High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! "Christmas Carol" is the sixth episode of the fifth season of American science fiction television series The X-Files. It was written by Vince Gilligan, John Shiban and Frank Spotnitz, and directed by Peter Markle. It aired in the United States on December 7, 1997 on the Fox network. 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 this episode, Agent Scully, on Christmas vacation with her family, receives a mysterious phone call that leads her to a case involving a little girl that she believes to be the daughter of her dead sister, Melissa. It is the first of a two-part story that concludes with episode seven, "Emily".