Why there won't be aliens in new X-Files episodes

Gillian Anderson as Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny as Fox Mulder in X-Files.

The X-Files is to return to TV with no aliens, the show's star Gillian Anderson has revealed.

The 47-year-old actress is reprising her role as FBI agent Dana Scully alongside David Duchovny as Fox Mulder for a new six episode series that starts in January but has warned fans there won't be any extra-terrestrials for the partners to hunt down.

She is quoted by The Sun newspaper as saying: "Will there be aliens in it? No, no aliens this year, sorry. It will be scary. I hope it will be good.

"There'll be some laughs and I think overall, even though I haven't seen any of it, I'm most pleased with the fact it feels like what we used to deliver. And that's kind of what the audience and the fans seem to want.

"I think we have accomplished that. So hopefully it will be successful."

There was a running story arc through the series when it aired in the 90s that there was an alien conspiracy going on and in the last series in 2002 the episodes focused on a race of alien super-soldiers that disguised themselves as human and infiltrated the US government.

The cult sci-fi series - which contained the catchphrase "the truth is out there" - originally ran from 1993 to 2002 with Gillian and David taking on the roles again for 2008 movie The X-Files: I Want to Believe, which also starred Amanda Peet and Billy Connolly.

- Bang! Showbiz