It was an unexpected pleasure to flick on free-to-air TV last night and stumble onto the "encore" telecast of The X-Files, back from the vaults.

Serendipity, perhaps, as these days we pay little attention to what the networks are putting to air and instead become lost in Netflix and DVDs, (barring a good sporting event).

And it strikes me this morning that my sentiment has shifted in the 20 years since I first became an ardent follower of Fox Mulder. I still have his 'I Want To Believe' poster in the back of my wardrobe, presented to me by friends and colleagues at Triple Jay when I left the station to go bush in Byron Bay for six months.

While it remains true that I do want to believe, the precise nature of it has shifted through the years, I suspect.

So much so, in fact, that I found myself sympathising more with Scully last night when Mulder started rattling off a list of every conspiracy theory that has surfaced since 9/11. It was a long list, and added together it sounded like a joke. Like the producers are saying to us: 'You do know how crazy this stuff is, don't you?'

Moreover, the constant imposition of a big brother-type evil secret government that seems to know everything actually starts to undermine the dramatic stakes, because it imposes a sort of helplessness on the viewer. No matter what Mulder might uncover, it'll all get swept away again, out of public view. It worked when there was sufficient mystery attached to the original series, but so much has already been revealed here.

TV drama has grown up so much, thanks largely to HBO, since this show last graced our screens. But The X-Files doesn't seem to have grown with it.

Interesting to see Skinner re-emerge as Mulder's long-suffering benefactor in the FBI. What has actor Mitch Pileggi being doing in the intervening time? Did Chris Carter have him in some cryogenic deep freeze, ready to trot out again two decades later?

As Mulder, David Duchovny has gone a bit puffy around the edges, which is especially noticeable when they play the original series credits at the start of each new episode.

Basically, I'm not sure I'm buying it. Channel Ten is carping on about how episode three has critics across the world raving. Well it had better be a damn sight better than the first two episodes, because at this point it's fair to say I'm no longer a believer.

The truth IS out there. But it's never going to fall into the hands of Mulder and Scully. Sorry to anyone still thinking otherwise.