Hugely exciting casting news: Sci-fi fan-favorite Gillian Anderson is returning to broadcast television after a decade to join writer-producer Bryan Fuller’s serial-killer thriller Hannibal.

And perhaps the best part is the role she’s playing….

In a multi-episode arc on the upcoming NBC drama, Anderson is going to play Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier — murderous psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter’s (Mads Mikkelsen) own therapist.

“Every therapist needs their own head examined and we are ecstatic that Gillian Anderson has chosen Hannibal to mark her return to American television after 10 years to portray Dr. Lecter’s personal psychiatrist,” Fuller said in a statement. “Her intelligence and sophistication, not to mention her pedigree of ground-breaking TV, make her the perfect actress to match wits and psychological manipulations with one of the greatest villains of pop culture. I couldn’t be more excited.”

Since Fox’s classic TV series The X-Files concluded in 2002, Anderson has appeared in mini-series such as Encore’s recent Moby Dick adaptation and British TV series like The Fall.

According to IMDB.com, Anderson was actually in the running to play Clarice Starling in the 2001 big-screen version of Hannibal after Jodie Foster dropped out of the Silence of the Lambs sequel. But Anderson’s X-Files contract reportedly forbid her from playing another FBI agent.

The actress joins a rather stellar cast on Hannibal. In addition to leads Mikkelsen and Hugh Dancy, the series has also signed on Laurence Fishburne, Eddie Izzard, Gina Torres, Molly Shannon, Ellen Greene and Chelan Simmons. No premiere date has been set, but insiders expect the show will likely debut in late Spring.