The first season of the Canadian science fiction–

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

television series ''

Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a sa ...

'' premiered on the

Sci Fi Channel Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...

in the United States on October 3, 2008, and concluded on

ITV4 ITV4 is a British free-to-air television channel which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV network. The channel has a line-up that consists of sports, cult clas ...

in the United Kingdom on January 5, 2009, after 13 episodes. It follows the actions of a secret organization known as the Sanctuary, who track down a series of creatures known as abnormals, and then bring them to the Sanctuary for refuge. The main story arc of the season involves the Sanctuary working against the Cabal, an organization who seek to control all abnormals for their own gain.

Amanda Tapping Amanda Tapping (born 28 August 1965) is a British-Canadian actress and director. She is best known for portraying Samantha Carter in the Canadian–American military science fiction television series ''Stargate SG-1,'' ''Stargate Atlantis,'' an ...

Robin Dunne Robin Dunne (born November 19, 1976) is a Canadian actor who has had numerous leading roles in sequels throughout his career, but is perhaps best known for his role as Doctor Will Zimmerman in the science fiction television series ''Sanctuary''. ...

Emilie Ullerup Emilie Ullerup (born 27 October 1984) is a Danish actress. She is best known for playing Ashley Magnus on the television series ''Sanctuary'' and Bree O'Brien on the Hallmark Channel drama series ''Chesapeake Shores''. Early life and education ...

, and

Christopher Heyerdahl Christopher Heyerdahl (born September 18, 1963) is a Canadian actor who portrayed Alastair in ''Supernatural,'' the Wraith Todd in ''Stargate Atlantis'', Sam in '' Van Helsing,'' "Swede" in ''Hell on Wheels,'' and Marcus in '' The Twilight Saga ...

are billed in the opening credits as the main cast. Initially an eight-part

web series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single in ...

, ''Sanctuary'' was successful enough for Sci Fi to commission a television series. Series creator and head writer

Damian Kindler Damian Kindler (born May 31, 1968) is a television and film writer, director and producer. Born in Melbourne, Australia, Kindler's family swiftly emigrated to Toronto, Canada, where he was raised. He currently resides in Venice, California, US. ...

hired

Sam Egan Sam Egan is a journalist, and a screenwriter and producer for television. Career His credits include writing and producing for such shows as '' Quincy, M.E.'', '' The Incredible Hulk'', ''The Fall Guy'', ''Northern Exposure'', '' The Outer Limi ...

, and the two wrote all the episodes and composed the season-long storyline. Many episodes had been written throughout the 2007

Christmas season The Christmas season or the festive season (also known in some countries as the holiday season or the holidays) is an annually recurring period recognized in many Western and other countries that is generally considered to run from late November ...

before the season was green-lit. Principal photography started in May 2008. It was the first instance in North American television where

RED camera Red Digital Cinema (''Red Digital Cinema Camera Company'') is an American company that manufactures professional digital cinematography cameras and accessories. The company's headquarters is in Foothill Ranch, California, with studios in Hollyw ...

s were used. Most of the season was filmed using

green screen Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two images or video streams together based on colour hues ( chroma range). The technique has been used in many fields to ...

in a warehouse in

Burnaby Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrar ...

, British Columbia, though there are instances throughout that were filmed on location, including the Riverview Hospital in

Coquitlam Coquitlam ( ) is a city in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. Mainly suburban, Coquitlam is the sixth-largest city in the province, with a population of 148,625 in 2021, and one of the 21 municipalities comprising Metro Vancouver. ...

and the

North Shore Mountains The North Shore Mountains are a mountain range overlooking Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. Their southernmost peaks are visible from most areas in Vancouver and form a distinctive backdrop for the city. The steep southern slopes of the No ...

outside

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...

. Anthem Visual Effects produced the season's

visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action foota ...

. The virtual sets meant that they produced around 400 visual effects per episode. Other forms of special effects, including prosthetics, were used to present the abnormals. The first season was budgeted at an estimated $21 million. ''Sanctuarys first season aired in over 50 countries worldwide. The season premiere drew the largest audience with 2.7 million viewers, the highest rated Sci Fi premiere since ''

Eureka Eureka (often abbreviated as E!, or Σ!) is an intergovernmental organisation for research and development funding and coordination. Eureka is an open platform for international cooperation in innovation. Organisations and companies applying th ...

