For those who don’t know, K9 is a metallic robot dog with a squeaky know-it-all voice and a love for humans. First created in 1977 by Bob Baker and Dave Martin, K9 has influenced and appeared in many Doctor Who episodes, most recently the David Tennant episode “School Reunion”, which incidentally brought back ex-companion Sarah Jane to a modern audience.

K9 focuses on a near-future London, where a robotic police state has taken over and people are constantly under surveillance. So modern day London, basically? Our heroes are cyber-anarchists Starkey and Jorjie, who team up with eccentric scientist Professor Gryffen and his errand boy Darius to become Earth’s surprising first defence from alien threats.

The first episode treats us to the introduction of K9, who appears through a dodgy time-vortex portal Professor Gryffen has made in his laboratory / foyer. Gryffen has been using funds to create a portal for the government but when young Starkey accidentally unplugs the time-vortex-manipulation machine thing, four hideous psycho-turtle monsters appear and begin to vomit goo on them all. But K9 also appears – defender of all things human. Sadly the Jixen (turtle-beasts) overwhelm him and he self-destructs, blowing himself into tiny pieces.

So K9 begins the series as an exploded dead lump of scrap metal. That’s the last we ever see of Doctor Who-style K9, but not of K9 himself. Much like the infamous time lord, K9 can apparently regenerate and does so in spectacular fashion. From being the rusty, remote controlled dog-on-wheels we all know he metamorphosizes into a flying super-dog with slick blue-tinted panels and the ability to literally do anything. It’s a good upgrade and makes you wonder why he just didn’t blow himself up forty years ago…

Each episode attempts to be episodic with an overarching theme of doing-the-right-thing and sticking by your friends. It’s rudimentary, mostly unimaginative stuff, but will be infinitely watchable if you’re a child.

If your kids (or you, young child person) love Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures then K9 is a nice addition to the Doctor Who canon. It’s very simple, unchallenging but not as glossy as the other productions mentioned here. There is also no direct link between K9 and Doctor Who, albeit the fact it’s K9. This is due to the BBC’s lack of involvement. They turned down funding, stating; “As the BBC is already committed to a number of spin-off projects, we concluded that a K9 series may simply be an extension too far”. It’s also because it’s about a floating robot dog, which is a hard sell.

The occasional alien-out-of-copyright does appear in K9 (despite last being seen in the 70’s), but nothing appears from the new BBC Doctor Who – no Sontarans, Judoon, Cybermen, Daleks or even a cameo from The Doctor himself (which both Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures can boast). In fact, no one even mentions the existence of The Doctor throughout the K9 TV Series, which might frustrate even the youngest of Who fans. This mechanical-canine memory fail is easily explained by an amnesia-due-to-exploding reason.

Doctor Who aficionados will be pleased to hear that John Leeson reprises his role as the voice of K9, which he has done for decades, keeping at least some of the history alive. It’s a shame this series cannot be truly classed as part of the recent Doctor Who mythos, especially now K9 doesn’t even look like he used to (he has a random bone symbol on his neck… you know… for the kids?).

K9 the TV Series is so clearly an Australian production it is hugely embarrassing pretending it’s located in a dystopian future London. Ignoring the Australian Film Finance Corporation and other Aussie TV companies’ logos in the credits, it’s the actors themselves that betray the series’ true heritage. They mostly fail to provide hugely convincing British accents, with the children often lapsing into the Australian accent (especially Daniel Webber as the “cockney” Darius Pike). So desperately shameless is their attempt to appear British they have characters fixing black cabs and one robotic copper utters “what’s going on ’ere then?” before being promptly beaten by a giant turd-turtle.

The production values are hilariously low, with cardboard-looking sets featuring painted-on doors; men dressed as robot policeman and alien monsters that look like rejects from the Power Rangers “school of crappy-looking bad guys”. The occasional shot of modern London with some giant floating TV screens still doesn’t hugely convince us, as even the exterior locations seem eons away from the grimy grey of London (Dystopian or otherwise).

