''ReGenesis'' is a Canadian

science-fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel univers ...

television series produced by

The Movie Network Crave (formerly The Movie Network or TMN) is a Canadian premium television network and streaming service owned by the Bell Media subsidiary of BCE Inc. Launched in 1983 as the national service First Choice, early difficulties and a subsequent ...

and

Movie Central Movie Central (occasionally abbreviated as "MC", mostly in program guides) was a Canadian English language Category A premium cable and satellite television channel that was owned by Corus Entertainment. Movie Central was designated to operat ...

in conjunction with

Shaftesbury Films Shaftesbury Films is a film, television and digital media production company founded by Christina Jennings in 1987. It is based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Background Shaftesbury is a creator and producer of original content for television and ...

. The series, which ran for four seasons from 2004 to 2008, revolves around the

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts Scientific method, scientific research to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, ...

s of NorBAC (North American Biotechnology Advisory Commission), a fictional organization with a lab based in the city of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. The organization investigates problems of a scientific nature, such as

bioterrorism Bioterrorism is terrorism involving the intentional release or dissemination of biological agents. These agents are bacteria, viruses, insects, fungi, and/or toxins, and may be in a naturally occurring or a human-modified form, in much the same ...

, mysterious diseases, or radical changes in the environment throughout Canada, the United States, and Mexico. NorBAC is headed by David Sandström (played by

Peter Outerbridge Peter Outerbridge (born June 30, 1966) is a Canadian actor, best known for his role as Ari Tasarov in the CW action series ''Nikita'', Dr. David Sandström in the TMN series ''ReGenesis'', Henrik "Hank" Johanssen in ''Orphan Black'', Bob Corbett ...

), the chief scientist, and

molecular biologist Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...

. Through this character, the show often addresses topical social, political, and ethical issues related to the science at hand. The series was originally broadcast on

and

with rebroadcasts on

Global Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...

and

Showcase Showcase or vitrine may refer to: *Cabinet (furniture) *Display case Music * ''Showcase'' (Bill Anderson album), 1964 * ''Showcase'' (Patsy Cline album), 1961 * ''Showcase'' (Buddy Holly album), 1964 * ''Showcase'' (Philly Joe Jones album), 1959 ...

in Canada. Internationally it can be seen on FX in the United Kingdom,

The Science Channel Science Channel (often simply branded as Science; abbreviated to SCI) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel features programming focusing on science related to wilderness survival, engineering, manu ...

Halogen TV Halogen TV was an American digital cable and satellite television channel that aired feature-length films, documentaries, short films, and original reality programs that centered on making positive social changes and making the world a better pla ...

and in syndication at

CW Plus CW may stand for: Science and technology * centiwatt (cW), one hundredth of a watt * Cω, a programming language * CW complex, a type of topological space * Carrier wave, in radio communications * CodeWarrior, an integrated development environm ...

in the United States, and

FX Latin America FX is a Latin American pay television channel. It is intended as a counterpart to Fox Life (now Star Life), the first being produced for the Young and Adult audience, while the latter is almost entirely programmed for the female viewers. It was ...

in Mexico; as well as numerous broadcasters in Europe and Asia. International distribution is handled by Oasis International. , the show can also be seen on

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

. , ''ReGenesis'' is available on The Roku Channel.

Aled Edwards Aled Morgan Edwards (born June 1, 1962) is the founder and Chief Executive of the Structural Genomics Consortium, a charitable public-private partnership. He is Professor of Medical Genetics and Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto, Vi ...

, the scientific consultant for the series, is a noted Canadian molecular biologist, and the director of the

Structural Genomics Consortium The Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC) is a public-private-partnership focusing on elucidating the functions and disease relevance of all proteins encoded by the human genome, with an emphasis on those that are relatively understudied. The SGC pl ...

