London ‘Fannibals’ enjoy a tantalising taste of Season 3 at edible cinema exclusive.

“Season Two certainly left us with lots to chew on,” quips Sky Executive Julia Barry as tonight’s honoured guests set about gorging their way through an extravagant feast of quivering cucumber jelly, succulent cuts of beef tartare, candied ‘long pig’ crackling and dusky splatters of squid ink. Held in lavish celebration of Hannibal Season 3’s now-imminent airing, a cursory glance at the exotic blooms and unspooling entrails adorning the dimly-lit cinema sees viewers instantly immersed in all the deathly atmospherics for which the show is internationally notorious. Famed for bewitching viewers with its visually enticing depiction of grisly cannibalism and bloodshed, it’s with exquisitely fine detail that creator Bryan Fuller’s sensory feast of mouth-watering cuisine, stunning visuals and visceral gore is vividly made flesh. Soaking up tonight’s luxurious and macabre surroundings with generous measures of fine wine and whisky-laden ‘Chesapeake Ripper’ cocktails, there’s no mistaking the immense anticipation surrounding Sky Living’s exclusive screening of Episode 1: Antipasto.

With Fuller’s pitch-black, psychologically probing crime saga having been loosely penned around Silence of the Lambs prequel Red Dragon, Seasons 1 and 2 took ample time to develop the deadly chemistry between manipulative psychiatrist Dr Lecter and his troubled patient Will Graham. Culminating in a bloody and emotionally harrowing grand finale that rocked audiences across the globe, the aftermath of Season 2 finds Hannibal bound for European shores following his hasty exit from the scene of the crime. Assuming a false identity under the moniker of Dr Fell, Hannibal’s hotly-anticipated third season plunges headlong into the grandly historic surroundings of Italian high society, with the good doctor proclaiming that “Ethics has now become aesthetics.” Revealing precious little detail as to the fate and whereabouts of his recent victims, Lecter eagerly retreats into a gilded but mindless surface world of lavishly indulgent distractions, having taken up residence with his former psychiatrist Dr Bedelia Du Maurier (Gillian Anderson).

But with the presence of these past horrors constantly resurfacing in the shape of nightmarish flashbacks, it’s not long before this fragile illusion is violently shattered when Hannibal encounters a potential threat to his fabricated identity. Exuding debonair charm and drily observed gallows humour in spades, Mads Mikkelsen is typically magnetic as the series’ eponymous lead, while director Vincenzo Natali brings artistically elevated vision to every slow-motion frame and lingering close-up. With tonight’s exclusive preview forming a tantalising taste of things to come, this is absorbing and compulsively watchable entertainment to devour.

The brand new series of Hannibal comes to Sky Living HD on Wednesday 10th June at 10pm.

FAYE COULMAN