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Sadleir notes how Walpole 's considerable income enabled him to indulge not only his love of art and of old books and manuscripts , but also philanthropy , particularly towards younger writers . Although Walpole enjoyed the limelight , he was secretive about his many acts of generosity to younger writers , with both encouragement and financial help . After his death some idea of the scale of his generosity was discovered . Osbert Sitwell commented , " I don 't think there was any younger writer of any worth who has not at one time or another received kindness of an active kind , and at a crucial moment , from Hugh " . Hart @-@ Davis lists thirty @-@ eight authors from whom letters of gratitude were found among Walpole 's correspondence ; Sadleir writes of Walpole 's " generous kindness to literary aspirants and to writers fallen on evil days ... by immediate financial assistance , by prefaces freely supplied or by collaboration volunteered , by introductions and recommendations to likely publishers , Walpole relieved the distresses of authorship to a degree which will never be fully known . " Agate , though himself the recipient of Walpole 's generosity on occasion , thought it sometimes went too far : " Mr Walpole 's large @-@ heartedness gets him into all kinds of trouble . He is an inveterate patter . He pats on the back young men whom sterner critics would knock down , because even in fantastic incompetence he perceives the good intention . No art or artist is safe from Mr Walpole 's benevolence " . |
In his adopted home of Keswick a section of the town museum was dedicated to Walpole 's memory in 1949 , with manuscripts , correspondence , paintings and sculpture from Brackenburn , donated by his sister and brother . |
= = Works = = |
Walpole 's books cover a wide range . His fiction includes short stories , bildungsromane ( Mr Perrin and Mr Traill , 1911 , and the Jeremy trilogy ) that delve into the psychology of boyhood ; gothic horror novels ( Portrait of a Man with Red Hair , 1925 , and The Killer and The Slain , 1942 ) ; a period family saga ( the Herries chronicle ) and even detective fiction ( Behind the Screen ) . He wrote literary biographies ( Conrad , 1916 ; James Branch Cabell , 1920 ; and Trollope , 1928 ) ; plays ; and screenplays including David Copperfield , 1935 . |
= = = Influences = = = |
Walpole 's debt to Henry James is discernible in The Duchess of Wrexe ( 1914 ) and The Green Mirror ( 1917 ) , but in the view of J B Priestley the two most potent influences on Walpole were the highly contrasting ones of Trollope and Dostoyevsky . Other critics noted the Trollopian influence ; in 1923 Arthur St John Adcock commented : |
The Trenchards [ in The Green Mirror ] are a kind of family Trollope might have created had he been living now ; The Cathedral is a kind of story he might have told , with its realistic melodrama and its clerical atmosphere , but Walpole tells it with a subtler art in the writing and the construction , with a conciseness and charm of style that are outside the range of the earlier novelist . |
Walpole , though he was devoted to the works of Trollope , and published a study of him , thought that there was no real comparison between the two of them : " I am far too twisted and fantastic a novelist ever to succeed in catching Trollope 's marvellous normality . " Priestley was less impressed by the supposed Trollopian side of Walpole 's work , finding some of it formulaic . He was more taken with a darker , Dostoyevskian , side that he found in the writing : " suddenly it will transform the pleasant easy scene he is giving us into transparency behind which are bright stars and red hellfire ... No matter how jolly and zestful he may appear to be , the fact remains that he possesses an unusually sharp sense of evil . " |
Possibly the most pervasive influence on Walpole was Walter Scott , whose romanticism is reflected in much of the later writer 's fiction . Such was Walpole 's love of Scott that he liked to think of himself as the latter 's reincarnation . He amassed the largest collection in Britain of Scott manuscripts and early editions , and constantly reread the novels . With the Herries stories Walpole restored the popularity of the historical novel , a form for which Scott was famous but which had been out of fashion for decades . The Herries series begins in the 18th century and follows a Lakeland family through the generations up to modern times . |
= = = Reputation = = = |
