Top Telly - Fox Television series X-Files

It first went on the air with Fox Television on 10th September 1993. In the UK it premiered on Sky1 on 26th January 1994 and BBC1 on 19th September 1994 and continued to 2003. It can still be seen regularly on Cable/Satellite channels.

It ran for nine series and 202 episodes.

It is famous for its slogans: “The Truth Is Out There”, “Trust No One” and “I Want To Believe.” It was based on the twin themes of government conspiracy and extraterrestrial life.

The series revolves around FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) although agents John Doggett (Robert Patrick) and Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish) were also prominent roles. Two other main characters were their boss Assistant Director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) and Cigarette Smoking Man (William B. Davis).

Mulder is a believer in the paranormal and something of an embarrassment to the FBI. His nickname is “Spooky”. Scully was recruited as a sceptic to critique Moulder’s work. They started with a platonic relationship that changed as they experienced life-changing adventures together. They work out of a cramped basement office beneath the FBI headquarters in Washington DC.

They worked on the X-Files which were bizarre unsolved cases that defied easy explanation. There is an overall story arc that concerns a shadowy group within the US government who are collaborating with aliens. This group is also carrying out medical experiments trying to create a human-alien hybrid and Scully becomes a victim of one of these experiments. She develops a life-threatening cancer as a result. Scully’s Catholic religious beliefs are also a major theme. Mulder missed some of the episodes of later series when he was supposed to have been abducted by aliens.

The episodes vary a lot in style and theme ranging from comic absurdity to grim horror. The visuals, particularly, autopsies can be graphic and not for the faint-hearted.

Chris Carter listed television series Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, Night Gallery, Tales from the Darkside and especially Kolchak: The Night Stalker as his major influences for the show. Carter said, "Remembering that show, which I loved, I said to the FOX executives, 'There's nothing scary on network television anymore. Let's do a scary show.'" Actor Darren McGavin, who played Carl Kolchak in Kolchak: The Night Stalker, appeared in two episodes of The X-Files as Agent Arthur Dales.

Carter has mentioned that the relationship between Mulder and Scully (platonic but with sexual tension) was influenced by the chemistry between John Steed (Patrick Macnee) and Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) in the 1960s British spy TV program The Avengers.[98] One journalist documented possible influence from Nigel Kneale's Quatermass series and its various television and film iterations.

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X-Files starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson

Investigating alien invaders, super-soldiers and government consipiracies

Starring David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Mitch Peileggi, Robert Patrick, Annabeth Gish and William B Davis.