| Director: | Lewis Arnold |
| Theme Music Composer: | Sarah Warne |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
| Num Series: | 1 |
| Num Episodes: | 3 |
| Producer: | David Meanti |
| Editor: | Sacha Szwarc |
| Network: | ITV |
Des is a British three-part television drama miniseries,[1] based on the 1983 arrest of Scottish serial killer Dennis Nilsen,[2] after the discovery of human remains causing the blockage of a drain near his home.[3] The series premiered on 14 September 2020.[4]
In November 2019, production began on Des, 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 (2000), Shipman (2002), A Is for Acid (2002), The Brides in the Bath (2003), (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.