'' in July 2006. Including time-shifted viewing, the season was seen by an average of 2.35 million viewers per episode; the ratings success allowed Sci Fi to renew ''Sanctuary'' for a second season. Critical reactions of the season were mixed. Some reviewers noted that, although the first six episodes were "hit and miss", they liked the later episodes. In total, it won five awards: one Gemini and four Leos. The first season was released on a four-disc set on DVD and

Blu-ray Disc The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

on September 9, 2009, in Region 4, September 15 in Region 1, and October 15 in Region 2.

Episodes

Cast

Regular cast

The first season consists of four principal cast members. Amanda Tapping plays series protagonist Helen Magnus, a 157-year-old English scientist who runs the Sanctuary network. Tapping darkened her hair color for the role. Robin Dunne plays Will Zimmerman, a former forensic psychiatrist and then Magnus' protégé since the pilot. Damian Kindler noted that Dunne's portrayal as Zimmerman differed vastly between the webisodes and the first season, often joking that Zimmerman was played by two different Dunnes. Emilie Ullerup plays Ashley, Magnus' daughter. Ullerup enjoyed working with the cast during the first season. She felt that Tapping was "such a teacher" to her, and that it had been "such a treat" working with Tapping as a young and new actress. Christopher Heyerdahl plays two characters: Bigfoot, an abnormal who works in the Sanctuary, and John Druitt, Magnus' former fiancé and father to Ashley. As Bigfoot, Heyerdahl had to wear prosthetics. Tapping believed that Heyerdahl "has this incredible gift wearing prosthetics and acting through them and creating real humanity, and he does it with Bigfoot." Ullerup also felt nervous, yet excited playing every scene with Heyerdahl when he plays Druitt.

Recurring cast and guest appearances

Ryan Robbins plays Henry Foss, who runs the Sanctuary's computer and security systems. The producers wanted Henry to set a lighter tone to the series and add "goofy and fun" humor, including in somewhat dire situations. The producers cast Robbins, and were pleased with his performance.

Chuck Campbell Charles Campbell (born 5 August 1969) is a Canadian actor who portrayed the role of Chuck the Technician on ''Stargate Atlantis''. Early life Campbell was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He got a BA in Theatre at Dalhousie University. He now re ...

plays "two-faced guy", a character with another face at the back of his head. The back face was accomplished using visual effects.

Panou Panou is a Canadian actor. Biography His birth-name translates to 'God Among Us' in his native Creole.Panou.net
His first

plays Sylvio, an associate of Ashley's. The character was originally named Ernie and was played by director

Peter DeLuise Peter John DeLuise (born November 6, 1966) is an American actor, television director, television producer, and screenwriter. He is known for his role as Officer Doug Penhall in the Fox TV series ''21 Jump Street'', and for directing and writing ...

in the webisodes, but he was unavailable to reshoot his scenes for the season premiere. Jonathon Young stars as Nikola Tesla. Heyerdahl suggested Young to the producers, who ended up being highly impressed by his performance. Young also played Tesla in a one-man show before appearing in the series. Whilst filming the second part of "Revelations", Young's scenes in the underground city were filmed first, as he was scheduled for another play while the episode was shot. At the time of filming "The Five", the actors who played Watson and Griffin had not been cast yet. The producers would later cast Peter Wingfield as Watson. According to Amanda Tapping, casting Wingfield was "so easy" as "he has this sensibility about him, much like hristopher Heyerdahldoes." While filming his scenes, Wingfield did not want his exoskeleton prop to be removed between takes, as he wanted to stay in character. When the producers conceived Clara Griffin, the granddaughter of Nigel Griffin, they were looking for a young local actress to play the part who would look like a potential love interest to Will Zimmerman. Christine Chatelain would later play the part after she was recommended by Dunne, as they had worked together before. When Adrien Dorval auditioned for his part on "Kush", Kindler did not like his performance, but Wood did, as he believed the actor's performance was perfect for a character who was stranded on a plane. For the same episode, Sarah Strange and Thai-Hoa Lee had to learn how to speak

Standard Tibetan Lhasa Tibetan (), or Standard Tibetan, is the Tibetan dialect spoken by educated people of Lhasa, the capital of the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China. It is an official language of the Tibet Autonomous Region. In the traditional "three-branc ...

phonetically a week in advance of filming.