Children’s television, however, rarely cares about realism or accents or convincing sets as their audience aren’t watching it for that – personally I thought Nightmare was realistic when I was a kid! How age destroys our blinkered wonder. K9’s core audience are much younger than Doctor Who fans – aimed at 5 to 10 year olds – and the audience is there for action and comedy and adventure, and luckily K9 has it all… to an extent. It is nothing special, but nothing harmful or controversial. It has interesting themes and a good dynamic between the children (even if they literally cannot act).

Overall K9 the series is a winner. It will please children but probably baffle adults with its frustrating lack of production values and obviously Australian origins. It pushes no boundaries and is mostly unoriginal, but it’s harmless and enjoyable while it lasts. Not special, but not an embarrassing disaster.

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars

Metalocalypse is an [adult swim] animated series, created by Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha, which is centered around heavy metal band Dethklok, a group so popular that they constitute the 7th largest economy on Earth. Their line-up consists of Nathan Explosion, William Murderface, Skwisgaar Skwigelf, Pickles and Toki Wartooth. Metalocalypse follows the everyday trials and tribulations of Dethklok, their rabid fans and the shadowy figures out to ruin their fun. I watched the entire second series in one go, whilst getting increasingly pissed on gin & tonic. Fuckin’ metal!

The Good

If you like your music angry and loud, then there’s a very good chance that you’ll enjoy this. Death Metal fans in particular will lap it up. Metalocalypse takes the form of the best kind of parody – that which both celebrates and lampoons its chosen target in equal measure. All the songs are written and performed (with the exception of the drum track) by creator Brendon Small, who clearly has the sort of talent and technical ability that made my entire Friday night spent watching cartoons and drinking on my own seem even more pathetic than it already did. In fact, the musical composition is of such high quality that removed from the context of the show, you’d never realise that it came from an animated comedy.

The animation itself doesn’t inspire awe, but it’s pretty damn good, and certainly better than the typical [adult swim] fare. I’m reliably informed (by Wikipedia, unchallenged source of pure distilled knowledge) that even the guitar fingerwork is accurately animated. Given that the average guitarist could play better with their elbows than I can with all ten clumsy digits, I can’t vouch for that, but there’s definitely been more effort applied than is usually seen in animated musicians.

Most of the humour comes from visual gags and malapropisms from the english-as-a-second-language characters, but there’s also the odd pop culture reference and plenty of satire of the music industry thrown in for good measure. I even laughed out loud on a few occasions, which is rare for me, so top marks there. “Leech Al Jolsen” was a personal highlight. Metalocalypse is also chock-full of gore, since every performance by Dethklok inevitably results in the deaths of dozens of fans. Nothing is off-limits in that respect either, with men, women and children all meeting their demise in imaginative ways.

The more astute viewers will also be able to spot a variety of recognisable voices in both the main characters and small cameo parts, including Malcolm McDowell, Mark Hamill, Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield and >em>Mike Patton.

The Bad

If you struggle with understanding accents or people with speech impediments, you might have a hard time understanding what the characters are talking about a lot of the time, especially Murderface. Fortunately, my student days were spent in the company of borderline alcoholics with broad accents so no problems there for me. The primary issue though is that if you’re not a fan of heavy metal, there’s not a lot for you here. It’s pretty inaccessible to easy listeners.

I also noticed towards the end of my evening, when the gin was leaking from my pores and I was craving a greasy burger, that if your attention lapses for any amount of time there’s a good chance you won’t know what the fuck is going on when you refocus. This won’t necessarily impair your enjoyment though!

Overall

While some of the episodes in Metalocalypse Season 2 are better than others, overall this is a show that lives up to the hype. If you fall outside of the key demographic (male viewers aged 18-33 with a penchant for metal) then approach with caution, but don’t write it off altogether. The music element is top notch, the humour is often base but sharp and well-observed and the animation is great quality. Well worth seeking out!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars

Episode Guide

•   6.1 – The Beginning
•   6.2 – Drive
•   6.3 – Triangle
•   6.4 – Dreamland
•   6.5 – Dreamland II
•   6.6 – How The Ghosts Stole Christmas
•   6.7 – Terms Of Endearment
•   6.8 – The Rain King
•   6.9 – S.R. 819
• 6.10 – Tithonus
• 6.11 – Two Fathers
• 6.12 – One Son
• 6.13 – Agua Mala
• 6.14 – Monday
• 6.15 – Arcadia
• 6.16 – Alpha
• 6.17 – Trevor
• 6.18 – Milagro
• 6.19 – The Unnatural
• 6.20 – Three Of A Kind
• 6.21 – Field Trip
• 6.22 – Biogenesis

Season 6 is a come-back of sorts, as The X Files enlivens itself by coming to conclusions on the conspiracy, making some truly excellent “monster of the week” episodes and generally being continually compelling and exciting. A return to an early form, and a very welcome one.

