The air dates for the ITV drama Des, which David Tennant filmed in Shepton Mallet in January, have been revealed.

The three-part drama starts on Monday September 14 at 9pm on ITV, and stars Tennant as the serial killer Dennis Nilsen.

The former Broadchurch and Doctor Who star filmed scenes for the show in Shepton Mallet Prison in January, and it will be shown on three consecutive nights from September 14.

The drama is based on material from the book Killing for Company by Brian Masters, which focuses on one of the most infamous cases in UK criminal history, that of serial killer Dennis Nilsen.

Told through the prism of three men – Dennis Nilsen played by David Tennant (Good Omens, Broadchurch), Detective Chief Inspector Peter Jay played by Daniel Mays (Line of Duty, Temple) and biographer Brian Masters played by Jason Watkins (The Crown, The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies) – the series will explore the personal and professional consequences of coming into contact with a man like Nilsen.

Nilsen murdered boys and young men in his flat from 1978 to 1983. He was undetected for five years, and it was only when DCI Peter Jay was called to 23 Cranley Gardens on February 9, 1983, to investigate human fragments of flesh and bone clogging the drains, that the police realised they had a serial killer on their hands.

Dennis Nilsen was arrested and convicted at the Old Bailey of six counts of murder and two of attempted murder.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment, which was replaced by a whole life tariff in 1994. He died in May 2018.

Told from both the police and Masters' point of view, Des will explore how a man like Nilsen was able to prey on the young and vulnerable in 1980s Britain.

Additional cast include Ron Cook, Faye McKeever, Chanel Cresswell, Barry Ward, Tony Way, Bronagh Waugh, Laurie Kynaston, Ross Anderson, Ben Bailey Smith, Jay Simpson, Silas Carson, Stuart McQuarrie, Jamie Parker, Lex Shrapnel, Gerard Horan, Joel Morris, Jonathan Coy, Amy Booth-Steel, Ken Bones, Andrew Woodall and Amaka Okafor.