Sanctuary (Canadian TV series)

Sanctuary
Title card used in Seasons 2–3
Created byDamian Kindler
Starring
Theme music composer
Composers
  • Ian Browne (season 1)
  • Andrew Lockington (season 2–4)
Country of originCanada
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons4
No. of episodes59 (TV episodes)
8 (webisodes) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • Damian Kindler
  • Amanda Tapping
  • Martin Wood
  • Keith Beedie
  • N. John Smith
  • Sam Egan
  • Andrea Gorfolova
  • Carrie Mudd
Production locationsBurnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Running time43–48 minutes
Production companies
  • The Beedie Group
  • Bell Media (seasons 3–4)
  • My Plastic Badger (season 2–4)
  • Sanctuary 2 Productions (season 2)
  • Sanctuary 3 Productions (season 3)
  • Sanctuary 4 Productions (season 4)
Original release
NetworkSyfy
CTV Sci-Fi Channel
ReleaseMarch 14 (2007-03-14) –
August 30, 2007 (2007-08-30)
ReleaseOctober 3, 2008 (2008-10-03) –
December 30, 2011 (2011-12-30)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Sanctuary is a Canadian science fantasy television series, created by Damian Kindler. The show aired on Syfy between 2008 and 2011, for four seasons and a total of 59 episodes.

The show is an expansion of an eight-webisode series that was released through the Internet in early 2007. Seeing the success of the web series, Syfy decided to buy the broadcast rights to the series and pay to re-stage the series in a season of thirteen episodes.[1]

The show centres on Dr. Helen Magnus, a 157-year-old teratologist, and her team of experts who run the Sanctuary, an organization that seeks out extraordinarily powerful creatures and people, known as Abnormals, and tries to help and to learn from them while also having to contain the more dangerous ones.

The series premiered on October 3, 2008, in both Canada and the United States and on October 6 in the United Kingdom. The premiere drew in more than 3 million viewers, making it the highest rated original series premiere for Syfy since Eureka debuted in July 2006.[2] The premiere two-parter, "Sanctuary for All", was a combination and rewriting of the first four webisodes and was followed by "Fata Morgana", based on Webisodes 5-8. Amanda Tapping, with all of the original cast from the web series, made the transition to the television series. A second season of 13 episodes aired in 2009–10,[3] and Sanctuary was renewed for a third season of 20 episodes on December 12, 2009.[4] The second season premiered on Friday, October 9, 2009, in the 10 pm timeslot.[5] In Australia, the program debuted on Pay Television's Sci Fi and on free-to-air channel ABC2, where Season 1 started on March 1, 2010, each Monday at 9:30 pm.[6] Season 2 commenced on July 12, 2010, in the same timeslot.[7] Season 3 premiered Friday, October 15, 2010, on Syfy in its original 10 pm timeslot.[8] In January 2011, Sanctuary was renewed for a fourth season, which finished airing on December 30, 2011.[9] On May 21, 2012, Syfy announced that Sanctuary would not be returning for a fifth season and that the show had been cancelled.[10][11][12] On October 8, 2012, PPI Releasing announced that it would distribute the series in U.S. syndication, starting in fall 2013.[13]

As of 2021, the series is available to watch for free with ads on Vudu, FreeVee via Amazon Prime, Tubi, and Plex.

  1. ^ Sumner, Darren (January 31, 2008). "SCI FI picks up Tapping's Sanctuary". GateWorld. Retrieved October 4, 2008.
  2. ^ Cochran, Jay (November 13, 2008). "Sanctuary is a hit". Entertainment News International. Retrieved October 9, 2010.
  3. ^ Fox, Erin (December 4, 2008). "Sanctuary Gets Caught in the Bermuda Triangle". TV Guide. Retrieved October 9, 2010.
  4. ^ Hibberd, James (December 13, 2009). "Syfy renews 'Stargate: Universe' and 'Sanctuary'". The Live Feed. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 9, 2010.
  5. ^ Thielman, Sam (July 20, 2009). "Syfy announces fall schedule". Variety. Retrieved October 9, 2010.
  6. ^ "ABC2 Programming Airdate: Sanctuary (season one, episode one)". ABC2 Television Guide. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved October 9, 2010.
  7. ^ "ABC2 Programming Airdate: Sanctuary (season two, episode one)". ABC2 Television Guide. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved October 9, 2010.
  8. ^ Seidman, Robert (September 8, 2010). "Surprise! Syfy's Caprica Returning Sooner Than Planned; Sanctuary Moved Back to Friday Night". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved September 12, 2010.
  9. ^ Gorman, Bill (January 18, 2012). "Sanctuary Renewed For A Fourth Season By Syfy". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on January 21, 2011. Retrieved January 18, 2011.
  10. ^ Gibbons, Kent (May 21, 2012). "Syfy Ends 'Sanctuary' Run After Four Seasons". Multichannel News. Archived from the original on May 24, 2012. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  11. ^ Ng, Philiana (May 21, 2012). "Syfy's 'Sanctuary' Will Not Return for Season 5". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
  12. ^ Kasperowicz, Leslie (May 21, 2012). "Syfy Cancels Sanctuary". Cinema Blend. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
  13. ^ Nordyke, Kimberly (October 8, 2012). "Syfy Drama 'Sanctuary' to Launch in Syndication Next Year". The Hollywood Reporter.