David Tennant transformed into Scottish serial killer and necrophile Dennis Nilsen in the trailer from the chilling ITV drama Des.
The first look clip was released on Saturday, and showed the Doctor Who star, 49, take on the dark role opposite Daniel Mays and Jason Watkins.
Nilsen, who is known to have brutally murdered at least 12 young men and boys in London between 1978-1983, is the subject of the three part ITV series.
Uncanny: David Tennant (L) is chilling as he transforms into serial killer and necrophile Dennis Nilsen (R) in the trailer for the ITV drama Des, which was released on Saturday
Opening with David’s character having his mugshot taken before being taken in for questioning, an officer is heard asking: ‘Just take your time, take us through it again’.
And when he’s asked if he’s ‘talking one body or two’, Dennis is clearly unfazed by his killing spree as he tells the officers matter-of-factly: ’15 or 16.’
With his name soon becoming public knowledge following reports of his horrific killings, the trailer shows a news reel and the police investigation getting underway.
Drama: Nilsen, who is known to have brutally murdered at least 12 young men and boys in London between 1978-1983, is the subject of the three part ITV series
Chilling: In the trailer, Tennant’s character is clearly unfazed by his killing spree as he tells the officers matter-of-factly that he murdered ’15 or 16′ people
Detective Chief Inspector Peter Jay (Mays) seems disturbed by the way things are going, as he tells his fellow officers ominously: ‘This whole thing has always been to Nilson’s script.’
Watkins then appears as Brian Masters, the man who wrote iconic book Killing For Company on the murderer, and claims someone ‘who knows our world, our community, needs to write this’.
The author is seen briefly meeting Nilson, reaching out when the murderer offers to shake his hand as the former is overheard telling someone in a different scene that he wouldn’t do just that.
Nilsen is interrogated by Detective Chief Inspector Peter Jay (Daniel Mays, pictured) during the investigation, as he’s determined not to let him get away with the killings
Taking note: Jason Watkins (pictured) also appears in the trailer as Brian Masters, the man who wrote iconic book Killing For Company on the murderer
Later meeting with the detective, Jay asks Masters if he’s also ‘fascinated’ by Nilson, before the man himself is heard declaring: ‘I look in the mirror and I just see my, friendly, helpful, responsible me.’
Unhappy with how the investigation into Nilson is going, he is then seen shouting: ‘He killed on our patch for four years and gets away with nothing.’
The trailer then ends on a chilling note, as Tennant’s Nilson claims it’s ‘nice to be listened to, makes me feel human again.’
Haunting: Described as a loner, Nilson became known as the Muswell Hill Murderer, as he committed his later murders in the Muswell Hill district of North London (pictured)
Written by Luke Neal, Des is based on material from Killing For Company, which included conversations with twisted Nilson, whose nickname was Des.
The murders all took place in the two North London addresses in which former civil servant Nilsen resided between 1978 and 1983.
Described as a loner, he became known as the Muswell Hill Murderer, as he committed his later murders in the Muswell Hill district of North London.
Evil: The murders all took place in the two North London addresses in which Nilsen resided between 1978 and 1983 (pictured 1983 at Highgate Magistrates Court)
Most of Nilsen’s victims were homosexual or homeless men who he would pick up in bars across London or on the street.
After inviting them to his home, Nilsen would ply his victims with food and alcohol before killing them. His preferred method was strangulation.
Once dead, he dismembered their bodies by dissecting them in his house. In his first address, Melrose Avenue, he buried their remains in the garden. In Cranley Gardens however he was forced to take other measures.
Once arrested he told police how he boiled the heads of his victims in a large cooking pot to dispose of their brains.
Serial killer: Most of Nilsen’s victims were homosexual or homeless men who he would pick up in bars across London or on the street before strangling them to death
He would cut up the rest of their bodies and store them in plastic bin bags at the property. When the stench of their rotting corpses became stronger, he tried to flush their limbs down the toilet and drains.
This caused a large blockage in the pipes. Seemingly oblivious to risk, Nilsen audaciously complained to a waste company about the blockage and asked for it to be resolved because he and other residents were suffering as a result.
When a Dyno-Rod worker arrived at the property in 1983 to unblock them, he discovered what appeared to be flesh and fragments of bone when he opened a drain cover outside the property.
Shocking: After inviting them to his home, Nilsen would ply his victims with food and alcohol before killing them. His preferred method was strangulation (pictured 1983)
The following day, after inspecting another section of pipe, he and his supervisor discovered what they thought were bones of a human hand.
They alerted police who arrested Nilsen as he returned home from work. While in custody he admitted to killing at least 15 people.
A controversial Central TV documentary Murder in Mind featured extracts from an interview Nilsen gave in Albany Prison, Isle of Wight, in 1993.
Killer: He was convicted of six counts of murder and two of attempted murder
Describing how he liked to dress the bodies in Y-Fronts and vest, then undress them, he said he enjoyed the feeling of power when he carried their limp bodies.
He said he was physically sick after cutting the innards from some of his victims to tackle ‘the smell problem’.
‘In the end it was when there were two or three bodies under the floorboards that come summer it got hot and I knew there would be a smell problem,’ he said.
‘I knew I had to deal with the smell problem. I thought ‘What would cause the smell more than anything else?’
‘I came to the conclusion it was the innards, the softer parts of the body, the organs, things like that.
‘On a weekend I pulled up the floorboards. I found it totally unpleasant. I got blinding drunk so I could face it.
‘I started dissection on the kitchen floor. I would then go and be sick outside in the garden.’
He was convicted of six counts of murder and two of attempted murder and jailed for life in 1983, with a recommendation he serve a minimum of 25 years.
He died in prison on 12 May 2018 at the age of 72.
Sentence: Nilsen (pictured in 1983) was jailed for life in 1983, with a recommendation he serve a minimum of 25 years. He died in prison on 12 May 2018 at the age of 72