David Tennant Serial Killer Drama 'Des" to Stream on Sundance Now

We've seen actor David Tennant in a lot of different kinds of roles over the years. From the Tenth Doctor on Doctor Who or DI Alec Hardy on Broadchurch to the demon Crowley on Good Omens, he's played almost every conceivable kind of character, including a Marvel villain (Jessica Jones), an abusive husband (Deadwater Fell) and himself (Staged). Next, he'll play an infamous Scottish serial killer in upcoming three-part drama Des - and the series will stream in America on premium cable service Sundance Now.

The series will follow one the grisly story of Dennis Nilsen, who killed at least 12 boys and young men in his flat from 1978 to 1983. But because Nielsen went undetected for so long, and because he primarily targeted homeless people, runaways, and those who had otherwise slipped through the grid of larger British society, that number is uncertain and is likely to be at least 15. Nilsen was only discovered after a local officer was summoned to investigate human fragments of flesh and bone clogging the drains in the building in which he lived.

Des is based on the book Killing for Company, which attempts to get inside the mind of the killer and document his unraveling from his arrest to his trial. In the book, the story is told from three different perspectives - including Nilsen himself, biographer Brian Masters, who wrote the book, and Detective Chief Inspector Peter Jay, the officer who discovered the human remains in Nilsen's building. The Crown star Jason Watkins plays Masters, and Line of Duty actor Daniel Mays plays Jay.