New ‘X-Files’ episodes to shoot in Vancouver, Smoking Man confirms

Actor William B. Davis, who portrayed The Smoking Man in the "The X-Files," confirmed the show will be returning to Vancouver for filming in June. March 26, 2015. (CTV)

Agents Mulder and Scully are headed back to Vancouver, according to a tip from an iconic “The X-Files” series villain.

Local actor William B. Davis, who portrayed the shadowy “Smoking Man,” confirmed the show’s newly-announced six-episode run will be shot where the series began over two decades ago.

“That’s my understanding and I actually have my understanding from the horse’s mouth,” Davis said. “It will actually shoot here in Vancouver, and soon – starting in June.”

Davis said series creator Chris Carter has asked him to clear his schedule for the summer, meaning his character, a nemesis of David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson’s FBI duo, will return.

That’s in spite of the fact “The Smoking Man” has already died three times.

“As they say, no one ever dies on ‘The X-Files,’” Davis said. “What they’re going to do in term of regenerating my character, I don’t know. I’m as excited to see that as anyone.”

The cult classic series filmed in Vancouver for the first five of its nine original seasons, which debuted on Fox in 1993.

When its return was announced earlier this week, some speculated it would have to shoot elsewhere because Vancouver studios are already booked up for the summer, but Davis said the series has been in the works for some time.

Studio space and crews have already been secured, he said.

With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Peter Grainger