Interactive and other media

''ReGenesis'' has been an international pioneer in integrating interactive media elements into the series. The first successfully deployed

alternate reality game An alternate reality game (ARG) is an interactive networked narrative that uses the real world as a platform and employs transmedia storytelling to deliver a story that may be altered by players' ideas or actions. The form is defined by inten ...

paired with a major television broadcast is called the ''ReGenesis'' Extended Reality and was created by Xenophile Media in association with Shaftesbury Films. It won the Canadian New Media Award for Best Cross-Platform project of 2004 and an FITC Design & Technology Award for Excellence in

Convergence Convergence may refer to: Arts and media Literature *''Convergence'' (book series), edited by Ruth Nanda Anshen *Convergence (comics), "Convergence" (comics), two separate story lines published by DC Comics: **A four-part crossover storyline that ...

. In 2006 the alternate reality game won the

Banff World Television Festival The Banff World Media Festival (formerly known as the Banff World Television Festival) is an international media event held in the Canadian Rockies at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Alberta, Canada. The festival is dedicated to world ...

Award for

Interactive Television Interactive television is a form of media convergence, adding data services to traditional television technology. It has included on-demand delivery of content, online shopping, and viewer polls. Interactive TV is an example of how new information ...

, a Gemini Award for Best Cross-Platform, and in 2007, an International Emmy for Outstanding Interactive Program. An exploratory game, the ''ReGenesis'' Extended Reality draws viewers into a conspiracy and mystery that weaves in and out of the TV series, using the internet, email and other media to immerse the viewer, blurring the line between fiction and reality. ''ReGenesis'' Extended Reality harnesses the power of enthusiastic fans that seed the site with discussion content and collaborative investigations. Extensive knowledge of various chemistry and biotechnology issues is required to find out why the plot in many episodes can't be true (if it can't). Other interactive elements include ReGenesis:ReMixed, a 14-episode series of podcasts hosted by series Music Supervisor Andrea Higgins and produced by Arpix Media, featuring the music of ''ReGenesis'', as well as exclusive interviews with some of the people involved in putting the show together. However, neither of these were continued for the third or fourth season of the series.

Characters

Main characters

* David Sandström (

) – Canadian. A

, he is NorBAC's Chief Scientist. * Carlos Serrano (

Conrad Pla Conrad Pla (born October 24, 1966) is a Canadian actor and former professional kickboxer. He is best known for founding Tristar Gym and starring in the Canadian television series ''ReGenesis''. Early life Pla was born in Madrid and moved to Can ...

) – Mexican.

Geneticist A geneticist is a biologist or physician who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a scientist or a lecturer. Geneticists may perform general research on genetic processe ...

and Medical Doctor at NorBAC. Revealed to be gay after seeking to prevent his first lover's progression from HIV-positive status to AIDS (Season 1, episode 7). * Caroline Morrison (

Maxim Roy Maxim Roy (born March 7, 1972) is a French Canadian, French-Canadian actress. In English, she is best known for playing Detective Isabelle Latendresse in the English version of the Canadian police drama television series ''19-2 (2014 TV series), ...

) (seasons 1–2) – American. NorBAC's Executive Director. Speaks at least four languages: English, French, Spanish and

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language of ...

. * Jill Langston (

Sarah Strange Sarah Strange is a Canadian actress. She has worked in a variety of American and Canadian television and film projects, including Helen in the Canadian drama ''Da Vinci's Inquest'' and as the voice actor for Ranma Saotome. Life and career Strang ...

) (seasons 1–2) – American. 1st replacement to NorBAC's original Lead

Virologist Virology is the scientific study of biological viruses. It is a subfield of microbiology that focuses on their detection, structure, classification and evolution, their methods of infection and exploitation of host cells for reproduction, thei ...

, Hira Khan. * Bob Melnikov (

Dmitry Chepovetsky Dmitry Chepovetsky (born 1970) is a Canadian actor, best known for his role of Bob Melnikov in the TV series '' ReGenesis''. Early life and education Chepovetsky was born in Lviv, Ukraine. His family left in 1976 along with waves of other Jewis ...

) – Canadian.

Biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

at NorBAC, and a former student of David Sandström. He is deemed a genius, with an IQ score of 162 (Season 1, Episode 5) and has attained two PhD's (Season 1, episode 11). He has been diagnosed with

Asperger syndrome Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's, is a former neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in Interpersonal relationship, social interaction and nonverbal communication, along with restricted and re ...