The Good:

Compared to Season 5, there are a lot of very good episodes to choose from. Below are a choice few:

Drive

• Mulder is kidnapped by a car-jacker who must travel exceedingly fast in a westerly direction… or his head would explode.

Dreamland I & II

• Pithy but excellent two-parter where a UFO body-swaps Mulder and a shadowy Man in Black, with amusing and dangerous consequences.

Agua Mala

• Set during a hurricane, Mulder and Scully find themselves stuck in an apartment block, under siege from something that looks a lot like a sea monster…

Monday

• Groundhog Day-inspired repeating day where Mulder and Scully keep getting blown up in a bank robbery, and only one girl can help them.

Trevor

• After a tornado “kills” him, a convicted prisoner reappears with the ability to walk through walls and turn people’s faces into charcoal.

Field Trip

• Investigating the bones of a very recently dead couple, Mulder and Scully walk themselves into a hallucinogenic trap that sucks them deep underground.

Light-hearted episodes such as Triangle, The Rain King, The Unnatural and How the Ghosts Stole Christmas.

The conspiracy episodes are also very good, with a lot concluded during the Season. It also feels tighter and more succinct, finally settling on an idea and sticking to it.

The Bad:

Very little. The Lone Gunman episode Three of a Kind is particularly pointless, fan fodder, where Milagro seems a little contrived.

Noteable Guest Appearances:

• Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) – Episode Drive
• Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead 1 – 3, My Name is Bruce) – Episode Terms of Endearment
• John Hawkes (Deadwood, S. Darko, Identity) – Episode Milagro
• Jim Beaver (Supernatural, Deadwood, Road Kill) – Field Trip
• Veronica Cartwright – (The Birds, Alien) – Episodes Two Fathers and One Son

Overall:

The X Files Season 6 is a return to form, and the majority of the Season is inspired, excellent stuff. The last great Season before it all went to hell.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars

The Good

Those familiar with one of [adult swim]‘s more popular shows will already know exactly what to expect from this special Star Wars-centric episode; lots of nerdy, puerile humour, genuinely well-observed sight gags, celebrity voice acting and some geek-a-rific in-jokes. While the regular show is geared towards nerds who will appreciate jokes based on TV programmes, movies and pop culture that they grew up with in the 70′s, 80′s and, to a slightly lesser extent, the 90′s, this special episode is exclusively catered towards Star Wars fans. The structure of Robot Chicken couldn’t be simpler. It consists of a series of quick-fire skits featuring a cast of characters made up of anything from Barbie dolls and miscellaneous altered childrens toys to cleverly produced claymation.

The good news is that you don’t have to be a Star Wars obsessive to be in on the gag, there’s lots for even the most casual viewer to enjoy as well and cinephiles will have lots of fun listening out for cameos from Mark Hamill, George Lucas and Malcolm McDowell as well as cast regulars like Seth Green (who also takes a director credit), Donald Faison and Breckin Meyer. Highlights include an Admiral Ackbar ceral bar advertisment, C-3PO struggling to get through airport security, Jar Jar Binks being blithely unaware that Anakin Skywalker is now Darth Vader and Chewbacca hilariously attempting to groom himself. The DVD contains a wealth of extras which more than make up for the paltry running time of the actual episode and the skits come so thick and fast that it’s impossible for any of them to outstay their welcome.

The Bad

It’s possible to watch this special episode and find lots to enjoy even if you’re not familiar with the Robot Chicken format but this will almost certainly go over the heads of anyone not familiar with the Star Wars universe and mythology, whether in a casual or more strict sense. It is also very short and feels like it’s over in the blink of an eye but it does have a great re-watchability, a tonne of extras and spawned two subsequent special episodes which more than make over the short running time.

