23 February: The X-Files

Dana Katherine Scully was born to William and Margaret "Maggie" Scully on this date in 1964. 10 things you might not know about The X-Files:

1. Creator Chris Carter got the original idea for the show from a survey, in which it was revealed that at least 3.7 million Americans may have been abducted by Aliens. “Everybody wants to hear that story,” Carter told Entertainment Weekly. Other influences were Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Twin Peaks, The Thin Blue Line, Prime Suspect, Three Days of the Condor, The Parallax View, All the President's Men and The Silence of the Lambs.
2. Talking of which, Dana Scully was named after sports broadcaster Vin Scully and the character was in part based on Clarice Starling. Carter admitted it was no co-incidence that Scully had red hair. Especially when we remember that Gillian Anderson, who plays her, is actually blonde. There's another link – Anderson would later go on to star in the TV adaption of Hannibal as Bedelia Du Maurier, Lector’s former psychiatrist and accomplice. Jodie Foster in turn was the voice of a talking tattoo in the X Files season four episode Never Again.
3. While Carter thought Anderson was perfect for the role from the beginning, studio executives wanted someone taller and sexier. They had Pamela Anderson in mind. The actor who plays Mulder, David Duchovny, had yet another actress in mind that he wanted to work with – his friend, Jennifer Beals. Carter, however was adamant that he wanted a more "cerebral" woman for the role. He was so taken with Gillian Anderson, who was just 24 when she auditioned, that he coached her secretly on how to get the part.
4. She did get the part, as we know, but was paid substantially less than her co-star, Duchovny. Even for the 2016 re-boot, Anderson had to fight to be paid on an equal footing. Not only that, but for the first few episodes, she was expected to walk a few steps behind Duchovny instead of by his side. Even then her role wasn't assured. The network wanted to cast someone else when Anderson got pregnant. Again, Carter stepped in and created the storyline about Scully being abducted by aliens to allow her some time off. Her abduction would inspire several other story arcs in later seasons.
5. In real life, Gillian Anderson is the believer and Duchovny the Skeptic. Also the two actors didn't really get on in the beginning and used to argue a lot on set. It wasn't until 2008 when they were filming The X-Files: I Want to Believe that they realised they actually rather liked one another and became friends.
6. The Cigarette Smoking Man, played by William Davis, was intended, in the beginning to be an extra with no dialogue. Gradually, however, he was given lines and eventually became a major antagonist. More trivia about him – when he was cast in the role, Davis was a former smoker who hadn't had a cigarette for 20 years. Having to smoke and inhale on set was therefore a challenge. Later on, he was allowed to smoke herbal cigarettes instead.
7. David Duchovny believes he was given the part of Mulder because he showed up at the audition wearing a tie with little pink Pigs on it. His character was so named because Mulder was the maiden name of Chris Carter's mother. And finally on Mulder, Rebecca Toolan, who plays Fox Mulder's mother, is actually only one year older than David Duchovny.
8. The theme tune was inspired by a Smiths song – How Soon is Now, from their 1985 album Meat is Murder. A cover of the same song was used in the soundtrack of the series Charmed. The echo effect used for the X-Files came about by accident. Composer Mark Snow was struggling to find inspiration when he accidentally turned on the delay effect when he leaned his arm on the keyboard.
9. There are some recurring numbers in the show, too. 42, the answer to life, the universe, and everything, is Mulder's apartment number; he also claims to have seen Edward D. Wood, Jr.'s Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957) 42 times. Chris Carter's production company is named Ten Thirteen, because his birthday is on 13 October. 1013 is also the silo number that Alex Krycek is locked into in season three, and 10:13 is often the time shown at the start of episodes. Carter's wife's birthday (21 November) is another recurring number, although it appears as 1121 because they're American.
10. Because it's illegal, even for a cop show, to make a fake FBI badge, the ones in the opening titles have a different quote to the real ones. The real ones bear the words "Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Department of Justice" and the X-Files ones read "Federal Bureau of Justice, United States Department of Investigation."

Who's That Girl?

Matt Webster lives in a tower block and attends a failing school. He dreams of being a spy like James Bond. Little does he know that he is being watched by someone who can make him into even more than that – a superhero.

His first solo mission is to attend a ball at the Decembrian Embassy and discover who is planning to steal a priceless diamond. While there, he meets the mysterious Lady Antonia du Cane, and is powerfully drawn to her. It soon becomes clear, however, that Lady du Cane is not what she seems. Matt’s quest to discover who she really is almost costs him his career.

A modern day Guy Fawkes gathers a coterie around him with the aim of blowing up Parliament with a nuclear bomb. To achieve this, they need money. Lots of it. Selling the Heart of Decembria Diamond will provide more than enough. All that stands in their way is the Freedom League – but the League is beset by internal disagreements. Can the heroes put their differences aside in time to save the day?

Prime Minister Richard Miller and his wife Fiona grieve for their daughter, Yasmin, who has been missing for three years, and is presumed to be dead. Viper agent Violet Parker could hold the key to what happened to Yasmin, but Violet is accused of giving away the organisation’s secrets. She is to be executed without trial. Will she take her knowledge of what happened to Yasmin with her to her grave?

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