Katharine Isabelle Katharine Isobel Murray (born November 2, 1981), known professionally as Katharine Isabelle, is a Canadian actress. She has been described as a scream queen due to her roles in various horror films. She started her acting career in 1989, playing ...

guest starred in "Nubbins" as Sophie. While filming her scenes, Isabelle complained of a dry eye problem, which kept making her almost tear up. However, it ended up being beneficial for her portrayal of her character. Canadian actor

Daryl Shuttleworth Daryl Shuttleworth (born July 22, 1960) is a Canadian actor. He has had numerous small roles in a wide variety of North American television shows and films over the years, but is best known for his role as Detective Sean "Bub" Bailey in the gay-t ...

guest stars as a fight promoter in "Warriors". During a readthrough of the script, Shuttleworth decided his character should speak with a British accent like in the film ''

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels ''Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'' is a 1998 British black comedy crime film written and directed by Guy Ritchie, produced by Matthew Vaughn and starring an ensemble cast featuring Jason Flemyng, Dexter Fletcher, Nick Moran, Steven Ma ...

''. The producers wanted to cast Rekha Sharma in "Instinct" as she appeared in several other Vancouver-based productions, including ''

Battlestar Galactica ''Battlestar Galactica'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The franchise began with the original television series in 1978, and was followed by a short-run sequel series (''Galactica 1980''), a line of ...

''. The producers felt she "rocked" her audition, as she brought a lot of energy to her character.

Production

Development

Series creator

conceived the pilot in 2001. When he became a ''

Stargate SG-1 ''Stargate SG-1'' (often stylized in all caps, or abbreviated ''SG-1'') is a military science fiction adventure television series within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's ''Stargate'' franchise. The show, created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner, ...

'' writer, he later asked Martin Wood, a director from the same show, if there was potential for a series, which Wood believed there was. A few years later, Kindler asked

to take part in the project, and she accepted. ''Sanctuary'' originally started as an eight-part bi-weekly

in 2007, produced by

-based

Stage 3 Media Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * Sta ...

. The producers of the series were looking to expand the series on other mediums, including television. Due to the success of the web series, in January 2008, the

announced the commissioning of a first season of 13 episodes. The move to television has allowed the producers to widen the scope for the season. According to actress and executive producer Amanda Tapping, the season "is very different from what you've seen on the Web". However, her character, Helen Magnus, would still be a "crazy character; ..very eccentric and very sexy and very unapologetic". The season was given an estimated budget of $21 million.

Writing

All episodes of the first season were written by

and Kindler; Kindler hired Egan to assist in writing the first season, as he believed Egan to be creative, passionate, and talented. Several episodes of the first season were written throughout the

in 2007. After the series was given the

green-light To green-light is to give permission to proceed with a project. The term is a reference to the green traffic signal, indicating "go ahead". Film industry In the context of the film and television industries, to green-light something is to ...

, they were rewritten to establish a season-long storyline. Some of the episodes finished their writing stage as little as two and a half weeks before filming commenced. At times after the scripts were written, Sci Fi executive Mark Stern fed back to the writers, asking for certain elements to be explained so the audience could understand. Tesla3

Kindler wrote both parts of "Sanctuary for All", as well "Fata Morgana", "Kush", "The Five", "Requiem", "Instinct", and the second part of "Revelations". He penned his scripts quickly, with "Kush" being written in three and a half days. Wood contributed to the story of "Fata Morgana" by bringing up the idea of incorporating the Morrígan from

Irish mythology Irish mythology is the body of myths native to the island of Ireland. It was originally oral tradition, passed down orally in the Prehistoric Ireland, prehistoric era, being part of ancient Celtic religion. Many myths were later Early Irish ...

