TV & Film
Netflix to air chilling new Dennis Nilsen documentary with never-before-heard tapes of killer
Another day, another Netflix true crime doc
Netflix’s latest true crime documentary offering will be delving into the chilling crimes of Scottish serial killer Dennis Nilsen with never-before-heard tapes from his police interrogations.
Directed by Michael Harte – the man who brought us the 2019 masterpiece Don’t F**k With Cats – Memories of a Murderer: The Nilsen Tapes will be offering a deeper look into the mind of the calculated killer and necrophile, who confessed to brutally murdering fifteen young men and boys between 1978 and 1983.
The official synopsis reads: “Over a five-year period, he picked up vulnerable young men, lured them back to his home and strangled them, before disposing of their bodies under the floorboards.
Netflix
“The truth about how and why he killed has been the subject of much speculation in books and documentaries over the decades since. Now, with unique access to a wealth of personal archive left in his cell after his death, including over 250 hours of never-before-published cassette tapes of his private recordings, this film will take us into Nilsen’s world.
“From a young boy growing up in a quiet Scottish fishing village to a cold-blooded murderer prowling the streets of London.”
The synopsis continues: “Set against the backdrop of 1980s Britain, when mass unemployment drew young men to London in search of their fortunes, only to find themselves destitute and easy prey, and weaving together interviews from police, journalists, survivors, bereaved families, and – for the first time – the killer’s own voice, this feature-length documentary explores how Nilsen was able to get away with multiple murders and attacks, unchallenged, for five years.”
Nilsen, who died at the age of seventy-two in 2018, was catapulted back into the spotlight last year when David Tenant portrayed him in the gripping ITV mini-seires, Des.
Speaking to the Radio Times ahead of the series’ release, Tenant said he felt it was ‘right and proper’ that Nilsen didn’t live long enough to see the series, saying: “After he was arrested, Dennis Nilsen became obsessed with was the legend of Des, the reputation that he left behind.
“Whenever he slipped out of public consciousness, there was almost a sense that he wanted to get back into it. That’s why I’m relieved he’s not alive. I would hate for this to go out and for him to be sitting in some cell somewhere imaging we were in any way glorifying him.”
Memories of a murderer: The Nilsen Tapes will be available to stream on Netflix from tomorrow, Wednesday August 18th.