David Tennant is eerily uncanny as the notorious serial killer Dennis Nilsen in new snaps

He is starring in the eagerly-anticipated thriller Des next month about the notorious serial killer Dennis Nilsen.

And David Tennant looks uncannily like the monster in newly released snaps from the ITV drama.

The true-crime show stars the Doctor Who actor, 49, as the murderer who preyed upon at least 12 boys and young men between 1978 and 1983.

Eery: David Tennant looks uncanny as the notorious serial killer Dennis Nilsen in new snaps about the ITV drama airing next month

The sneak preview of the three-part series, which airs in September, shows Tennant as the Muswell Hill Murderer in court.

Alongside the Broadchurch star, Daniel Mays plays detective Peter Jay and Jason Watkins appears as Brian Masters, Nilsen’s biographer.

Also included in the new images are the killer standing outside his home in Cranley Gardens in north London, and him being taken away by police after admitting his crimes.

Dark: The true-crime show stars the Doctor Who actor, 49, as the murderer, and is pictured being carried away by police after his arrest

Dark: The true-crime show stars the Doctor Who actor, 49, as the murderer, and is pictured being carried away by police after his arrest

Killer: Nilsen, pictured outside Highgate Court in 1983, preyed upon at least 12 boys and young men between 1978 and 1983

Killer: Nilsen, pictured outside Highgate Court in 1983, preyed upon at least 12 boys and young men between 1978 and 1983

Historic: The show depicts Nilsen's first meeting with Brian Masters, played by Jason Watkins, who will meet Nilsen over many years to create the biography Killing for Company

Historic: The show depicts Nilsen’s first meeting with Brian Masters, played by Jason Watkins, who will meet Nilsen over many years to create the biography Killing for Company

Shocking: Also included in the new images are the killer standing outside his home in Cranley Gardens in north London

Shocking: Also included in the new images are the killer standing outside his home in Cranley Gardens in north London

Controversial: Jason Watkins stars as Brian Masters who conducted a number of interviews with the killer

Controversial: Jason Watkins stars as Brian Masters who conducted a number of interviews with the killer

Starring role: Daniel Mays plays Detective Peter Jay and is shown meeting the press to appeal to the public to come forward with information on the killer

Starring role: Daniel Mays plays Detective Peter Jay and is shown meeting the press to appeal to the public to come forward with information on the killer

It comes after the first trailer for the crime drama was released over the weekend.

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

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

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

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

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)

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)

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

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)

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

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

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