remember any of his victims' names.

With no apparent motive, inconclusive forensic evidence and most of Nilsen's victims living off-grid, the police started the biggest manhunt investigation in UK history.

​This time not for the murderer, but for the murdered.

The story is told through the prism of three isolated men - a detective, a biographer, and Nilsen himself.

While Detective Peter Jay (Daniel Mays) and the police investigation attempt to get justice for as many victims as possible provides the narrative and emotional spine, the relationship between Nilsen and his biographer Brian Masters (Jason Watkins) allows us to delve into the mind of one of the most emotionally elusive serial killers the world has ever seen.

Can we ever really understand the mind of a psychopathic killer?

​And, if we try, what price do we pay?

​The three-part series will feature, Daniel Mays, Bronagh Waugh, Jason Watkins, Faye McKeever, Chanel Cresswell - and David Tennant as Dennis "Des" Nilsen.

Des begins on ITV/STV at 21:00 - Monday 14 September 2020.

Last year, ITV Studios put into production a documentary drama based on the crimes of Dennis Nilsen with David Tennant in the lead role.

The drama, Des, will be shown on ITV/STV in the coming weeks but as a teaser, they've released some first-look images from the chilling drama. 

​The three-part series will feature, Daniel Mays, Bronagh Waugh, Jason Watkins, Faye McKeever and Chanel Cresswell.

Des, coming soon to ITV/STV.