Millennium (TV series)

Millennium was a grim, suspenseful television series, produced by the creators of The X-Files and set during the run-up to the new millennium (it premiered in 1996). It was cancelled in 1999, with a "final" episode wrapping up the storyline airing as The X-Files episode 7x05, "Millennium."

Origins

Chris Carter's original idea for 'Millennium' was a series that would present a more mature point of view of the world from the perspective of a law enforcement officer than offered in his companion series 'The X-Files'. To this end, the character of Frank Black (named after Black Francis), was envisaged to be portrayed by an older actor than David Duchovny. Carter favoured Lance Henriksen in the lead role and pushed studio executives at 20th Century Fox to approve Henriksen's casting. Carter also pursued Henriksen personally and finally persuaded the actor to take the role of Frank Black by leaving a copy of the pilot script outside of his hotel room. Henriksen signed up on the strength of the writing.

Related Topics:
Chris Carter's - The X-Files - Black Francis - David Duchovny - Lance Henriksen

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Carter pitched 'Millennium' to Fox as Seven set in Seattle'. The mise-en-scène of a dark, rain-soaked city and a world-weary detective's hunt for a religiously-inspired serial killer have clear parallels with the pilot episode. The pilot served to introduce the Black family, consisting of Frank, wife Catherine (Megan Gallagher) and daughter Jordan (Brittany Tiplady). The family was depicted returning to Seattle where Frank was born and raised because Frank wanted to protect his family from the evil with which his job as a criminal profiler with the FBI brought him in to daily contact. The end of the episode saw Frank receiving a series of Polaroid photographs of his wife and daughter in an envelope with no return address, setting up a stalking thread that would be resolved in the second season. It is often misconstrued that Frank is "psychic", but Chris Carter has reiterated in commentaries on the Millennium Season One DVD that Frank simply had "a gift", which Frank also stated was "a curse"; there was no tie to being a psychic.

Related Topics:
Seven - Seattle - Serial killer - Megan Gallagher - Brittany Tiplady - FBI

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