Overall

While hugely imaginative, incredibly well observed and constructed with a great affection for the films they’re parodying, the humour here is definitely quite immature and while I don’t necessarily consider that to be a bad thing, those looking for something remotely highbrow should turn around walk away immediately because they won’t find it here. It’s clever, quotable and there is absolutely no confusion regarding what it is and why it exists. I challenge you to watch it and not get the theme tune stuck in your head for days!

Rating: 7.5 out of 10 stars

Episode Guide

•   5.1 – Redux
•   5.2 – Redux II
•   5.3 – Unusual Suspects
•   5.4 – Detour
•   5.5 – The Post-Modern Prometheus
•   5.6 – Christmas Carol
•   5.7 – Emily
•   5.8 – Kitsunegari
•   5.9 – Schizogeny
• 5.10 – Chinga
• 5.11 – Kill Switch
• 5.12 – Bad Blood
• 5.13 – Patient X
• 5.14 – The Red and the Black
• 5.15 – Travelers
• 5.16 – Mind’s Eye
• 5.17 – All Souls
• 5.18 – The Pine Bluff Variant
• 5.19 – Folie a Deux
• 5.20 – The End

In Season 5, The X Files begins to become tragically self-indulgent. It features 3 alien conspiracy two-parters, one episode entirely dedicated to the creation of The Lone Gunmen and many more that reference the previous 4 series. The individual episodes on offer are enjoyable, but sadly few and far between.

The Good:

Despite its over-indulgence in the alien conspiracy, there are some prime individual episodes still on offer. With a little more studio freedom, it means two lighter, comical episodes crop up:

The Post-Modern Promethus

A black and white homage to monster movies, which is sweet, funny and well created.

Bad Blood

A kooky vampire tale that is told separately by Mulder and Scully as they attempt to get their stories straight, each with different twists, and featuring a cameo from Luke Wilson as the “buck-toothed” town sheriff.

The more serious episodes are also of good quality, with Detour and Kill Switch pleasing the “Monster-of-The-Week” crowd, while 3 episodes stick out as being particularly memorable:

Kitsunegari

Features “Pusher” from Series 3, and it’s a welcome return of the man who can force his will on others.

Mind’s Eye

Features an excellent turn from Lili Taylor as a blind woman who is falsely accused of murder, but who happens to see through the eyes of a killer.

Chinga

Perhaps the best of Series 5 – co-written by Chris Carter and Stephen King, this is pure horror in the form of an evil doll that forces people to kill themselves. Clever and haunting, this horrible little story will give you nightmares.

The Bad:

With self-indulgence rife throughout, even standalone episodes such as Unusual Suspects, All Souls and Travelers contain specific relevance to previous series, making it difficult for anyone fresh to the series to really understand their context. It is at this point in the entire series that missing an episode could cause a lot of confusion. Mulder starts to lose his beliefs and questions everything he’s known, and but this is more frustrating than interesting.

The alien conspiracy also starts to become twisted in its own intestines as rebel aliens suddenly appear, attempting to halt the alien / government agreed colonization of Earth. Even fans of the show may find it difficult to grasp all the strands of the continually evolving extra terrestrial invasion plan.

Favourites Alex Krycek and The Cancer Man (or The Cigarette-Smoking Man, as he is gutlessly billed by Season 5) return, but so briefly their characters start to become a parody of themselves, and their actions more and more baffling. The shadow group of evil old timers keep the conspiracy wagon rolling as they desperately search for a cure to the black ooze and even consider joining the rebels against their shaky alien allies.

Noteable Guest Appearances:

• Luke Wilson (Soul Survivors, Vacancy) – Episode Bad Blood
• Garrett Dillahunt (Deadwood, 4400, The Road, Last House on the Left) – Episode Travelers
• Lili Taylor (The Haunting, Six Feet Under) – Episode Mind’s Eye
• Veronica Cartwright (The Birds, Alien) – Episodes Patient X and The Red & The Black

Overall:

The X Files Season 5 is a good season, but is perhaps heavily burdened by the alien mythology with episodes that feel unnecessary and confusing. The standalone episodes are decent and memorable, and Chinga is especially worth watching.

