ITV follows ‘Des’ drama series with documentary about the real Dennis Nilsen

The Real ‘Des’: The Dennis Nilsen Story is coming to ITV tomorrow night.

This one-off 60-minute documentary explores the personality of notorious serial killer Dennis Nilsen.

Des, ITV’s new three-part drama series starring David Tennant as Nilsen,  has been airing in the UK this week.

The first episode was seen by 5.4 million viewers on Monday night, becoming ITV’s biggest drama launch of the year.

Dennis Nilsen admitted to murdering up to 15 young men at his homes in London in the 1980s and disposed of their bodies in his garden and down his drain.

Narrated by David Tennant, The Real ‘Des’ will air at 9pm on Thursday 17th September on ITV in the UK.

It’ll then be available to watch on catch-up via the ITV Hub.

The documentary features insight from experts who attempted to get inside the mind of the murderer including criminologist David Wilson, who interviewed and corresponded with Nilsen over several decades.

The Real ‘Des’: The Dennis Nilsen Story will include new material and previously unseen archive, along with interviews with victims’ families.

Viewers will also see footage from an astonishing and infamous interview Nilsen gave at Albany Prison in 1992.

The official synopsis for the documentary reads: “On the surface, Nilsen was a mild-mannered civil servant, though his true persona was terrifying and deadly.

“Nilsen was drawn to young men who he murdered and brutalised in bizarre rituals. But he was also a rarity – a killer who wanted to talk and to boast about his crimes from the moment he was caught.

“The programme documents how Nilsen joined the army in 1961, eventually going on to become a police officer, and then a civil servant, which is when he began his gruesome spree, first at his flat in Melrose Avenue in Cricklewood, London and later at Cranley Gardens in Muswell Hill.”

The final episode of Des airs on ITV in the UK at 9pm tonight.

A broadcaster in the US hasn’t yet been announced.

Brian Masters’ book Killing for Company is available on Amazon.