Walpole sought critical as well as financial success , and longed to write works that equalled those of Trollope , Thomas Hardy and Henry James . In his early days , he received frequent and generally approving scrutiny from major literary figures . He was a good friend of Virginia Woolf , and rated her as an influence ; she praised his gift for seizing on telling detail : " it is no disparagement to a writer to say that his gift is for the small things rather than for the large ... If you are faithful with the details the large effects will grow inevitably out of those very details " . Joseph Conrad said of him , " We see Mr. Walpole grappling with the truth of things spiritual and material with his characteristic earnestness , and we can discern the characteristics of this acute and sympathetic explorer of human nature . " |
In 1928 Priestley observed , |
When I first remember seeing Hugh Walpole 's name he had no public at all , but the ferocious young reviewers – the " highbrows " as we have since learned to call them – delighted in him . Now he has an enormous public , both in England and America , and the young " highbrows " – who are saddened by the thought of a large public – are not particularly fond of him . |
Priestley contended that Walpole had fulfilled his early potential , unlike Compton Mackenzie , Gilbert Cannan and other promising young novelists of his generation . This view was not universal among critics : Walpole sometimes divided opinion . Writing of Walpole 's Russian novels the contemporary critic and novelist Douglas Goldring commented , " Russia has been the grave of many reputations ; and our Napoleon of the drawing @-@ room novel has fared no better than other would @-@ be conquerors of that disconcerting land . " Goldring 's complaint was that Walpole 's Russian ( and English ) characters were clichéd stereotypes . The reviewer in Punch , by contrast , wrote , " I consulted a Russian , who is very much alive , and received the opinion that , if Mr. Walpole has not succeeded in drawing the real average Russian , he has given us a type whose faults and virtues sound the keynote of the situation as it is to @-@ day . " The Observer rated The Dark Forest as " one of the finest novels of our generation " . |
In 1924 Ernest Hemingway wrote into a short story a comparison of G K Chesterton and Walpole , concluding that the former was the better man , the latter a better writer and both were classics . Walpole could be sensitive about his literary reputation and often took adverse criticism badly . When Hilaire Belloc praised P G Wodehouse as the best English writer of their day , Walpole took it amiss , to the amusement of Wodehouse who regarded Belloc 's plaudit as " a gag , to get a rise out of serious @-@ minded authors whom he disliked " . Wodehouse was not a great admirer of Walpole ; his own scrupulous craftsmanship , with drafts polished over and over again , was the opposite of Walpole 's hastily written and seldom @-@ revised prose . He also viewed Walpole 's sensitivity to criticism as absurd . Walpole was not always as oversensitive as Wodehouse supposed . The critic James Agate was a friend despite his regular rude remarks about Walpole 's prose , and when Walpole discovered that Agate had written a spoof of the Herries " Lakeland " style , he made him promise to print it in the next published volume of his diaries . |
During his career contemporaries saw both negative and positive sides to Walpole 's outgoing nature and desire to be in the public eye . Wodehouse commented , " I always think Hugh Walpole 's reputation was two thirds publicity . He was always endorsing books and speaking at lunches and so on . " On the other hand , Walpole stood out as one of the few literary figures willing to go into court and give evidence for the defence at the obscenity trial after the novel The Well of Loneliness was published . |
By the time of his death The Times 's estimation of Walpole was no higher than , " he had a versatile imagination ; he could tell a workmanlike story in good workmanlike English ; and he was a man of immense industry , conscientious and painstaking " . The belittling tone of the obituary brought forth strong rebuttals from T S Eliot , Kenneth Clark and Priestley , among others . Within a few years of his death , Walpole was seen as old @-@ fashioned , and his works were largely neglected . In the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Elizabeth Steele summed up : " His psychology was not deep enough for the polemicist , his diction not free enough for those returning from war , and his zest disastrous to a public wary of personal commitment " . In 2011 , Peter Hitchens , an admirer of Walpole , though not an uncritical one , wrote : |