, which would start giving the season an ancient and mythological feel. "Kush" introduces a series of episodes involving the working relationship between Will and Magnus. "The Five" became a significant part of the series mythology, revealing the Five, which Magnus is a part of, how Magnus got her longevity, and that Henry Foss is actually part werewolf. Tapping believed that introducing the Five was a "cool concept". Kindler introduced vampires in the episode, and felt it would be best to introduce them as a dead species. He also felt that including real-life historic figures such as Tesla was a "very ballsy thing". In "Requiem", Kindler wanted a scenario in which Will has to make a difficult decision to deal with Magnus when she becomes the threat of the episode. Though Kindler at first believed it was not a good episode, it ended up as a highlight of the season according to the producers. In writing "Instinct", Kindler, inspired by ''

Cloverfield ''Cloverfield'' is a 2008 American found footage monster film directed by Matt Reeves, produced by J. J. Abrams, and written by Drew Goddard. It stars Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas, T.J. Miller, Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel and Odette Yus ...

'', wanted to show the audience the protagonists hunting an abnormal in real-time, where it does not always go according to plan. Egan meanwhile, wrote "Folding Man", "Nubbins", "Edward", "Warriors", and the first part of "Revelations". He also co-wrote "Sanctuary for All" with Kindler. Egan liked to include the Rashomon effect in some of his scripts, a plot device which interprets scenes from different points of view. After writing "Folding Man", Egan realized that he inadvertently based it on an

episode An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a series intended for radio, television or streaming consumption. The noun ''episode'' is derived from the Greek term ''epeisodion'' (), meaning th ...

of ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation ...

''. "Nubbins" was inspired by the '' Star Trek original series'' episode "

The Trouble with Tribbles "The Trouble with Tribbles" is the fifteenth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek''. Written by David Gerrold and directed by Joseph Pevney, it was first broadcast on December 29, 1967. In ...

". "Edward" was inspired by Egan hearing of a young English man with

savant syndrome Savant syndrome () is a rare condition in which someone with significant mental disabilities demonstrates certain abilities far in excess of average. The skills that savants excel at are generally related to memory. This may include rapid calcu ...

, who flew over a city he had not visited before, and was able to accurately draw the city on a

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanis ...

some 20 feet wide. Because the episode involved an abnormal, Egan wanted the boy to draw much faster. In writing "Warriors", Egan wanted to reintroduce Magnus' father Gregory Magnus from the webisodes; there were plans to introduce him in "Fata Morgana", but the idea did not make it to the final episode. Gregory was written not to have the longevity of his daughter. Egan decided not to include a full explanation of how he survived a hundred years without aging, but wanted to hint to the audience that he was in fact cryogenically frozen by the Cabal. The intention behind "Revelations" was to tie some of the previous episodes together, particularly involving the Cabal, and then set them up for the second season. The main issue with writing the finale was showing Ashley being interrogated, where in fact she was experimented on to turn her to the Cabal. Because Kindler wrote his script quickly, he believed that the misdirect did not turn out the way he hoped.

Differences from the webisodes

Differences were made between the original webisodes and the first episodes of the season. One example is the introduction of Druitt. In the webisodes, Druitt murders a prostitute after arriving in Old City, but in the pilot, writer Damian Kindler included dialogue between the two characters before Druitt murders her, as a way of proving to the audience how evil he is. Another is the ending of "Fata Morgana", where the Morrígan leave the Sanctuary with the Cabal mercenaries; in the webisodes, the sisters escape. Druitt directly tells Ashley in one of the first webisodes that he is her father. In the first season, the producers decided that she would not be aware of this until midway through, and even then, they did not want Druitt to tell her directly, but rather hint it to her, so that Ashley can pick up the pieces herself.