Episode Guide

• 4.1 – Herronvolk
• 4.2 – Home
• 4.3 – Teliko
• 4.4 – Unruhe
• 4.5 – The Field Where I died
• 4.6 – Sanguinarium
• 4.7 – Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man
• 4.8 – Tunguska
• 4.9 – Terma
• 4.10 – Peper Hearts
• 4.11 – El Mundo Gira
• 4.12 – Leonard Betts
• 4.13 – Never Again
• 4.14 – Momento Mori
• 4.15 – Kaddish
• 4.16 – Unrequited
• 4.17 – Tempus Fugit
• 4.18 – Max
• 4.19 – Synchrony
• 4.20 – Small Potatoes
• 4.21 – Zero Sum
• 4.22 – Elegy
• 4.23 – Demons
• 4.24 – Gethsemane

The X Files Season 4 begins to wane towards the trite, as Scully’s development of cancer makes the Season depressing and nihilistic, but it has some quality individual episodes and some interesting conspiracy arcs, although it never manages to excel.

The Good:

X Files Season 4 does well on the “monster-of-the-week” episodes, with some disturbing turns throughout.

Home

• An inbred family become the focus of Mulder and Scully when the corpse of a baby is found in a nearby field, featuring nearly every known birth defect. Disturbing Hills Have Eyes-esque violence ensues as the police move in.

Paper Hearts

• Tom Noonan stars as an incarcerated child murderer who claims to know all about the abduction of Mulder’s sister, and what might have happened to her.

Leonard Betts

• When a decapitated ambulance driver walks out of a morgue, Mulder and Scully must face the possibility of a regenerating man.

Even the more comical episode Small Potatoes is slightly disturbing, when a shape-shifting pervert decides he wants to be Agent Mulder – one of the many times throughout the X Files that Scully is fooled by Mulder impersonators (the alien bounty hunters, Dreamland, How the Ghosts Stole Christmas et al).

The Bad:

There is little to complain about in Series 4. The conspiracy bumbles along in the background quite unobtrusively, a third of the Season dedicated to it as usual. It is more nihilistic than previous seasons, and the constant reminder of Scully’s cancer is simply depressing.

The horrible coincidences do continue however, when Mulder wakes up covered in blood without his memory, Scully takes a break and happens to be sucked up in her own private X File nightmare and in The Field Where I Died Mulder happens to have a past-life regression when he meets a group of cultists. It begins to feel like the Agents have some magnet to the bizarre…

Noteable Guest Appearances:

Barely any -

• Tom Noonan (Man Hunter, The House of the Devil) – Episode Paper Hearts
• Pruitt Taylor Vince (The Cell, Identity, Deadwood) – Episode Unruhe

Overall:

The X Files Season 4 is solid and thoroughly enjoyable. It does not have any truly outstanding episodes, but a consistent quality throughout. The conspiracy plot is not too intrusive, and although Scully’s cancer plot seems trite at times, it is not overly self-indulgent.

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars

Episode Guide

• 3.1 – The Blessing Way
• 3.2 – Paper Clip
• 3.3 – D.P.O.
• 3.4 – Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose
• 3.5 – The List
• 3.6 – 2Shy
• 3.7 – The Walk
• 3.8 – Oubliette
• 3.9 – Nisei
• 3.10 – 731
• 3.11 – Revelations
• 3.12 – War of the Coprophages
• 3.13 – Syzygy
• 3.14 – Grotesque
• 3.15 – Piper Maru
• 3.16 – Apocrypha
• 3.17 – Pusher
• 3.18 – Teso dos Bichos
• 3.19 – Hell Money
• 3.20 – Jose Chung’s ‘From Outer Space’
• 3.21 – Avatar
• 3.22 – Quagmire
• 3.23 – Wetwired
• 3.24 – Talitha Cumi

The X Files Season 3 is still The X Files at its best. The conspiracy episodes are compelling and the individual episodes are smart, unique and immersive. Great stuff.

The Good:

X Files Season 3 has a huge and welcome variety to it, dipping almost deliberately into every horror / sci-fi cliché available, with episodes about Chinese Ghosts, Lake Monsters, Stigmata, cursed Artifacts, killer Cockroaches, Witches and even an Alien Autopsy. The best episodes are listed below:

D.P.O.

• A Jack Black and Giovanni Ribisi starrer, featuring an angry teenager who might have the power to harness electricity… and use it to kill anyone who annoys him.

Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose

• Peter Boyle stars as a reluctant psychic who can see how people die, and Mulder wants to use him to catch a psychic-killer.

Jose Chung’s From Outer Space

• A kooky, amusing tale about an alien abduction that ticks every cliché box imaginable, and the writer who’s made a book about it.

Pusher

• Mulder and Scully pursue a man with the power to force his Will upon others and force them into suicide.

There is also an episode (Avatar) dedicated to the consistently-great Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi of Shocker fame), who wakes up to find he may have murdered a prostitute, although it might in fact be something slightly more supernatural…

Season 3 first introduces the “Black Ooze” alien, which possesses anyone it touches. The two episodes Piper Maru and Apocrypha dealing with these are the X Files’ conspiracy at it’s best – taut, scary, compelling and genuinely intriguing.

The Bad:

A few episodes do slip into predictability (Oubliette, Revelations and Syzygy) but this is not hugely detrimental to the Season as they’re well created and acted.

Noteable Guest Appearances:

• Jack Black (Mars Attacks!, King Kong) – Episode D.P.O.
• Giovanni Ribisi (Lost Highway, The Gift, Avatar) – Episode D.P.O.
• Peter Boyle (Species II, Everybody Loves Raymond) – Episode Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose
• Jewel Staite (Firefly, Serenity, Stargate: Atlantis) – Episode Oubliette
• R Lee Ermey (Full Metal Jacket, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) – Episode Revelations
• Ryan Reynolds (Amityville Horror, Blade 3) – Episode Syzygy
• Lucy Liu (Kill Bill: Vol 1) – Episode Hell Money

Overall:

Season 3 of the X Files is consistency decent, with some very good individual episodes and the continuation of the entertaining conspiracy / alien arc (before it gets too complicated). A genuinely great season.

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars

Episode Guide

• 2.1 – Little Green Men
• 2.2 – The Host
• 2.3 – Blood
• 2.4 – Sleepless
• 2.5 – Duane Barry
• 2.6 – Ascension
• 2.7 – 3
• 2.8 – One Breath
• 2.9 – Firewalker
• 2.10 – Red Museum
• 2.11 – Excelsis Dei
• 2.12 – Aubrey
• 2.13 – Irresistible
• 2.14 – Die Hand Die Verletzt
• 2.15 – Fresh Bones
• 2.16 – Colony
• 2.17 – End Game
• 2.18 – Fearful Symmetry
• 2.19 – Dod Kalm
• 2.20 – Humbug
• 2.21 – The Calusari
• 2.22 – F. Emasculata
• 2.23 – Soft Light
• 2.24 – Our Town
• 2.25 – Anasazi

The X Files Season 2 is brilliant throughout, featuring some now iconic episodes and some really innovative ideas. The X Files is shut down, Scully is abducted and alien clones are discovered.

The Good:

There are a lot of episodes worth mentioning in Season 2, but specifically the ones below.

The Host

• The famous Fluke Worm episode, constantly referenced to in later series. When a corpse is found in a sewer, Mulder believes he’s being forced into grunt work only to discover something horrible lurking in the sewers.

Blood

• A small town appears to be going insane, as electronic devices begin to instruct the residents to murder everyone in sight.

Excelsis Dei

• A rape in a convalescence home becomes the focus of Mulder and Scully when the rapist appears to be invisible. A haunting, nasty little episode.

Die Hand Die Verletzt

• A town with a lot to hide becomes the focus of mysterious witchcraft and the presence of something truly evil.

Dod Kalm

• Mulder and Scully climb onboard a U.S. Navy Destroyer to investigate what happened to the dead crew, only to discover the bizarre aging of the vessel is affecting them… and their rescue boat is missing.

And many more. Season 2 contains excellent episodes throughout, featuring ghosts, scientific experiments gone horribly wrong, a lethal outbreak, a demonic child, a freak show murderer, voodoo and the now-iconic alien abduction episodes featuring Duane Barry.

The Bad:

Scully’s abduction inevitably concludes with her return, but this is done in an incredibly hackneyed episode about her recovery (One Breath), which feels trite, shockingly dull and a little clichéd. Despite this, it was was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Cinematography. But most people don’t watch the X Files for the epic cinematography… Apart from this one hiccough, there is very little to complain about in Season 2, with the conspiracy not yet being the twisted convoluted mess it becomes and the individual episodes genuinely scaring in places.

