Mulder and Scully discover the truth behind the reappearance of old “friends”.

The final story in this set adapts the five-part season finale from Joe Harris’ Season 10 IDW comics, with the revelation of who’s been behind everything coming as something of a surprise to Mulder and Scully – particularly given how much the former did for him during the early years of the 21st Century. It’s a neat idea to have Gibson Praise return as a grown man, still with many of the questions about him unanswered – he was one of the major loose ends from the TV series – and his genius explains how we’ve had multiple Spenders (and resurrected Krycek, Mr X, Well-Manicured Man et al).

Dirk Maggs’ script follows Harris’ original pretty much beat for beat, with a certain amount of exposition incorporated into the dialogue, and the episode really doesn’t feel like nearly 100 minutes long. That need for exposition gives each of the main actors a few extra neat moments – William B. Davis’ various Spenders have been a highlight of both sets, and the narcissism of the character comes to the fore right at the end.

With Gillian Anderson’s announcement at the weekend that she doesn’t see herself returning to the role of Scully after the conclusion of shooting of the TV season 11, I have a horrible feeling that the cliffhanger to this story may remain unresolved – at least on audio (the IDW Season 11 comics are still available, as far as I know). It’s been a rather unexpected ride and a great deal of fun – kudos firstly to Joe Harris and IDW for the original stories and then to Audible, writer and producer Maggs, director William Dufris and all the cast for nearly eight hours of extra X-Files drama…

Verdict: A fast-paced climax to the X-Files audio adventures. 9/10

Paul Simpson