Insight in the scriptwriting process of the X-Files is quite scarce compared to more recent series. There are some episodes in which writers have gone uncredited. Chris Carter, as the showrunner, is said to have done rewrites, smaller or larger, on more than half the episodes. Rewrites are an important part of the scriptwriting porcess; for example, Darin Morgan, script editor for season 3, rewrote 3X22: Quagmire, with the infamous Conversation On The Rock.

Also, scriptwriting in a television series is a team effort: there is a staff of writers who gather, pitch ideas, break down the structure of each episode. Then there is one (or more) of them who takes the task of writing the scipt and dialogues themselves, and it's only him that is credited as writer. The main writer might ask another writer to write a specific dialogue for him -- indeed, staff writers are often co-producers or have other jobs within the show. For example, John Shiban wrote part of 4X18: Max, an episode otherwise written by Carter & Spotnitz. Attributing a script to a single specific person might be far from the truth. So, even though personal styles can very often be felt, don't blame only Shiban for 3X18: Teso Dos Bichos and don't praise only Gilligan for 5X12: Bad Blood.

This might not apply to many mythology episodes however, given how secretive Chris Carter was on the 'Truth' behind the show. Beginning with season 2, Frank Spotnitz became Carter's right hand with the mythology, and he was probably as instrumental as Carter in shaping the direction of the mytharc.


[List of Writers and Directors]
1993-2002, 202 episodes

[Story and visual influences on the X-Files]
Film, TV and literature inspirations, both story-wise and cinematography-wise


Coming soon...

- Season-by-season behind the scenes breakdown of the show's history and mythology.
- Selection of quotes from interviews with the writers, showing the sources and inspirations for the different stories.