10.000 Fans Mob TV Hero--

         The sight of X-Files supersiren Gillian Anderson sent 10,000 fans into a
         screaming frenzy yesterday in one of the biggest crowd-drawing shopping
         centre appearances Sydney has ever seen. Camera flashes went off in the
         hundreds as Anderson, alias special agent Dana Scully. walked on to
         centre stage at Westfield Miranda at 1.45pm, 15 minutes after she was
         scheduled to appear.

         "Hello. You guys look great," the star said. The crowd screamed. "Wow ! "
         said a wide-eyed Anderson.

         Flowers and stuffed animals were flung on to the stage as Anderson talked
         for a few minutes about her Australian visit and the show that is causing a
         sensation around the world. More than 80 people were pulled from the
         crowd after they fainted from the heat. An ambulance was on standby
         outside and more than 100 police and Westfield security officers had been
         stationed throughout the surging mass of people.

         Anderson told the crowd she received an enormous amount of fan mail
         from Australia and said it had been originally thought that the show would
         run only for a year. She said that while the show was popular world-wide,
         Australians were particularly enthusiastic.

         "You guys are amazing," she said. Thirteen-year-old Liyan Leow was at the
         front of the crowd with the word "Scully" scrawled across her forehead and
         an X on each cheek. The Killara teenager had hardly been able to sleep the
         night before and had risen at 5am to catch a train with friends for the
         journey across town. Her patience was rewarded when the bouquet of
         yellow roses that she threw on to the stage was the first Anderson
         scooped up. "The X-Files is just excellent," Liyan said. "It's really
         interesting and really educational as well."

         Anderson is on a three-city tour to promote the X-Files, seen on
         cablecaster Foxtel and released on video through 20th Century Fox Home
         Entertainment. The crowd was warned at least an hour before that any
         excessive pushing and shoving would result in the screen idol leaving the
         stage immediately.

         Fans had begun arriving at 5am to secure one of the 350 official tickets for
         the autograph queue. Top spot in the line was won by 29-year-old Peter
         Brown, who had slept in his car overnight in the shopping centre's car
         park. The storeman from Holsworthy had left behind his wife and two
         children for fear of the huge crush of X-Files fans.

         "It's the best show. Scully's gorgeous," he said a few minutes before
         hopping onstage to meet his idol. "I'm thrilled, thrilled -- I can't wait."
         Elsewhere in the crowd, others weren't so lucky. Way back in the queue,
         llam arrival James Gallagher thought his chances of meeting Anderson were
         "slim to none", but he wasn't giving up hope. Canberra residents Ron Martin
         and Cheryl Carthy had left home at 6.30am but still missed one of the
         coveted tickets that would have guaranteed them a brief audience with
         Anderson. "She's so cool. I love her dry sense of humour," Ms Carthy said.
         Like most fans, Mr Martin had brought magazines and videos for Anderson
         to sign. "It's good to see a strong female character in a TV show," he said.
 

         Maitland mother Debbie Micallef was clutching tightly to ticket 348 as she
         reserved the last two precious seats for her daughters. Her daughters,
         aged 14 and six, were "extreme" fans, but she didn't mind one bit. "Gillian
         Anderson is a good role model for girls growing up, mainly because she
         shows women have a more important part to play in a man's world," Mrs
         Micallef said. "I'd like my daughters to look up to her."

         At the end of the queue, customer service officer Nick Thornton tried to
         stop people lin ing up-to no avail. A young girl held an X-File video to his
         face and pleaded with him to let her join the line. But he had to refuse.
         "This is the biggest crowd I've seen here in my four years," Mr Thornton
         said. Many fans in the crowd were clutching X-Files videos, X-Files CDs
         and/or X-Files collector's cubes, which Anderson was promoting during her
         visit. The American cult series is Channel lO's top-rating show, attracting
         more than 1.6 million viewers across the country every week.

         --Bronwen Gora

         Copyright Sunday Telegraph, Sydney Australia