One of the best things Chris Carter’s Ten Thirteen produced, Millennium‘s pilot, aired 30 years ago on October 25, 1996. It started a landmark 3-year journey for Frank Black and for television. After all these years, the show is still unique, radical and profound as ever. It feels like yesterday that The X-Files reached this milestone!
To celebrate this anniversary, I am proud to present a comprehensive guide to the shooting locations of the show, with some 177 locations across the show’s 67 episodes!
This is the first time the overwhelming majority of these locations have been identified.
This is the result of Jeoffrey Gaspard‘s fine work, combing through the episodes for clues and going through Google Street View, often diving back into captures from older dates, as many locations have since been demolished or extensively refurbished and are today unrecognisable. Still, a great majority can still be seen if you plan a trip to Vancouver or if you want to spend some time browsing through Street View alongside watching the episodes.
This is in complement to my The X-Files shooting locations map that I did back in 2018, which already included a handful of Millennium locations, for the occasion of visiting Vancouver. That X-Files map has recently been superseded by a more complete map by boggsfiles, which also made use of production documents they have been collecting.
For the hardcore fans, it’s even more entertaining to identify which locations are actually next to each other from different episodes, or to map the MM locations to the XF locations and see which ones were used multiple times (and for other series shot in Vancouver: Stargate, Battlestar Galactica…). The essential part is in the Vancouver area, along with some additional establishing shots elsewhere.
Find the Millennium shooting locations map here!
Find Jeoffrey’s sheet of locations here!
Here are some comparative examples of episode screenshots and location photos for just some of the locations identified. Some are iconic and recognisable from a whole scene, some are just glimpsed in a single shot.
1M01: Pilot: The Ruby Tip and 2M11: Goodbye Charlie: Crisis Center exterior
Location: Ashtrey Alley, Vancouver
A location reused several times, a back alley typical of Vancouver’s Gastown. Also used in The X-Files 3X23: Wetwired and 10X4: Home Again.
This is the first shot of the Pilot, the Frenchman heading to the Ruby Tip strip club:
This is also where Lara and Frank stand, watching in to the Crisis Center call center in Goodbye Charlie.
1M01: Pilot and 1M19: Powers, Principalities, Thrones and Dominions: Parking of the Seattle Public Safety Building
Location: West Cordova Street & Granville Street, Vancouver
Frank and Bletch have their discussion on the ramp to the underground parking in the Pilot (“my gift, my curse”).
Later, in PPT&D, that same parking appears when Frank has a sighting of the angel Sammael; he runs up the ramp to find him and looks around on the surface. This is when the surroundings of the parking from outside are visible.
1M02: Gehenna and onwards: Yellow house
Location: 321 4th Avenue, New Westminster
A well-known location. Different house from the one used in the Pilot. Yes, this is the same house as in The X-Files 1X01: Deep Throat. It’s a private house.
1M15: Sacrament: St. John’s Church
Location: St. Mary’s Kerrisdale church, 2490 West 37th Avenue, Vancouver
This is the church in the beginning of the episode. Frank’s sister in law disappears.
1M19: Powers, Principalities, Thrones and Dominions: Sammael shoots Al Pepper
Location: Whole Foods supermarket parking lot, 1675 Robson Street, Vancouver
One of the series’ most iconic shots. Pepper comes out of the supermarket and heads towards his car in the same parking lot.
2M02: Beware of the Dog: Bucksnort
Loction: Britannia Beach
All of the Bucksnort scenes were shot here. The mining museum can be seen in the background. Yes, it’s the same location as the Strughold Mine in The X-Files 3X02:Paper Clip. Beebe’s cabin and the Old Man’s cabin were shot elsewhere.
2M12: Luminary: lake front
Location: Buntzen Lake, Anmore
Frank lands with the hydroplane and later, when Alex “Ventoux” is rescued, Frank stays on the lake shore, watching the hydroplane take off.
Also used in 1M07: Blood Relatives, 3M07: Through a Glass, Darkly, 3M20: Nostalgia, as well as The X-Files 1X03: Conduit and 3X22: Quagmire.
2M21: Somehow, Satan Got Behind Me: parking scene
Location: Main & 14th plaza, Vancouver
The TV Standards & Practices censor has a psychological breakdown and sees things he wants to censor everywhere. This is unacceptable!
3X06: Skull and Bones: Park
Location: Victory Square, Vancouver
This is where Ed has his visions in the beginning of the episode.
This is actually the same spot where Frank meets Mike Atkins in 1X02: Gehenna and discuss the polaroids, and it’s just next to the Ruby Tip arch alley from the Pilot!
So, as we loop back… Enjoy, and don’t hesitate to contact me if you identify locations that are missing! The map is rich but not entirely complete.
After The Millennium
Meanwhile, you can also purchase the expanded and reworked fan passion project documentary “After the Millennium”. Remastered, remixed and with additional material including an all-new interview with Bill Smitrovich (Lt Bob Bletcher), it is over an hour longer than the original “Millennium After The Millennium” 2019 version.
You can order the BluRay here (spicy shipping costs to outside of the US!): https://deadendfilms.org/after-the-millennium/
Or stream it for free (in the US!) here: http://tubitv.com/movies/100054675/after-the-millennium
Tags: millennium, millenniumdocu, shooting locations, vancouver
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