Truth Seekers star Nick Frost explains how a love for The X-Files inspired his new TV show

Nick Frost and Simon Pegg first teamed up onscreen in the British sitcom Spaced, which premiered on U.K. screens in 1999. Now, two decades and several big screen collaborations on, the Shaun of the Dead stars are back together on the small screen in Amazon's Truth Seekers. A supernatural-comedy with a strong X-Files vibe, the show stars Frost as a broadband-installer named Gus who investigates paranormal phenomena on the side. Pegg plays Gus' boss Dave who partners him with a trainee, Elton, played by Samson Kayo.

"Gus is a loner, he’s a grumpy man," says Frost. "He works for a massive conglomerate called Smyle. He’s their number one broadband installer, and he has a secret passion, and that is the paranormal and the occult and ghost hunting. He has his own YouTube channel called the Truth Seeker and he kind of debunks conspiracy theories on that or he goes looking for the Loch Ness monster."

Gus lives with his father, who is played by Malcolm McDowell of A Clockwork Orange fame.

"He was one of these people that we had on a wish list," says Frost. "We spoke to him on the phone a couple of times and then they were like, 'Yeah, he’s on, he's going to do it.' We were just thrilled. From a producer’s point of view, I think I was always a bit nervous if he could do it, but he was so agile, physically and mentally, and he came on and just smashed it. He's the comic relief in a lot of these scenes that he’s in. He just steals it. He’s great."

Truth Seekers was created by Frost, Pegg, Nat Saunders, and James Serafinowicz.

"Me and Simon were massive X-Files fans," says Frost. "I’d known James for years too and we’d always send each other little creepy videos or stories. The four of us got together and we got to a point in an unofficial planning stage of like, We could write a season of this. Then we set about writing pitch documents and arcs for season 2 and 3. Amazon were interested and it happened really quickly from there, once they saw that we were passionate and had written something touching and frightening. They compelled it to happen."

Just before speaking with Frost, I had chatted with his younger costar Samson Kayo, who referred to Frost and Pegg as "legends." How does that make Frost feel?

"I heard that for the first time today," he says. "I was like, 'F--- you, Samson! Now I feel old!'"

Truth Seekers is released on Amazon Prime Video this Friday.

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