The Strain was always meant to be a television show. Although the story was originally published as a trilogy of novels, co-written by creator Guillermo del Toro with Chuck Hogan, del Toro had initially envisaged The Strain as a multi-season TV series. The pilot, commissioned by FX after Hogan and del Toro’s completion of the final novel, is co-written and directed by del Toro himself, also executive producer. Airing Wednesday September 17th on Watch, the pilot introduces a thirteen episode season which has already aired up to episode ten in the US – so it’s one to avoid Googling if spoilers are an issue.