The X Files revival release date announced: Dana Scully and Fox Mulder to return next year

The 'event series' will last for six episodes and sees the return of Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully

Fox Mulder and Dana Scully in The X-Files (Rex Features)

Having been off the air for well over a decade, Fox have finally published the start date for the new The X-Files revival series.

The broadcasters announced that the hit show will return to TV screens on 24 January 2016, followed the next day by another episode and the four subsequent episodes being released weekly thereafter.

Earlier this year, Fox confirmed it had commissioned a six-episode ‘event series’ that would follow Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully as they investigate supernatural mysteries with David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson playing their respective roles.

Last month Mithc Pileggi confirmed that he would reprise his role as FBI boss Walter Skinner, as will villain Smoking Man, played by William B. Davis.

"I think of it as a 13-year commercial break," original X-Files writer Chris Carter commented. "The good news is the world has only gotten that much stranger, a perfect time to tell these six stories."

Originally premiering in 1993, The X-Files won 16 Emmys and five Golden Globes and became an instant cult hit.

FOX CEOs Gary Newman and Dana Walden said. "We had the privilege of working with Chris on all nine seasons of The X-Files– one of the most rewarding creative experiences of our careers – and we couldn’t be more excited to explore that incredible world with him again.

The X-Files Walter Skinner (Rex Features)

"The X-Files was not only a seminal show for both the studio and the network, it was a worldwide phenomenon that shaped pop culture – yet remained a true gem for the legions of fans who embraced it from the beginning.

“Few shows on television have drawn such dedicated fans as The X-Files, and we’re ecstatic to give them the next thrilling chapter of Mulder and Scully they’ve been waiting for."