. * Rachel Woods (

Wendy Crewson Wendy Jane Crewson (born May 9, 1956) is a Canadian actress and producer. She began her career appearing on Canadian television, before her breakthrough role in 1991 dramatic film ''The Doctor (1991 film), The Doctor''. Crewson has appeared in ma ...

) (seasons 3–4) – American. 2nd replacement as Lead

at NorBAC and estranged wife of Carleton Riddlemeyer. * Mayko Tran (

Mayko Nguyen Mayko Nguyen is a Canadian actress of Vietnamese descent. She was born on April 19, 1980 in Vancouver, Canada. She has appeared in ''ReGenesis'', ''Rookie Blue'', ''Killjoys'', and '' Hudson and Rex''. Career Nguyen has had lead and recurring r ...

) – Canadian.

Bioinformatics Bioinformatics () is an interdisciplinary field that develops methods and software tools for understanding biological data, in particular when the data sets are large and complex. As an interdisciplinary field of science, bioinformatics combi ...

Researcher and later NorBAC's 2nd replacement as executive director. * Weston Field (

Greg Bryk Gregory Michael Bryk (born 19 August 1972) is a Canadian film and television actor. He has appeared in numerous films and television series and is best known for his reoccurring roles in '' ReGenesis'' (2004–2008), '' XIII: The Series'' (2 ...

) – American. Assistant to NorBAC's Executive Director Caroline Morrison, later 1st replacement as executive director. * Carleton Riddlemeyer (

Geraint Wyn Davies Geraint Wyn Davies (, 20 April 1957) is a Welsh-American stage, film and television actor-director. Educated in Canada, he has worked in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States. His most famous role as the vampire-turned police detec ...

) (seasons 3–4) – American. Science Advisor to the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

and estranged husband of Rachel Woods. * Enuka Okimba (

Karen LeBlanc Karen LeBlanc is a Canadian film, television and musical theatre actress. Early life LeBlanc grew up in Tottenham, Ontario to family from Nova Scotia. She attended the musical theatre program at Sheridan College. Career Starting with a minor rol ...

) (season 4) – American. 3rd replacement as Lead

at NorBAC.

Recurring characters

* Hira Khan (Mishu Vellani) (season 1) – Original Lead Virologist at NorBAC. * Lilith Sandström (

Elliot Page Elliot Page (formerly Ellen Page; born February 21, 1987) is a Canadian actor. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Elliot Page, various accolades, including an Academy Award for Best Actress, Academy Award nomination, tw ...

) (season 1) – David's 15-year-old daughter. * Mick Sloane (

Mark Rendall Mark Rendall (born October 21, 1988) is a Canadian film, television and voice actor whose roles include the lead in the 2004 film, ''Childstar'' and Mick in season 1 of the Canadian television drama series ''ReGenesis''. He played Bastian Bux i ...

) (season 1) – A boy Lilith's age who believes he was cloned. He was actually created as part of an in vitro procedure and was an identical twin to Cal, whose single embryo was implanted in Dr. Sloane's wife. The twin embryo - Mick's - was frozen and after it was discovered that Cal had bone cancer, Dr. Sloane began manipulating Mick's DNA to remove the defective gene that caused the cancer. In the process, he ended up making other, unintended changes, which is what led to Mick's illness. It is known that Mick is 2 years younger than Cal, and that Mick was born 2 years after his mother died (which is part of what had led him to believe he was a clone in the first place,) but it's unclear if the 2 events are directly related. * Owen (

Michael Seater Michael Seater (born January 15, 1987) is a Canadian actor, director, screenwriter, and producer. From 2005 to 2009, he starred as the titular role in the Canadian sitcom ''Life with Derek''. He later portrayed James Gillies in ''Murdoch Mysteri ...

) (seasons 2–3) – A homeless 17-year-old living in the subway of New York City, who shows David Sandström to his subway home after stealing David's bag. He lives with David for a while, but leaves after he gets arrested for

criminal negligence In criminal law, criminal negligence is a surrogate state of mind required to constitute a ''conventional'' (as opposed to ''strictly liable'') offense. It is not, strictly speaking, a (Law Latin for "guilty mind") because it refers to an ob ...

