‘DR. DEATH’ HOLDS A SCALPEL TO A CULPABLE MEDICAL SYSTEM IN TRUE STORY ABOUT KILLER SURGEON
First Published on NYDailyNews.com
DR. CHRISTOPHER DUNTSCH WAS EITHER A SERIAL KILLER, SOCIOPATH OR DANGEROUSLY INCOMPETENT. OR ALL THREE.
From the moment showrunner Patrick Macmanus began writing “Dr. Death,” the Peacock miniseries premiering Thursday — based on a Wondery true crime podcast on the spine surgeon’s downfall — he knew one thing: It’s impossible to know why Duntsch destroyed so many lives.
“It would be easy to toss a black hat on the guy and call it a day because it would make us feel better to be able to just say he was a psychopath,” Macmanus told the Daily News. “But the truth of the character is he was more complex. He was a product of his nature, being born, I believe, a narcissistic sociopath, having that nature nurtured throughout his upbringing and then having it blow up into a full conflagration when he actually began to operate and people were telling him how good he was.”
“He was a deeply flawed human being who found encouragement in all of the people around him and leaned into his worst instincts, allowing him to become what he became,” Macmanus said.