of stand alone "monster of the week" episodes, but this was his first mythology-centered episode. Manners explained that "there is some individual creative contribution from the directors" in stand-alone episodes, but that with mythology episodes "what you need to as a director is to be sure that the performances are there ... and that the yarn is presented in its cleanest and most interesting fashion". Nicholas Lea was fitted with a mask with tubes for the scene where the alien black oil leaves his body. Lea said filming the scene was horrible, and the scene ended up having to be filmed again a few days later. The similar scene from the start of the episode with the submarine captain was accomplished with a dummy head. The depiction of the oil in this scene was originally filmed using a magnetic fluid pulled along with magnets, although the end result of this was deemed not be "menacing" enough, and looked "a little bit comic". To fix this, the sound stage used to represent the submarine's interior was rebuilt so it could be rocked back and forth, with the movement being used to guide the flow of a different liquid. This effect was then enhanced digitally in post-production. The black oil effect over people's eyes was accomplished by inserting the footage digitally in post production. The missile silo used for the episode's climactic scene was incomplete when the scene was filmed, as the crew did not have enough time or money left to complete the set. The crew built the incomplete silo on a sound stage around a completed spacecraft prop, and were able to digitally extend the set with computer generated interiors to give the impression of a much larger silo. Exterior shots of the silo building were also enhanced digitally, with various buildings and machinery created with computer generated imagery and composited into the exterior shots. Broadcast and reception "Apocrypha" premiered on the Fox network on , and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on . The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.8 with an 18 share, meaning that roughly of all television-equipped households, and of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. A total of viewers watched this episode during its original airing. In an overview of the third season in Entertainment Weekly, "Apocrypha" was rated an A. The review noted that