{"id":3223,"date":"2021-08-18T09:00:04","date_gmt":"2021-08-18T07:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1321912"},"modified":"2021-08-18T09:41:25","modified_gmt":"2021-08-18T07:41:25","slug":"why-are-peter-jay-and-brian-masters-missing-from-memories-of-a-murderer-the-nilsen-tapes","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/why-are-peter-jay-and-brian-masters-missing-from-memories-of-a-murderer-the-nilsen-tapes\/","title":{"rendered":"Why are Peter Jay and Brian Masters missing from Memories of a Murderer: The Nilsen Tapes?"},"content":{"rendered":"

While they featured heavily in ITV’s Des, Peter Jay and Brian Masters don’t feature in Netflix’s Memories of Murderer: The Nilsen Tapes \u2013\u00a0here’s why. <\/p>

By Lauren Morris\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 18 August 2021 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

Netflix is taking a fresh look at the Dennis Nilsen case with its new documentary Memories of a Murderer: The Nilsen Tapes<\/a> \u2013 a one-off film featuring audio from cassettes recorded by the serial killer in prison.<\/p>\n

The unsettling documentary is the latest TV project to explore the crimes of Nilsen, who admitted killing at least 15 people but was convicted of the murders of six men, following ITV drama Des starring David Tennant.<\/p>\n

While the documentary features a number of interviews with those connected to the case, from police officers and journalists to families of Nilsen\u2019s victims, the film is missing testimonials from two people who were featured heavily in ITV\u2019s drama \u2013 Nilsen\u2019s biographer Brian Masters and the police officer leading his investigation, Peter Jay.<\/p>\n

Read on to find out why Brian Masters and Peter Jay don\u2019t feature in Memories of a Murderer: The Nilsen Tapes.<\/p>

Why doesn\u2019t Brian Masters feature in Memories of a Murderer?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\""Brian\"<\/div>
Brian Masters<\/span><\/figcaption> Getty<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Brian Masters is arguably best known for interviewing Dennis Nilsen in prison and writing his biography, with the writer being played by Jason Watkins in ITV\u2019s Des and featuring heavily.<\/p>\n

However, Brian Masters doesn\u2019t feature as a talking head in Netflix\u2019s Memories of a Murderer: The Nilsen Tapes, despite spending a significant amount of time speaking to the serial killer himself.<\/p>\n

Speaking to\u00a0RadioTimes.com<\/strong> in an exclusive interview, the documentary\u2019s director Michael Harte explained why he chose not to include Masters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was interest. We spoke to him initially and there was interest but you know, Brian Masters\u2019 story is very much about why Nielsen did what he did. His book was very very good but our story was\u2013 I needed it to be different. I didn\u2019t want to go down that route.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce I started to tell that side of the story, we\u2019re very much trying to understand the mind of Dennis Nilsen which I didn\u2019t want to do, because I wanted to figure out why he got away with this for so long.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I felt that if we brought Masters in, it becomes a slightly\u2013 it would still be a very interesting film but we\u2019re trying to tell a different story here. And that story had been told and has been told many times.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why doesn\u2019t Peter Jay feature in Memories of a Murderer?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

While there are interviews with many of the police officers who were involved in Dennis Nilsen\u2019s case, Peter Jay \u2013 who was a key figure in the investigation \u2013 was not featured as he passed away in 2018 at the age of 79.<\/p>\n

In ITV\u2019s Des, he was played by Daniel Mays and his son, Simon Jay, assisted in the production of the true crime drama.<\/p>\n

Memories of a Murderer: The Nilsen Tapes is available to stream on Netflix. <\/strong>Looking for something else to watch? Check out out the\u00a0best Netflix documentaries<\/a>. You can also plan your viewing with our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0or visit our dedicated\u00a0Documentaries<\/a> hub for the latest news.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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