Henry James and John Buchan praised him . Joseph Conrad , T S Eliot and Virginia Woolf were kind about him . What 's more , his books sold enormously well on both sides of the Atlantic , he was knighted , and he became very rich ... Yet now he has vanished completely , his books not even to be found on the back shelves of most second hand shops , dismissed as " unreadable " . |
Walpole 's works have not been completely neglected in recent years . The Herries stories have seldom been out of print , and in 2014 WorldCat listed a dozen recent reissues of Walpole 's works , including The Wooden Horse , The Dark Forest , The Secret City , Jeremy , and The Cathedral . In 2011 the BBC broadcast a reappraisal of Walpole , The Walpole Chronicle , presented by Eric Robson . In 2013 a new stage version of Rogue Herries was presented by the Theatre by the Lake company in Walpole 's adopted home of Keswick . The BBC speculated that this could mark a revival in interest in his works . |
= = = Biographies = = = |
Two full @-@ length studies of Walpole were published after his death . The first , in 1952 , was written by Rupert Hart @-@ Davis , who had known Walpole personally . It was regarded at the time as " among the half dozen best biographies of the century " and has been reissued several times since its first publication . Writing when homosexuality was still outlawed in England , Hart @-@ Davis avoided direct mention of his subject 's sexuality , so respecting Walpole 's habitual discretion and the wishes of his brother and sister . He left readers to read between the lines if they wished , in , for example , references to Turkish baths " providing informal opportunities of meeting interesting strangers " . Hart @-@ Davis dedicated the book to " Dorothy , Robin and Harold " , Walpole 's sister , brother , and long @-@ term companion . |
In 1972 Elizabeth Steele 's study of Walpole was published . Much shorter than Hart @-@ Davis 's biography , at 178 pages to his 503 , it dealt mainly with the novels , and aimed " to show the sources of Hugh Walpole 's success as a writer during the thirty @-@ five years and fifty books of his busy career " . Steele concentrated on half a dozen of Walpole 's best books , each illustrating aspects of his writing , under the headings " Acolyte " , " Artist " , " Witness " , " Evangelist " , " Critic " and " Romanticist " . Steele also wrote a study of Walpole 's North American lecture tours ( 2006 ) and the article on Walpole in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography ( 2004 ) , which treats his private life briefly but candidly . |
= Domnall mac Murchada = |
Domnall mac Murchada ( died 1075 ) , also known as Domnall mac Murchada meic Diarmata , was a leading late eleventh @-@ century claimant to the Kingdom of Leinster , and a King of Dublin . As a son of Murchad mac Diarmata , King of Dublin and the Isles , Domnall was a grandson of Diarmait mac Máel na mBó , King of Leinster , and thus a member of the Uí Chennselaig . Domnall was also the first of the Meic Murchada , a branch of the Uí Chennselaig named after his father . |
In 1071 , the year before his grandfather 's death , Domnall and an Uí Chennselaig kinsman , Donnchad mac Domnaill Remair , battled for control of Leinster . Although Domnall is accorded the title King of Leinster in one mediaeval king @-@ list , Donnchad was evidently a more powerful claimant , and Domnall appears to have held the Leinster kingship in name only . |
Domnall 's rise to power in the Kingdom of Dublin took place in 1075 , after the expulsion of the reigning Gofraid mac Amlaíb meic Ragnaill , King of Dublin by the latter 's overlord , Toirdelbach Ua Briain , King of Munster . The circumstances surrounding Domnall 's accession are uncertain . He may have collaborated with Gofraid to wrench the kingdom from the grip of the Uí Briain , or he may have been installed in the kingship by Toirdelbach himself , and ruled under the latter 's overlordship . Whatever the case , Domnall died within the year , and Toirdelbach placed his own son , Muirchertach , upon the throne . |
= = Background = = |
Domnall was a son of Murchad mac Diarmata , King of Dublin and the Isles ( died 1070 ) , who was himself a son of Diarmait mac Máel na mBó , King of Leinster ( died 1072 ) . Domnall was , therefore , a member of the Uí Chennselaig ; as well as the first of the Meic Murchada , a branch of the Uí Chennselaig named after his father . Domnall had two brothers : Donnchad ( died 1115 ) , a later King of Leinster , and Énna . |
