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.
Britain’s most notorious serial killer, Dennis Andrew Nilsen (23 November 1945 – 12 May 2018), was a Scottish serial killer and necrophile from Scotland who confessed to killing 15 young men and boys between 1978 and 1983 in London. 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.
The truth about how and why he was 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 archives 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.
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.
Convicted at the Old Bailey of six counts of murder and two of attempted murder, Nilsen was sentenced to life imprisonment on 4 November 1983, with a recommendation that he serve a minimum of 25 years. This recommendation was later changed to a whole-life tariff in December 1994. In his later years, Nilsen was imprisoned at Full Sutton maximum security prison.
