Who is Dennis Nilsen biographer Brian Masters and where is he now?
BRIAN Masters is a bestselling author and journalist.
He wrote Killing For Company: The Case of Dennis Nilsen, a book charting the crimes of the prolific serial killer Dennis Nilsen.
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Who is Brian Masters?
Brian Masters has himself said: "I’d never had any interest in the inner workings of the mind of a serial killer."
His specialisms before meeting Nilsen were in French literature and the history of dukedoms.
After reading of Nilsen's crimes in the news, he decided to interview him in prison.
Over many years Brian received more than 100 letters from the serial killer and they met numerous times in prison across 10 years.
After 10 years, Nilsen cut contact after hearing Brian compare him to US murderer Jeffrey Dahmer.
Brian wrote a summary of his thoughts on Nilsen for The Sun, in which he called him "morally mad".
Who plays Brian Masters in ITV's Des?
Jason Watkins plays Brian in ITV's new dramatisation based on the author's book.
Jason is a 53-year-old Bafta TV award winning actor.
His credits include The Crown, Line of Duty, Inside No 9, Miranda, The Lost Honour Of Christopher Jefferies and Doctor Who.
Where is Brian Masters now?
Since writing his bestselling book in 1985, he's continued to write and in 2002 published an autobiography.
Some claimed he was too sympathetic to Dennis Nilsen in his book, but he argues against this in his autobiography.
Following on from the success of that book, he went on to write about serial killers Jeffrey Dahmer and Rosemary West.
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He is now 81 and worked as a consultant on the ITV series, saying: "It was crucially important that the treatment should not risk being an entertainment, designed to titillate rather than inform.
"The writer and actors made sure that nobody could mistake their commitment for enjoyment.
"One must not, and cannot, glamorise the squalor of some human behaviour. "