In 1052 , Domnall 's aforesaid grandfather conquered the Kingdom of Dublin from Echmarcach mac Ragnaill , King of Dublin and the Isles ( died 1064 / 1065 ) , and soon after appointed Murchad as King of Dublin . About a decade later , Murchad appears to have driven Echmarcach from Mann , after which he gained the kingship of the Isles . Diarmait 's deep @-@ rooted authority in Norse @-@ Gaelic Dublin lasted for two decades , and was a remarkable achievement that no other Irish king had ever accomplished . Unfortunately for the Uí Chennselaig , two of Diarmait 's sons — Murchad and Glún Iairn — unexpectedly predeceased their father in 1070 , and Diarmait himself fell in battle two years later . |
= = Kingship of Leinster = = |
Even before Diarmait 's demise , the Uí Chennselaig began to fight amongst themselves in a struggle that was almost certainly an after @-@ effect of Diarmait 's sons ' untimely deaths . Specifically , the Annals of the Four Masters , and the Annals of Inisfallen reveal that Domnall battled against the forces of his own first cousin once removed , Donnchad mac Domnaill Remair ( died 1089 ) , before Diarmait 's ally , Toirdelbach Ua Briain , King of Munster ( died 1086 ) , was able to intervene and restore order in the Kingdom of Leinster . |
Up until about the time of his death , Diarmait had been the most powerful king in southern Ireland . In consequence of the void left by his demise , Diarmait 's erstwhile ally Toirdelbach seized the initiative , and moved to enforce his own claim to the high @-@ kingship of Ireland . He immediately imposed his overlordship on Leinster — a task almost certainly expedited by the aforesaid infighting amongst the Uí Chennselaig — and took control of Dublin . Whilst the imposition of authority upon rival provincial kingdoms was a fundamental part in gaining the high @-@ kingship , Toirdelbach 's decision to march @-@ on Dublin reveals that the acquisition of this coastal kingdom had also become an essential part of the process . |
Toirdelbach 's subsequent capture of Donnchad in Dublin suggests that the latter was not only the leading Uí Chennselaig dynast , but was also in the process of using the town as the capital of Leinster . Although the list of Leinster kings in the Book of Leinster declares that Domnall had succeeded his grandfather as King of Leinster , it is apparent that Donnchad was indeed the more powerful claimant . In fact , the king @-@ list of Uí Chennselaig in the same source makes no notice of Domnall , and states that it was Donnchad who succeeded Diarmait as King of Uí Chennselaig . Domnall , therefore , may not have reigned in Leinster , and could well have been King of Leinster in name only . |
If the Annals of Inisfallen is to be believed , Toirdelbach acquired possession of Dublin when the Dubliners themselves offered him its kingship . Although this record may be mere Uí Briain propaganda , it could instead reveal that the Dubliners preferred a distant overlord from Munster rather than one from neighbouring Leinster . Within the year , the kingship was held by Gofraid mac Amlaíb meic Ragnaill ( died 1075 ) . The latter appears to have been a kinsman of Echmarcach , and may well have been handed the kinship by Toirdelbach , perhaps on account of the considerable distance between the kingdoms . |
= = Kingship of Dublin = = |
In 1075 , Toirdelbach drove Gofraid from the kingship and Ireland itself . There is uncertainty concerning the circumstances of Gofraid 's expulsion , and of Domnall 's accession . On one hand , it is possible that Gofraid was involved in lending assistance to Anglo @-@ Danish resistance against the Norman regime in the recently conquered Kingdom of England . If correct , Gofraid would appear to have been at odds with Toirdelbach , a monarch who appears to have cultivated close links with the Norman regime . Domnall , therefore , may have had Toirdelbach 's consent to rule in Dublin as Gofraid 's replacement . In fact , Toirdelbach 's placement of Domnall in Dublin , and his allowance of the latter 's aforesaid cousin in Leinster , may have been a way in which the Uí Briain exploited the fractured Uí Chennselaig . Certainly , Domnall 's cooperation would have been a valuable asset to Toirdelbach , considering the prominence of his father amongst the Dubliners , and the likelihood that Domnall himself may have lived most of his life there . On the other hand , it is possible that Gofraid was driven from the kingship because he had aligned himself with the Leinstermen against the Uí Briain . If such a sequence of events is correct it could mean that , even though Gofraid was unable continue on with the revolt , it was his Uí Chennselaig confederates who succeeded in securing Dublin from the Uí Briain . |
