The X-Files is famous for having one of the most dedicated fan bases in the history of dedicated (read: crazy obsessive) TV show fan bases - in fact, they pretty much set the template for the way online fandoms work, and the way they can affect the production of a show. One such obsessive fan went a step further and actually wrote an episode of the show, all freelance like, only he had a little more pull that the slashfic writers of the usenet message boards. He was Law & Order cameraman DW Paone, a fan of the series from its first broadcast, and he penned a story with author Frank Scoblete. And it sounds delightfully bonkers. Paone and Scoblete's idea centred on the esoteric concept of ancient astronauts, a fringe scientific theory that reckons extraterrestrial beings visited Earth way back in the annals of time, influencing our developments in society, religion and technology. Specifically their script was about the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten as an alien who got resurrected in 1995 and got up to some naughty business, we assume. Thanks to their connections in television the script ended up in the hands of The X-Files producers, who liked it but ended up rejecting the idea as it was deemed to be too expensive to produce on a network TV budget. Which, if you've seen an episode of X-Files, you know it pretty low. Boooo.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