, after a 14-year-old girl he was involved with dies of a drug overdose. David defends him in court during his bail hearing, but Owen is incarcerated for detention until his trial. Having a hard time in jail, he tries to hang himself and then he agrees to a treatment that should alter his brain chemistry in order to overcome his addiction and possibly get him free. However, he suffers from side effects of the experiment leaving him mentally damaged and physically handicapped. * Dr. Gordon Petras (

James Allodi James Allodi (born February 26, 1967) is a Canadian actor, writer and director. Career James Allodi earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts, with a Major in Film, from New York University. Since then, the writer, director, and actor has amassed an impres ...

) – Therapist to whom the NorBAC team consults after traumatic events. * Dr. Simon Jessup (

Darren Boyd Darren John Boyd (born 30 January 1971) is a British actor who starred in the Sky 1 series ''Spy'', for which he won a BAFTA Award. His work in television and film spans comedy and drama. Early life Boyd began acting at age 17 in amateur thea ...

) – British

Neuroscientist A neuroscientist (or neurobiologist) is a scientist who has specialised knowledge in neuroscience, a branch of biology that deals with the physiology, biochemistry, psychology, anatomy and molecular biology of neurons, Biological neural network, n ...

visiting NorBAC. He assists Mayko with a case in Texas involving Mad Cow Disease and IQ spikes and later assists Caroline and Bob with Caroline's nephew Glenn.

Music

The main title theme song for ''ReGenesis'' is "Anywhere But Here" by the

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

band Behavior. Behavior is an alias for producer / composer Michael McCann. The show's score is primarily composed by Tom Third, with numerous contributions throughout by film/TV composer

Robert Carli Robert Carli (born February 10, 1970) is a Canadian film and television composer and saxophonist. He is the composer of 11 seasons of '' Murdoch Mysteries'' (CBC), which airs in 120 countries and airs in the U.S. as ''The Artful Detective'' on t ...

, and was supervised by Ron Proulx and Andrea Higgins of Arpix Media.

Home releases

On November 11, 2008 Season 1 was released in North America on DVD by

Entertainment One Entertainment One Ltd., trading as eOne, is an American-owned Canadian multinational entertainment company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition, distribution, and production of films and television se ...

. The four-disc set includes all 13 first-season episodes presented in a

letterboxed Letterboxing is the practice of transferring film shot in a widescreen aspect ratio to standard-width video formats while preserving the film's original aspect ratio. The resulting videographic image has mattes (black bars) above and below ...

format. Special features include a making of, photo gallery, and "The Facts Behind the Fiction" (the white papers published by the Ontario Genomics Institute). Shaftesbury Films claimed that Seasons 2, 3 and 4 would follow throughout 2009 and 2010, but as of February 2013 no such releases have emerged. The first season has also been released in the UK through Universal Studios UK. The second season was later released to European countries by Buena Vista Home Entertainment, though it was presented in a

pan and scan Pan and scan is a method of adjusting widescreen film images so that they can be shown in fullscreen proportions of a standard-definition 4:3 aspect ratio television screen, often cropping off the sides of the original widescreen image to focus ...

format. Seasons 3 and 4 have been released on DVD in Japan—Season 3 in

format and Season 4 in 16:9

widescreen Widescreen images are displayed within a set of aspect ratios (relationship of image width to height) used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than t ...

. The Japanese Season 3 boxset includes a 20-minute Making of video and the Season 4 boxset a 20-minute Peter Outerbridge interview titled "Pretending With Conviction". On January 30, 2015 Season 1 was released in Europe on Blu-ray by

. The three-disc set includes all 13 first-season episodes. Season 2 will be released on Blu-ray March 23, 2015.

International broadcasts

References

External links

*
Official Podcast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Regenesis 2004 Canadian television series debuts 2008 Canadian television series endings 2000s Canadian drama television series Crave original programming 2000s Canadian science fiction television series Global Television Network original programming Television series by Shaftesbury Films Television shows set in Toronto Television shows filmed in Toronto Television series by Entertainment One Television series by Bell Media Television series by Corus Entertainment First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Biopunk television series Television series about viral outbreaks Transmedia storytelling Autism in television