Whatever the circumstances of Domnall 's accession , the Uí Chennselaig regime in Dublin was short @-@ lived . The Annals of Inisfallen , the Annals of the Four Masters , and the Annals of Ulster , all reveal that , within the year , Domnall died after a brief illness , with the latter two sources specifying that he succumbed after three nights of sickness . The Annals of Inisfallen and the Annals of Ulster accord him the title King of Dublin , and make no mention of any connection with the Leinster kingship . Upon Domnall 's demise , Toirdelbach had his own son , Muirchertach ( died 1119 ) , appointed King of Dublin . In so doing , Toirdelbach reinforced his authority in Dublin , and followed a precedent started by Domnall 's grandfather , in which a claimant to the high @-@ kingship of Ireland installed his own heir to the kingship of Dublin . |
= = Ancestry = = |
= Irresistible ( The X @-@ Files ) = |
" Irresistible " is the thirteenth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series The X @-@ Files . It premiered on the Fox network on January 13 , 1995 . The episode was written by series creator Chris Carter , directed by David Nutter , and featured the first of two guest appearances by Nick Chinlund as the death fetishist killer Donnie Pfaster . The episode is a " Monster @-@ of @-@ the @-@ Week " story , a stand @-@ alone plot which is unconnected to the series ' wider mythology . The episode was viewed by 8 @.@ 8 million people upon its first broadcast , and received positive reviews , with much praise to Chinlund 's performance as the antagonist . |
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder ( David Duchovny ) and Dana Scully ( Gillian Anderson ) who work on cases linked to the paranormal , called X @-@ Files . In the episode , Mulder and Scully investigate a death fetishist who begins kidnapping and killing women to satisfy his obsession . Scully , still recovering from her earlier abduction , is soon overcome with posttraumatic stress disorder . |
" Irresistible " is one of the few in the series that has no paranormal elements to it . Initially , the script called for Donnie Pfaster to be a necrophiliac , but the idea was soon rejected by the Fox Broadcasting Company for being " unacceptable for broadcast standards " . Pfaster was eventually brought back in the season seven episode " Orison " . |
= = Plot = = |
In Minneapolis , a funeral is held for a young girl ( Megan Hilty ) . The ceremony is observed by Donnie Pfaster , the eerie assistant director for the funeral home . Later that night , as the girl 's body is being stored for burial the following day , Pfaster 's boss finds him cutting off the corpse 's hair . Pfaster is promptly fired . |
Some time later , Fox Mulder and Dana Scully are summoned to Minneapolis by Moe Bocks , an FBI field agent who is investigating the exhumation and desecration of a body in a local cemetery . Mulder discounts Bocks ' theory that this act is a variation of extraterrestrial cattle mutilation , and suggests they search for a human culprit . Scully is disturbed at the sight of the disheveled corpse . Two more bodies are found exhumed , with their hair cut and fingernails removed . Mulder develops a psychological profile of the criminal , believing him to be an escalating " death fetishist " who may resort to murder to satisfy his desires . Scully keeps her discomfort with the case to herself , and writes up a field report on necrophilia . |
Pfaster , who was behind the exhumations , proves Mulder 's prediction correct when he brings a prostitute to his apartment . When the prostitute discovers a collection of funerary wreaths in Pfaster 's bedroom , he kills her and removes her fingers . Later , Pfaster — having been hired as a frozen food delivery man through charming the female interviewer — delivers to a low @-@ security house of a woman with teenage daughters . He requests the bathroom to wash his hands , and whilst there steals some discarded hair from a brush he found in the trashcan . Pfaster attends a night class at a community college , where a female classmate defends herself after he makes threatening advances . He is arrested and is placed in a jail cell across from a suspect being interrogated for Pfaster 's crimes by Mulder , Scully , and Bocks . Pfaster shows interest in Scully , and learns her name from the interrogated suspect . Pfaster is later released as his charges were dropped . |