Filming

Initial photography started in May 2008, and took place mostly in a warehouse in

, British Columbia. Each episode took around seven days to film, though some were completed in as little as five and a half. The first three episodes of the season were reshot from the original eight webisodes; the two-part premiere "Sanctuary for All" was reshot from the first four webisodes, while the third episode, "Fata Morgana", was reshot from the final four. Eighteen months passed between shooting the web series and the first three episodes. Difficulties with this included the fact that Cainan Wiebe, who portrays Alexi, grew taller, and the actors consciously played the characters to be more open to each other. It was filmed using Red One cameras, the first series in North America to use them. The Red camera system does away with tape and film and records straight to a hard drive, allowing Anthem Visual Effects and the series' post production team immediate access to the day's footage, and is capable of recording at

4K resolution 4K resolution refers to a horizontal display resolution of approximately 4,000 pixels. Digital television and digital cinematography commonly use several different 4K resolutions. In television and consumer media, 38402160 (4K UHD) is the domi ...

—four times the resolution of current high-definition. The season was filmed using five directors. Wood directed eight of the thirteen episodes; he spent 17 days preparing to film the premiere. He found that "Requiem" was his favorite episode to direct, while "The Five" was his least favorite, as he had to keep reorganizing six

styrofoam Styrofoam is a trademarked brand of closed-cell extruded polystyrene foam (XPS), commonly called "Blue Board", manufactured as foam continuous building insulation board used in walls, roofs, and foundations as thermal insulation and water barrie ...

sets. Among the remaining five episodes, James Head directed "Folding Man", Peter DeLuise directed "Nubbins",

Brenton Spencer Brenton Spencer is a Canadian film and television director and cinematographer. His television credits include '' Earth: Final Conflict'', '' Andromeda'', ''21 Jump Street'', '' Mutant X'', '' Poltergeist: The Legacy'', '' Sanctuary'', ''Stargate ...

directed "Edward" and "Warriors", and Steven A. Adelson directed "Instinct"; Adelson filmed the episode with 40 long takes to accomplish a real-time perspective. DeLuise was approached by Wood to direct "Nubbins" as it was considered a lighter episode, which DeLuise preferred over a dramatic episode. In the past DeLuise would make

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

s in his works, but broke tradition in directing this episode. Rivervieweastlawn

According to Head, about 70% of the season was filmed using green screen in the Burnaby warehouse. Unlike many other shows, elaborate sets were not built for the scenes to be filmed; instead, they are created using CGI technology. Because of the virtual sets, the actors had to visualise what the rooms they were in looked like. To aid them, practical props were placed. The production crew also used rain and

wind machine The wind machine (also called an aeoliphone or aelophon) is a friction idiophone used to produce the sound of wind for orchestral compositions and musical theater productions. Construction The wind machine is constructed of a large cyli ...

s to film scenes set outdoors. However, practical sets were also used throughout the season. The first 20 minutes of "Sanctuary for All" was filmed at the partially decommissioned Riverview Hospital, described by Kindler as a " Swiss Army knife of locations". Elsewhere, the studio

parking lot A parking lot (American English) or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface ...

and alleyways of The Bridge Studios provided a surrogate for several different types of locations, like city streets. A

Volvo The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...

warehouse provided the filming location for "Instinct". The final filming days were spent on the

outside Vancouver. The fifth episode, "Kush", was filmed on a damaged fuselage set, which was built by production designer Bridget McGuire. The episode's cast disliked the episode the most because they had to act as if they were in freezing temperatures, where in fact it was around 40 degrees Celsius. Because it was an expensive set, the producers wanted to reuse it. It was later redesigned to look like the inside of a submarine for "Requiem". It was redressed again for "Revelations". Although released third, "Fata Morgana" was filmed as the fourth episode, and was considered to be aired after "Folding Man". However, Tapping felt strongly that it would make a great stand alone episode after "Sanctuary for All", and the characters appeared more comfortable with each other in "Folding Man". Swapping the episodes caused a major continuity issue, in which Ashley appears to show scratches on her neck from "Sanctuary for All" in "Folding Man", but not in between.

Effects

The season's

were produced by Anthem Visual Effects, with the company's Lee Wilson serving as co-producer and visual effects supervisor. Because it was filmed in green screen, each episode contains an estimated 400 visual effect shots. In contrast, an average episode of ''Stargate SG-1'', which Tapping starred in, contained only 12. One of the larger visual effects sequences was the opening sequence of the premiere, which took three months to produce. Each visual effect produced in the original webisodes was remastered. Among the characters, the movement of two-faced guy's rear face were made with

Computer-generated imagery Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is the use of computer graphics to create or contribute to images in art, printed media, video games, simulators, and visual effects in films, television programs, shorts, commercials, and videos. The images may ...

