Netflix has dropped a new true crime documentary, this time following the story of Scottish serial killer and necrophile Dennis Nilsen, told largely in his own words.

Using audio tapes Nilsen recorded himself in prison paired with his memoirs which were published earlier this year, the documentary conveys his arrest, trial and eventual conviction in 1983.

The show has been criticised for focussing too closely on Nilsen himself and bypassing his victims, of which only 8 have been formally identified. 

With Memories Of A Murderer: The Nilsen Tapes available on Netflix, here is some background on one of Britain's most notorious serial killers.

Who was Dennis Nilsen?

Dennis Nilsen was the serial killer born in Fraserburgh, Aberdeen in 1945, who spent the years between 1978 and 1983 killing numerous young men and boys.

He spent much of his childhood with his maternal grandparents after his mother and father split up. 

As a teen, he realised he was gay and found his rural upbringing difficult, deciding to join the army as a chef in an attempt to escape the countryside. 

During his 11-year long military career, he developed necrophilic desires which eventually led to him becoming one of Britain's worst serial killers. 

Following his time in the army, Nilsen joined the Met police, although this stint was short lived, before becoming a civil servant, a job he held until his arrest. 

It was between 1978 and 1983 that Nilsen murdered at least 12 young men and boys, and attempted to murder around 7 more.

Nilsen's tactics were grim: luring victims to his property with alcohol or the promise of shelter - they were often homeless - before strangling and drowning them. 

He kept the bodies for weeks before dismembering and disposing of them using bonfires.

He flushed smaller bones down the toilet, and it was this method that led to the eventual discovery of Nilsen's horrific crimes; a plumber called to a blockage by Nilsen himself found human body parts in the drain. 

The number of Nilsen's victims remains unknown to this day, with the murderer himself vague on the details during police questioning.

Upon arrest, he confessed to killing "15 or 16" people between 1978 and 1983, stating he wanted to get it "off [his] chest". 

Despite killing many more people, he was formally charged with six counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder.

Nilsen was sentenced to life in 1983, and remained in prison until his death in 2018. 

In prison he recorded audio notes which feature throughout the special and wrote an autobiography, which was controversially published earlier this year. 

What is necrophilia?

Necrophilia is the act by which perpetrators get pleasure by engaging in sexual acts with the dead. 

It is illegal in the UK under the Sexual Offences Act 2003. 

Shockingly, before 2003 necrophila was not a criminal offence in the UK. 

Nislen was a necrophile and committed sexual acts on his victims after killing them.