Yahoo Movies The X-Files season 12: Everything you need to know
Warning: Contains spoilers for season 11.
Even before its 11th season had aired, The X-Files was rocked by Gillian Anderson's announcement that she was quitting the show.
She had said previously that season 11 "will be the last" for her and for any fans who didn't believe her, she confirmed it in late December and repeated: "I've said from the beginning, this is it for me."
But the show has continued before without its dynamic duo when David Duchovny quit as a series regular in the latter seasons of the show's original run, so there's a chance that season 12 could still happen and we've rounded up what we know so far.
The X-Files season 12 release date: When can we expect it?
If the show does continue for season 12, then a January launch seems most likely as that's when the recent seasons have premiered. Don't expect January 2019 though as there was a two-year gap between season 10 and 11.
Channel 5 airs the show in the UK, but hasn't started season 11 yet so UK audiences will have to wait for season 12 a bit longer than the US too.
The X-Files season 12 cast: Will it continue without Scully?
During a Reddit AMA, creator Chris Carter responded to Anderson's exit for the first time by saying he hadn't really thought about the show without Scully.
"For me, the show has always been Mulder and Scully. So the idea of doing the show without her isn't something I've ever had to consider. Was her character given a proper goodbye? I think you will want to sit down and watch the series finale very carefully," he teased.
However, Fox TV chairman Gary Newman wants to believe that Anderson could be convinced to do more episodes. "I would not exclude the possibility that there would be more. But not only is there no plan, there hasn't been a single conversation. It's too early to even speculate," he explained.
Anderson seems pretty confident that season 11 is the end for Scully though. "It's time for me to hang up Scully's hat. It just is," she noted at the TCA press tour in January, adding that she's thought about leaving since before the six-episode revival season.
"I wouldn't necessarily have been happy if those six were how we said goodbye... There's lots of things that I want to do in my life and in my career and it's been an extraordinary opportunity and extraordinary character and I am hugely grateful."
But Duchovny has said he'd be "good either way" if the show either ended after season 11 or continued without Scully for season 12.
"I've tried to say goodbye to Fox Mulder many times and I failed," he joked. "And they all went and did the show without me, so how do you like that? I'm feeling pretty pissed off, now that I remember."
Away from Mulder and Scully, it's likely that Mitch Pileggi will be back as Walter Skinner and William B Davis as Cigarette Smoking Man, provided they survive the season.
Recurring cast in season 11 that could return for another season (again, if they survive) include Robbie Amell as Agent Kyd Miller, Lauren Ambrose as Agent Liz Einstein, Annabeth Gish as former FBI agent Monica Reyes and Veronica Cartwright as Cassandra Spender, the ex-wife of the Cigarette Smoking Man.
The X-Files season 12 spoilers: What's happened in season 11 so far?
Even Duchovny has admitted that season 10 wasn't all that good, promising fans that season 11 is "significantly better and we are all doing better work this time around".
However, the season premiere courted controversy from its fans after it was revealed Scully's son wasn't Mulder's, but the Cigarette Smoking Man's after he abducted her a while ago and impregnated her with alien-assisted science.
An eventful premiere also saw the show confirm Cigarette Smoking Man's real name as Carl Gerhard Busch and confirm that he is Mulder's father, despite that revelation leading to fan anger when it was revealed in season seven.
And perhaps Carter knows that season 11 will be the end of the show as the premiere also featured a hidden secret message.
A scene featured a young man struggling while squeaky alien voices rise over the top of the other sounds and the music. This was deduced by fans to be reversed speech which when unreversed, the message said: "If this is the end, it's been a wild, wild adventure with some of the finest people I know and the greatest fans that we could've hoped for. Here's to you. The truth is out there, 2018."
Either way, Carter has told EW that season 11 doesn't end on a cliffhanger. "I always end it as if it were the last one. It's become a thing you come to anticipate with this show with 'The Erlenmeyer Flask' in season one – we closed The X-Files and killed off a beloved character," he reflected.
"Things are often sacrificed in the finale. That's the interesting thing for me. There's a vertical corner in the finale that I think will get people's attention..."
The X-Files season 11 continues on Fox in the US. Channel 5 airs the show in the UK, but there is no confirmed release date yet.
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