Des | |
---|---|
Genre | |
Created by |
|
Based on | Killing for Company by Brian Masters [1] |
Written by | Luke Neal (episodes 1, 2) Kelly Jones (episode 3) [1] |
Directed by | Lewis Arnold |
Starring | |
Theme music composer | Sarah Warne |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 1 |
No. of episodes | 3 |
Production | |
Producer | David Meanti |
Editor | Sacha Szwarc |
Production company |
|
Original release | |
Network | ITV |
Release | 14 September – 16 September 2020 |
Des is a British three-part television drama miniseries, [2] based on the 1983 arrest of Scottish serial killer Dennis Nilsen, [3] after the discovery of human remains causing the blockage of a drain near his home. [1] The series premiered on 14 September 2020. [4]
No. | Episode | Directed by [1] | Written by [1] | Original air date [4] | UK viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Episode 1 | Lewis Arnold | Luke Neal | 14 September 2020 | 11.95 |
2 | Episode 2 | Lewis Arnold | Luke Neal | 15 September 2020 | 10.70 |
3 | Episode 3 | Lewis Arnold | Kelly Jones | 16 September 2020 | 10.93 |
In November 2019, production began on Des, [1] starring David Tennant as Dennis Nilsen. [5]
The drama is the ninth in a sequence of ITV miniseries featuring notorious British murder cases of the past two centuries, following on from This Is Personal: The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper (2000), Shipman (2002), A Is for Acid (2002), The Brides in the Bath (2003), See No Evil: The Moors Murders (2006), Appropriate Adult (2011), Dark Angel (2016), In Plain Sight (2016). The next in the sequence is The Pembrokeshire Murders (2021).
The premiere episode was watched live by 5.4 million viewers on ITV, a benchmark previously hit in 2019 with Cleaning Up . The peak was 5.9 and nearly a third of all viewers were watching it at the time of its airing. [6]
The series was well received by critics and described as a "sensitive, finely worked drama showing the unrelentingly bleak reality of the monstrous narcissist". [7] Tennant's performance was considered "one of his best in an impeccable career". [8]
Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 89%. The website's critics consensus reads, "Des is a smartly scripted, sufficiently eerie true crime drama anchored by a chilling performance from David Tennant." [9]
In 2021, David Tennant won the International Emmy Award for Best Actor, at the 49th International Emmy Awards, for his role in the show.
Dennis Andrew Nilsen was a Scottish serial killer and necrophile who murdered at least twelve young men and boys between 1978 and 1983. Convicted at the Old Bailey of six counts of murder and two of attempted murder, Nilsen was sentenced to life imprisonment on 4 November 1983, with a recommendation that he serve a minimum of 25 years; this recommendation was later changed to a whole life tariff in December 1994. In his later years, Nilsen was imprisoned at HM Prison Full Sutton in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
David John Tennant is a Scottish actor. He is best known for portraying the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in the sci-fi series Doctor Who. In 2023, he returned to the show as the fourteenth incarnation. His other notable screen roles include DI Alec Hardy in the crime drama series Broadchurch (2013–2017) and its 2014 remake, Kilgrave in the superhero series Jessica Jones (2015–2019), Crowley in the fantasy series Good Omens (2019–present) and various fictionalised versions of himself in the comedy series Staged (2020–2022).
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Daniel Mays is an English actor having had roles in EastEnders (2000), Pearl Harbor, All or Nothing, Vera Drake (2001), Rehab (2005), Shifty, Red Riding (2008), Made in Dagenham, Ashes to Ashes (2010), Outcasts (2011), Mrs Biggs, Byzantium (2012), Line of Duty, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Des and White Lines (2020).
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