"Pilot" is the pilot episode of the crime-thriller television series Millennium. It premiered on the Fox network on October 25, 1996. The episode was written by series creator Chris Carter, and directed by David Nutter. "Pilot" featured guest appearances by Paul Dillon, April Telek and Stephen J. Lang. Offender profiler Frank Black (Lance Henriksen), a member of the private investigative organisation Millennium Group, retires to Seattle with his family after a breakdown caused him to quit working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Using his incredible profiling skills, Black helps in an effort to catch a vicious murderer who believes he is fulfilling apocalyptic prophecies. "Pilot" was filmed over the course of a month in Vancouver, British Columbia, and was inspired by the writings of Nostradamus and William Butler Yeats. Airing in the timeslot previously occupied by Carter's first series, The X-Files, the episode received a high Nielsen household and syndication rating and was generally positively received by fans and critics alike.