Obsessing on all things The X-Files and Ten Thirteen online since 2005
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 The X-Files mythology episode by episode analysis |
 Thematic articles on X-Files and everything 1013 |
 The archival database project |
The X-Files Revival 2016Introduction: Revival |
The X-Files Revival 2018Introduction: From Season 10 to Season 11 |
+ Perihelion (novel, 2024)
+ IDW comics (S10, S11, more, 2013-2018)
We close the year with, unfortunately, another death in The X-Files family! Graeme Murray passed away earlier this year in April, in his native Vancouver. Together with John Bartley, who also passed away in 2025, he was one of the most important members of the crew that defined the visual style and quality of the show.
He is credited as art director for the first 3 seasons (starting from 1X06: Ghost in the Machine) and as production designer for seasons 4 and 5, plus as production designer for the pilot of Harsh Realm. One of his first credits was actually on John Carpenter’s The Thing, and interestingly his second episode was Ice — here’s an interview of the time with Glen Morgan being impressed with his sets!
His work along with colleagues Shirley Inget, Gary Allen and Greg Loewen got them a nomination for an Emmy in Outstanding Art Direction for a Series in 1996 (for 3X20: Jose Chung’s “From Outer Space”); they would win the award in both 1997 (for 4X15: Memento Mori) and 1998 (for 5X06: The Post-Modern Prometheus).
Here are photos from the Vancouver Sun articles on those wins, taken from a 2024 exhibit in Graeme’s honor around the set of 3X19: Hell Money.
Happy solstice! Here is something out of the ordinary: an interview with Robert Mandel, the director of The X-Files pilot episode in 1993, by the people at the “Hey, That’s Me!” podcast. This is I think the only interview he has ever given on TXF, he is somebody who goes from project to project and doesn’t look back. The pilot is of course full of iconic moments and it is still very well-remembered. He only did the pilot but he sounds like somebody who could have been a good fit for the show long-term.
The episode runs like a live commentary on the episode itself. Some highlights:
https://linktr.ee/heythatsmepod
Another recent interview with Glen Morgan on The X-Files, this time text-based and not an audio podcast, on the website Gold Derby. Many points repeat the Strange Arrivals interview I covered recently, or other past interviews. Here are some tidbits that sound new to me:
On the monsters-of-the-week: “Chris would’ve done UFO episodes every week. The network didn’t want that. They wanted a monster show. I remember being in the office late at night — which was like a box; it was just a dump on the Fox lot — and we’re just sitting there trying to think of ideas.”
On 1X02: Squeeze: “Regarding the 30 years, my brother told me, “I think that you stole a Night Stalker. There was a thing where there was a guy who comes out every 30 or 50 years.” I’m like, “What?!” We loved that show with Darren McGavin. The episodes weren’t readily available until recently, so I don’t know if I lodged that in my subconscious. Chris had been in France, and he was fascinated by how they make foie gras, so that’s where it came about that Tooms ate livers.”
On 1X20: Tooms: “Skinner was named after my mom’s friend.”
On 1X07: Ice: “When I was a kid, there was an unknown movie called Report to the Commissioner, and at the end of the trailer, the two people were in an elevator with guns on each other. That image had a big effect on me — so let’s do that!”
On 1X12: Beyond the Sea: “we wanted to introduce [Scully] to the possibility of a paranormal event. We felt that the one thing that people might be open to is wanting to see a loved one that had moved along. The experience has a great deal of watching my mom when my grandfather passed away.”
On 2X14: Die Hand Die Verletzt: “John Bartley was the director of photography, and he lit that fourth act essentially with two flashlights, which were I think $3,000 each and the wire went up Duchovny’s coat. It was not done on TV where an entire act was just that level of darkness.”
On 4X03: Home: “My grandmother and grandfather, my mom’s parents, lived in Rochester, and they had a family next door who was a very nice family, maybe a little chaotic, named the Peacocks. I just thought, what a great name, and so we named [the “Home” family] the Peacocks.”
Still trying to catch up with recent interviews — here is one with Eleanor Infante, editor of 4 episodes in The X-Files season 11, with the “Hey Danny, it’s Mulder” podcast. Some interesting insights here:
2025 has been a tough year! Writer-producer Ted Mann died earlier this year, in September, aged 72, as reported by Variety.
He was a consulting producer in season 1 of Millennium and wrote 4 episodes: “The Judge“, “Loin Like A Hunting Flame“, “Powers, Principalities, Thrones and Dominions” and the season finale “Paper Dove“.
His credits also include David Milch’s NYPD Blue and Deadwood and Gordon & Gansa’s Homeland. He also did a short cameo in the Morgan & Wong series Space: Above And Beyond!
“The Judge” included the first mention of Legion, before anybody thought it would become an important part of the show’s mythology.
The sequel to Carter’s landmark episode “Lamentation“, “Powers, Principalities, Thrones and Dominions” was no less memorable, with Lucy Butler and attorney Al Pepper tempting Frank Black, and the series’ first appearance of an angel, Sammael.
In related news, the Millennium After The Millennium documentary is getting a re-relase with more footage and bonus material! Find all that here.
A rare interview with Michael W. Watkins with the Danish Sammensværgelsen/Conspiracy podcast! With Bernadette “Bernie” Caulfield, together they replaced Bob Goodwin as one of the show’s most important roles: co-executive producers, the people who really run the day-to-day business of managing the production. He worked in The X-Files season 6 and half of season 7. He also directed 6 TXF episodes (Dreamland II, Tithonus, Arcadia, The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati, Sein und Zeit, X-Cops) and also one Millennium episode (Sacrament in s1). A key person in making the show, but he has done very few interviews on it! Some notes from the interview:
https://sammensvaergelsen.libsyn.com/interview-michael-w-watkins-producer-director