Scully is deeply troubled by Pfaster 's crimes , and has unsettling dreams and hallucinations about the case . In Washington , she has a counseling session with a social worker , during which she shares her anxiety about the investigation . After the session , Scully learns that someone from Minnesota had called for her . When she contacts Mulder , she learns that neither he nor Bocks made the call . Tracing a fingerprint to Pfaster from his arrest , Bocks and Mulder raid his apartment , finding one of the prostitute 's fingers in his refrigerator . Meanwhile , after Scully arrives in Minneapolis , Pfaster forces her car off the road . He kidnaps Scully and takes her to his late mother 's abandoned house . He ties and gags Scully , and keeps her in a dark closet . |
Mulder and Bocks discover that Pfaster 's mother had owned a car which matches paint found on Scully 's abandoned car , tracking down her former residence . Meanwhile , Scully escapes from Pfaster as he prepares a cold bath for her , resulting in a pursuit through the house . Scully and Pfaster have a struggle that sends them falling down a staircase onto the foyer , where a task force led by Mulder and Bocks breaks in moments later and apprehends Pfaster . Scully initially insists that she is okay , but then breaks down and cries in Mulder 's arms . In a voice @-@ over narration , Mulder traces Pfaster 's pathology to his childhood , when he was raised in a family of four older sisters . Mulder also reflects on Pfaster 's nature and the nature of evil in general . |
= = Production = = |
The episode 's initial script where Pfaster was a necrophiliac was rejected by the Fox Broadcasting Company for being " unacceptable for broadcast standards " . As series creator Chris Carter described it , " When I handed the script in , it was really for a necrophiliac episode , and that just didn 't fly . You cannot do the combination of sex and death on network television . " Carter was forced to tone down the script by changing Pfaster from a necrophiliac to a death fetishist and diminishing Pfaster 's sexual obsession . He considered that the sexual content was " implied and understood by audiences " , and that Pfaster still resulted in a creepy character , particularly his " creepy arrogance " in using shampoo on the hair of his victims . The episode 's original title was " Fascination " . |
The episode is one of the few in the series that has no paranormal elements to it . Carter said of the episode 's conception , " My first chance to work with David Nutter in a long time , and I wanted to give him something he could sink his teeth into . It 's a little bit different for us . It doesn 't really have a paranormal aspect , except for Scully 's perceptions of her deepest fears . I felt that I had to figure out what she is most afraid of , and she is most afraid of those things that most of us are afraid of . The idea of dying at the hands of someone — creature or not — and she is helpless to do anything about it . I thought it was a very good way to explore Scully 's character . " The scene where Dana Scully imagines Pfaster appearing as a devil was influenced by real @-@ life accounts , as described by Carter : " There are reports of people who had been under the spell of Jeffrey Dahmer , who actually claimed that he shape @-@ shifted during those hours when they were held hostage ; that his image actually changed . " Nutter said " In many ways , Chris wanted to sell the idea that , as established in Mulder 's closing dialogue in the show , not all terror comes from the paranormal . It could come from the person next door . " |
Carter said of the casting of Nick Chinlund as Pfaster , " I thought it was a wonderfully creepy villain . The casting of that show was very difficult . We saw many actors , but there was a quality I was looking for and I couldn 't put a name on that quality . I finally figured out what it was when Nick came in and he had a kind of androgynous quality that worked . I thought he looked like Joe College , but he could scare the hell out of you . " Producer Glen Morgan said Chinlund 's performance was outstanding . Nutter stated " Nick Chinlund was wonderful to work with . The guy was like putty in my hands . He was great . If you 're looking for someone to underline the weirdness and strangeness of the character , he did that . " |
Nutter said of the episode " I really worked hard to make it a special show , because I thought it was special . It was Gillian 's post @-@ traumatic stress episode , because she had not really had the opportunity to vent her feelings about the whole Duane Barry situation . This was an opportunity to sit back and let all that happen . " Carter particularly liked the scene where a clearly disturbed Scully hugs Mulder , claiming it was a " tender moment " between two characters that had not shown that much affection for each other . |
= = Reception = = |
= = = Ratings = = = |
