In the 1990s, Chris Carter’s iconic TV series, The X-Files, re-introduced themes such as paranoia, UFOs, faith and government conspiracies to a world reeling with pre-millennial tension and a growing sense of distrust. Instantly embraced, The X-Files became arguably the defining show of the decade. It paired two field agents, conspiracy theorist and ‘believer’ Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) with by-the-book sceptic Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), as they investigated paranormal activities for the FBI.
Encountering everything from man-eating cockroaches to alien abductions, Mulder was always happy to consider supernatural or even extra-terrestrial influences, while it quickly became apparent Scully was there to keep a lid on his potentially dangerous theorizing. It wasn’t long, however, before the murders, monsters and lies began pointing to a conspiracy involving the US government, the mysterious cigarette-smoking man, a possible alien invasion and even events in Mulder and Scully’s own lives.
The show alternated between ‘mythology’ stories – which furthered a long-running conspiracy that the US government and the ‘Syndicate’ were coalescing with alien beings to facilitate colonisation of the earth – and the more affectionately termed ‘monster of the week’ episodes. Stand-alone stories, they made up the bulk of the show’s nine-year run and ensured The X-Files remained accessible to new and intermittent viewers.
In 1998, a spin-off movie, The X-Files: Fight The Future, related directly to the mythology story arc and bridged the gap between the shows 5th and 6th seasons. Perhaps for this reason the film was only moderately successful, as many of its characters and plot threads were only partially explained and left uninitiated viewers confused and unsatisfied. With the dawning of the new millennium, the popularity of the series also began to wane. Contractual squabbles caused Duchovny to withdraw his full participation in the show and, in the final seasons, both his and Anderson’s characters were marginalized, making way for a new team of agents who failed to recapture the magic of the original pair. The show was finally cancelled in 2002, leaving many plot threads still unresolved, and Mulder and Scully on the run.
Now, six years after that cliffhanger finale, comes the second cinematic outing, The X-Files: I Want To Believe. While exact details of the story are still shrouded in secrecy – an achievement in itself in these internet-savvy days of spoilers and spies – creator/writer/ director Chris Carter has revealed that this film will follow the monster-of-the-week formula and should not pose too many problems for those unfamiliar with the intricacies of the series.
So, do we need to remember the details of Scully’s abduction, her brain tumour, her harvested ovaries, or the subsequent birth of her son? Do we need to know that Mulder found proof of the forthcoming alien invasion, that he was framed for murder, sentenced to death, and that he and Scully were last seen fleeing from the Syndicate? The truth,
as they say, is out there, let’s just hope there is still an audience waiting to hear it.

The X-Files: I Want to Believe opens in cinemas on 24 July.

James Marsh