The BBC and Cinemax have announced the start of production. Read the full announcement here.

The great John Neville has died at the age of 86. A highly regarded Shakespearean actor, Mr. Neville was known to X-Files audiences as “the Well-Manicured Man,” the courtly, mysterious member of the Syndicate who met an untimely and heroic demise in The X-Files: Fight the Future. Like so many of the wonderful actors on The X-Files, we didn’t know when we first cast Mr. Neville how central his part would become to the life of the series. It was only because he was so effortlessly good that we found ourselves wanting, then needing, to bring his character back again and again. He was as lovely a man off-screen as he was a performer on-screen, and we were blessed to have had the opportunity to work with him.

Melissa George has been cast in the lead role in my new series, now titled Nemesis, for BBC1 and Cinemax. Read the story here.

The BBC has commissioned my new television series, whose working title is Morton. The series will be produced with Kudos Film and Television. More details on Morton (and its broadcast in the U.S., and around the world) in the months to come.

If you’re a Netflix subscriber like I am, then you’ll be delighted to learn that all nine seasons of The X-Files are now available to “Watch Instantly.” That means you can stream any episode you like at any time on your computer or via one of Netflix’s other device partners, such as Xbox, PS3 or TiVo. Very cool!

We’re adding a new feature to Big Light.  In the weeks and months ahead, we’ll post short, original video interviews with some of the creative minds with whom I’ve collaborated on The X-Files, Millennium, The Lone Gunmen, Night Stalker and other projects.  It’s a way to gather insights into the work we’ve done, as well as learn what they’re up to now.  We hope you enjoy them.

A reminder that Breaking Bad, my favorite show on television, returns for a third season on AMC on Sunday, March 21.  The show was created by the great Vince Gilligan (with whom I collaborated on The X-Files, The Lone Gunmen, Robbery Homicide Division and Night Stalker) and features several other Ten Thirteen alumni, including stars Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul as well as John Shiban, Michelle Maclaren and Mark Freeborn. Don’t miss it!

I was enormously relieved to learn our X-Phile friends in Chile all survived the terrible earthquake and aftershocks that devastated their beautiful country this past week.  So far, more than 800 people have been confirmed dead, and many thousands of others are in desperate need of assistance.  Please donate what you can, either at the “Chile Helps Chile” telethon being carried via Grupo The X-Files Chile’s website, or by contributing to the fund at the Banco de Chile website.

I was deeply saddened to learn of the devastating earthquake that struck Chile early Saturday.  My thoughts are with the wonderful Chilean people and especially all our good friends in Grupo The X-Files Chile and at 20th Century Fox in Santiago.  I pray for their safety.

I have had the good fortune to come across the work of Los Angeles folk artist Ramona Otto, whose works happen to include a piece called “Catfish,” which incorporates a trophy tuna once used as set decoration on — you guessed it — The X-Files.  You can check out her work here.