The File Room

The X-Files tackles time travel (yay!) but it's not as fun as you'd hope (boo!). Michaela and Ed try to figure out what's missing from an episode that on paper should be really good.

Ever heard of Horace Pinker? No, neither had we. Michaela and Ed chat Tickle Me Elmo, Headbanger's Ball and classic cinema inspo in this week's episode. Plus why Michaela once had to wear someone else's underwear. We promise this is a podcast about the X Files.

Mulder and Scully investigate a plane crash involving Max Fenig, previously seen in Season One's "Fallen Angel", and Ed and Michaela get to enjoy a mythology episode which is mostly free of the usual hybrid/colonisation baggage.

Michaela finds dogs and an Alien in some dude's house in London, and we discuss whether this episode is an effective snapshot of 90s America with Ed's Historian Help. Apologies for the echo-y audio - we had some microphone issues that weren't apparent until after we had recorded.

Ed and Michaela discuss a very emotionally and thematically rich episode, one which draws upon Jewish folklore and mysticism for a story that remains potent almost 30 years later.

Should we be calling this a 'Messology' episode? We catch up with Scully's cancer journey, some more hybrids, PLUS Ed has a time in an airport carpark. 

Ed is back from traveling seemingly the entirety of the UK by train, so he and Michaela catch up before talking about a very fun episode of The X-Files that came close to being a very different kind of episode entirely.

Michaela and Ed tackle the most-watched episode of The X-Files ever, a fact which is very funny when you consider what the episode is actually about. They also talk about whether the episode's blending of monster of the week and mythology might be a good blueprint for the new X-Files.

In the ignominious tradition of "Jersey Devil", this episode finds The X-Files taking a popular cryptid (in this case the Chupacabra) and just using the name to do something else entirely. Michaela and Ed discuss problems with striking the right tone, the X-Files' clumsy attempts at social commentary, and what a good job the special effects department did on all that fungus.

Vince Gilligan uses a manipulative serial killer to distort central X Files canon, but does it work? Join Ed and Michaela as we discuss this and more, plus catch up on our indulgences or attempts to moderate. Apologies for the rougher-than-usual audio in this episode.

"Tunguska" left Mulder stranded in a gulag and asked 'how will he get out?' This episode replies 'Surprisingly easily.' Michaela and Ed discuss the ever-growing number of problems with the mythology, and the dangers of trying to set up the plot for a movie that isn't going to come out for two years. Also, sorry that the audio is a little rough in this episode.

Ed has a nice cup of tea, and we discuss the punchability of faces, the road to the X Files movie, and why black oil is so compelling.

It's a fun one this week as The X-Files delves into the (possibly all false) back story of one of its most iconic and mysterious characters, while Michaela and Ed talk about the very notion and purpose of conspiracy theories.

Ed and Michaela try to stomach this episode, have a disappointing revelation and even disagree... 

Mulder regresses through his past lives and Michaela and Ed struggle to stay awake. Dreadlocked - As mentioned in the intro, here is the funny little "documentary" that Michaela and Ed made at university about Michaela getting her dreadlocks cut off for charity. (It's a bit slow for the first two minutes but then it gets silly.)

The mechanics of mystery are picked over in this week's especially creepy episode, plus, at what point does Mulder's leaps become 'a bit much'? All this, plus Ed's 4th of July menu for your listening delectation. 

Michaela and Ed spend way too long talking about taxes at the start of this episode, which is a pretty good indicator of how exciting "Teliko" is.

Infamous. Audacious. Kinda gross. This week, Michaela and Ed dig into an episode that shocked a nation. Michaela’s fresh-from-the-spa glow doesn't survive the Peacock brothers, and Ed worried about tinnitus. Join us as we dissect the horror, the humour, and the cultural lean of this iconic hour of TV.

Michaela and Ed dig into season four of The X-Files by discussing advances in data storage. They also debut a podcast within a podcast, Millennium Moment. Spoilers for the end of 28 Years Later 

Mark Snow, composer for The X-Files and hundreds of other TV shows and movies, died on July 4th, 2025, at the age of 78. Michaela and Ed discuss the importance of Snow's work to the success of The X-Files, why his use of synths stood out in the TV landscape of the 1990s, and why his work - particularly the iconic theme - resonates to this day. Music clips used in this episode, all composed by Mark...

The highs, the disappointments, and a long list of excellent guest stars. Join us once again for a spreadsheet extravaganza to top out season 3, as Ed and Michaela discuss striking the balance between competence and creative risk-taking.

Ed and Michaela try to figure out what the fuck is going on with the mythology, with mixed results. Also they make possibly the first podcast in history to reference both Irish pop band The Corrs and the Brothers Karamasov.

A classic X Files conspiracy episode with two-for-one Mulders, which feels a little too prescient round contemporary media fears.

Mulder and Scully go in search of a lake monster, and Michaela and Ed interrogate '90s nostalgia.

We discuss male psychology and Eurovision in this Women in Sci-Fi special episode.