The X-Files is officially returning to television with a limited series

Creator Chris Carter and stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson are on board for a revival of the seminal supernatural/procedural drama, The X-Files.

"We had the privilege of working with Chris on all nine seasons of The X-Files — one of the most rewarding creative experiences of our careers," said Fox Television CEOs Dana Walden and Gary Newman in an announcement today, "and we couldn't be more excited to explore that incredible world with him again."

Though the 1993 series has supported a second movie adaptation, the Lone Gunman spin-off and a few comic book adaptations since going off the air in 2001, Carter gave his own view of the series' absence from television: "I think of it as a 13-year commercial break. The good news is the world has only gotten that much stranger, a perfect time to tell these six stories."

Those six stories refer to the six episodes of the limited series, and may indicate that while the new run might have an overarching plot, it'll still follow a the general, beloved format of monster-of-the-week episodes. As yet, Fox has not announced a premiere date, but it has confirmed that production will start this summer, no doubt arranged around Duchovny and Anderson's other television schedules on Aquarius and Hannibal.

The world has certainly become a different place for conspiracy theories in the twenty-odd years since The X-Files premiered, thanks in no small part to the internet. It would be fantastic to see Mulder attempting to track down Slenderman as Scully protests that the origins of the urban myth are recorded and demonstrably fictional. I wouldn't mind finding out what Mulder thinks of Truthers, Birthers and people who think that lizardmen are in charge of the government, either.