Noteable Guest Appearances:

• Michael J. Anderson (Twin Peaks, Carnivale) – Episode Humbug
• Shawnee Smith (Saw 1 – 6) – Episode Firewalker
• Tony Todd (Candyman, Final Destination) – Episode Sleepless
• Terry O’Quinn (Lost, Millennium, Alias, The West Wing) – Episode Aubrey
• CCH Pounder (Ends of Days, Orphan) – Episode Duane Barry
• William Sanderson (Blade Runner, Deadwood, True Blood) – Episode Blood

Overall:

Season 2 of the X Files is brilliant from beginning to end, with innovative, exciting episodes every week, some of which are now iconic. Quality stuff.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars

Episode Guide

•   1.0 – Pilot
•   1.1 – Deep Throat
•   1.2 – Squeeze
•   1.3 – Conduit
•   1.4 – The Jersey Devil
•   1.5 – Shadows
•   1.6 – Ghost In The Machine
•   1.7 – Ice
•   1.8 – Space
•   1.9 – Fallen Angel
• 1.10 – Eve
• 1.11 – Fire
• 1.12 – Beyond The Sea
• 1.13 – Gender Bender
• 1.14 – Lazarus
• 1.15 – Young At Heart
• 1.16 – E.B.E.
• 1.17 – Miracle Man
• 1.18 – Shapes
• 1.19 – Darkness Falls
• 1.20 – Tooms
• 1.21 – Born Again
• 1.22 – Roland
• 1.23 – The Erlenmeyer Flask

The X Files Season 1 is still as fresh as it was 17 years ago. Yes – 17 years ago! It was innovative, intelligent, scary, funny and endlessly watchable. Every episode was a triumph filled with intrigue, great dialogue and a real sense of purpose. Truly brilliant.

The Good:

The Season begins with the core story of the X-Files – aliens. The initial two episodes are interesting, fresh and exciting, throwing us into the world of Mulder’s mindset and Scully’s skepticism. There are so many episodes worth mentioning in Season 1, but specifically the ones below.

Squeeze and Tooms

Eugene Victor Tooms is a name that still sends creeping shudders down the backs of those who watched these two episodes about a man/monster who had the ability to stretch his body to enter buildings undetected… in order to eat someone’s liver. Chilling stuff.

Ice

Almost stealing wholesale from the premise of The Thing, this episode features something found in the Arctic ice that infects Humans and drives them to kill.

Fire

A disturbed stalker who has the ability to create fire from nothing focuses his attentions on some British dignitaries, and Mulder has to stop him.

Beyond the Sea

Brad Dourif stars as a death-row inmate who claims to be psychic and know the whereabouts of a serial killer. While Mulder thinks he’s lying, Scully is spooked by his ability to see more than he should…

Darkness Falls

My personal favourite X File of all time, Mulder and Scully investigate a missing team of loggers deep in a forest, only to discover that one of the trees cut down contained something incredibly dangerous that can only attack at night. They hide in a well-lit wooden cabin, praying for dawn… and then the generator starts to fade.

Other episodes feature werewolves, the Jersey Devil, reincarnation, cloning, a computer with lethal artificial intelligence, a murderous ghost and a miracle healer with a deadly touch.

The Bad:

Perhaps Space could be considered a bit too bizarre an episode, where the face on Mars seems to haunt an ex-astronaut in order to wreck the Space Program he’s working on, but all the episodes are compelling and intriguing. It really is an excellent first season.

Noteable Guest Appearances:

• Seth Green (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) – Episode 1 Deep Throat
• Doug Hutchinson (Lost, The Burrowers) – Episodes Squeeze and Tooms
• Brad Dourif (Child’s Play, Rob Zombie’s Halloween 1 & 2) – Episode Beyond The Sea

Overall:

Season 1 of the X Files is consistently excellent throughout. The episodes have aged well, even if Scully’s hairdo hasn’t. They are scary, compelling, intelligent and always exciting. An incredible first season, and possibly the best of all 9 seasons.

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars