DVD review (region 1, 61 disc box set)
Starring David Duchovy, Gillian Anderson, Mitch Pillegi, Anabeth Gish, Robert Patrick
Release date Out now

The truth is out there, but it is so tangled after nine years of wilful obfuscation that we’d defy any fan of The X-Files to comprehensively explain it all. This box set may help…

This remarkable collection, packaged in a fiddly box, contains every one of the 201 episodes of The X-Files, all previously released extras, the movie The X-Files: Fight the Future and an additional bonus disc of the four previously available ‘threads of mythology’ documentaries, covering abduction, black oil, colonization and super soldiers. The box features a concealed drawer that contains an The X-Files mini-comic, art cards, the movie poster and an episode guide.

Each season comes packaged in lovely little book-like folders with relevant illustrations that are much easier to access when they’re not stored in the bigger box. It must be galling for Chris Carter to see 10 years of work reduced to one (albeit big) box of discs.

Of course, the show itself is legendary now. Creating stars of David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson (both now shooting a sequel movie), their believer-sceptic dynamic has been replicated by others but never bettered. It took Duchovny a long time to find another signature character who suits his talents, but with Hank Moody in Californication he’s done it, while Anderson has gone on the prove herself much more of a serious classical actress in the likes of Bleak House.

From the monster-of-the-week episodes, The X-Files completed its first seasons laying the seeds of the mythology that would drive much fan speculation over the show’s nine years. Eventually, it became too complicated and too much to remember, while post-the-movie creator Chris Carter showed signs of losing track of the details of his own creation. With the two stars wanting out, accommodations were made, the whole shebang was moved to LA and the leading roles were soon assumed by Annabeth Gish and Robert Patrick.

It was all too little, too late. The disappointment in the show’s later years is summed up in the rather dire feature length capper to the show, The End. A fitting action-packed climax to nine years of mystery? Nope, a cod trial held in a room with a few tables and chairs… How the mighty had fallen.

If you’ve never bought any of the season sets of the show that defined 1990s SF TV, now’s the chance to own the whole lot in one fell swoop at a fair price (shop around: there are bargains to be had out there). Brian J. Robb

VERDICT: 8/10
For the first few seasons The X-Files was perfect fantasy television, with two great leads. Sadly, as the show wore on and the mythology became ever more complicated, it lost some of its shine, with two final seasons which attempted to introduce new leads but simply delayed the inevitable end.