" Irresistible " premiered on the Fox network on January 13 , 1995 . This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 9 @.@ 2 , with a 15 share , meaning that roughly 9 @.@ 2 percent of all television @-@ equipped households , and 15 percent of households watching television , were tuned in to the episode . It was viewed by 8 @.@ 8 million households . |
= = = Reviews = = = |
" Irresistible " received largely positive reviews from critics . Entertainment Weekly rated " Irresistible " a B + , saying it was based on " an unsettling concept to begin with " that was reinforced by " Chinlund 's skin @-@ crawling one @-@ man show " . Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club rated the episode A , praising the acting , particularly of Chinlund as Pfaster , and describing it as " legitimately scary , a sign of a show that was pushing itself in new and interesting directions " . The only criticism was for the scenes where Scully hallucinates Pfaster shapeshifting as " pretty silly , almost feeling like an attempt to make sure something vaguely paranormal is in the episode so the fans don 't get bored with what is ultimately a very good episode " . Jessica Morgan of Television Without Pity gave the episode a B + grade . Writing for Den of Geek , Nina Sordi ranked " Irresistible " the sixth best X @-@ Files episode , saying that " excluding CSM and his cronies , Pfaster has got to be the most disturbing villain that our favorite agents have encountered " . Den of Geek writer Juliette Harrisson named it the " finest " stand @-@ alone episode of the second season , describing it as " a genuinely creepy 45 @-@ minute horror movie " . Connie Ogle of Popmatters listed Pfaster among the best monster @-@ of @-@ the @-@ week characters of the series , and IGN 's Christine Seghers ranked Chinlund the seventh best guest star in the history of the show , considering that " what makes him all the more frightening is how downright passive and polite he is up until the moment he 's going to kill ; the perfect camouflage for a modern @-@ day monster . " TV Guide listed Pfaster among the scariest X @-@ Files monsters describing him as " evil incarnate " . |
Chris Carter said " Irresistible " was effective for " being really scary " , and that not only it was one of his favorites but inspired him to create the television series Millennium later . |
= Thunderbirds ( TV series ) = |
Thunderbirds is a British science @-@ fiction television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson , filmed by their production company AP Films ( APF ) and distributed by ITC Entertainment . It was produced between 1964 and 1966 using a form of electronic marionette puppetry ( dubbed " Supermarionation " ) combined with scale model special effects sequences . Two series were filmed , comprising a total of 32 episodes . Production ceased after Lew Grade , the Andersons ' financial backer , failed in his efforts to sell the programme to American network television . |
Set in the mid @-@ 2060s , Thunderbirds is a follow @-@ up to the earlier Supermarionation productions Four Feather Falls , Supercar , Fireball XL5 and Stingray . It follows the exploits of International Rescue ( IR ) , a life @-@ saving organisation equipped with technologically @-@ advanced land , sea , air and space rescue craft ; these are headed by a fleet of five vehicles named the Thunderbirds and launched from IR 's secret base in the Pacific Ocean . The main characters are ex @-@ astronaut Jeff Tracy , the founder of IR , and his five adult sons , who pilot the Thunderbird machines . |
Thunderbirds began its first run in the United Kingdom on the ITV network in 1965 and has since been broadcast in at least 66 other countries . Periodically repeated , it was adapted for radio in the early 1990s and has influenced many TV programmes and other media . As well as inspiring various merchandising campaigns , the series has been followed by two feature @-@ length film sequels , a live @-@ action film adaptation and a mimed stage show tribute . The second of two TV remakes , the computer @-@ animated Thunderbirds Are Go , premiered in 2015 . |
Widely considered to be the Andersons ' most popular and commercially successful series , Thunderbirds has received particular praise for its effects ( directed by Derek Meddings ) and musical score ( composed by Barry Gray ) . It is also well remembered for its title sequence , which opens with an often @-@ quoted countdown by actor Peter Dyneley ( who voiced the character of Jeff ) : " 5 , 4 , 3 , 2 , 1 : Thunderbirds Are Go ! " A real @-@ life rescue service , the International Rescue Corps , is named after the organisation featured in the series . |
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