VIEWERS of Channel Five's documentary last night had to have strong stomachs not to turn over.

For the enthralling, at times grotesque and often chilling, Interview With a Cannibal made me feel physically sick at one point - and many times my hand hovered over the remote control ready to switch it off.

It was only the exceptional subject matter that kept me glued to the screen. The documentary told the story of Armin Meiwes, who looked like a perfectly normal well-spoken middle-aged man.

As most of us were already aware, thanks to the acres of newspaper column inches devoted to the story across the world, in March 2001 Meiwes killed a man he'd met over the internet and then ate parts of his willing victim's body while video recording the whole spectacle.

Meiwes was initially found guilty of man-slaughter, because his victim agreed to his killing, but the case was retried and he was found guilty of murder and given life imprisonment.

No doubt some will have found the subject matter in this documentary inappropriate and felt it glorified Meiwes's crime.

The most chilling part of the film was when Meiwes told, in a matter-of-fact way, exactly what happened that night he butchered his victim Bernd Brandes, in gruesome detail.

And for the record, he reckoned human flesh tasted like pork.