(CGI), though it was a difficult effect to produce. A prosthetic application was added to the back of Campbell's head when the second face is not talking. The

mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are sometimes asso ...

character, Sally, was entirely a visual effect, with the face of Mandy May, wife of director Steven A. Adelson, rendered onto it. Creating the eponymous abnormals in "Nubbins" and their predator was what Sam Egan described as "a proper budget-driven issue" because rendering several CGI creatures at once and having them move would be difficult. It was decided to have them camouflaged in an attempt to make work easier for the visual effects team, but it did not work out as well as the producers hoped. To achieve Nubbin interaction with the cast, guide versions, nicknamed

Oompa-Loompa This is a list of characters in the 1964 Roald Dahl book ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'', his 1972 sequel ''Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator'', and the former's film adaptations, ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory'' (1971) and '' ...

s, were made for them to carry. In designing Tesla's transition to a vampire, the producers, realizing vampires were included in several other works in the past, wanted to make them look unique. Wilson based the vampire look to the 2007 film '' 30 Days of Night''. Because of the hard work by Anthem, the producers made "Kush" and "Requiem" into bottle episodes, to give the visual effects team a break. Instead, other forms of special effects were used. To create the Himalayan feel of "Kush", the production crew used wind machines and paper snow. However, the fake snow became a problem for the cast, as they suffered from

bloodshot eyes A red eye is an eye that appears red due to illness A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury ...

and scratchy throats when exposed to it.

Aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

s were placed outside each port hole of the set in "Requiem". To complete the effects where Druitt teleports, Heyerdahl would walk out of the shot while every other cast member has to stay still, until the directors signal them to react; the shot of Heyerdahl walking out of frame would later be cut. Another effect involving Heyerdahl is a scene between both his characters, Bigfoot and Druitt, in "Revelations". To complete the shot, Heyerdahl had to film two different shots: one with him as Druitt talking to nothing, and another with him as Bigfoot talking to nothing. When both characters can be seen walking together, a stand-in would replace Heyerdahl as Bigfoot. Another form of special effects are prosthetics used to create abnormals. They were composed by a team of make-up artists. Todd Masters stated that his team tried to make them interesting and unique every week. The abnormal shown at the end of "Kush" was a stand-in who wore a full prosthetic suit; the costume took a long time to apply. Among the prosthetics used in "Warriors", Dunne wore a muscle suit that was previously worn by

Vinnie Jones Vincent Peter Jones (born 5 January 1965) is a British actor, presenter, and former professional footballer. Jones played professionally as a defensive midfielder from 1984 to 1999, notably for Wimbledon, Leeds United, Sheffield United, Chels ...

during the 2006 film '' X-Men: The Last Stand''. The corpses used in the beginning of "Sanctuary for All" were mannequins the props department had in their possession, with holes added in the foreheads. Using mannequins was easier than using actors. The drawings in "Edward" were produced by ''Sanctuary'' art department. The season's stunts were coordinated by Marshall Virtue. To develop the ''Fight Club'' scenes in "Warriors", fight coordinator Rob Hader helped with choreographing the stunts. While filming the scenes, Hader played one of the fighters. He replaced an actor who broke a knee after filming for six seconds.

Broadcast and reception

Broadcast

Originally airing on the Sci Fi Channel in the United States, the first season was broadcast in over 50 countries worldwide. Tapping believed the channel was a "good home base", because she had worked with the network for several years before, adding "they understand the genre. They understand the fans." The season commenced with both parts of "Sanctuary for All" on October 3, 2008. The following episodes aired almost every Friday during the 10 to 11 pm time slot from October 10, 2008, until January 9, 2009. In Canada, it aired on Movie Channel One of

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 ...

. In the United Kingdom, the season was picked up for broadcast by

. The first episode was broadcast on October 6, 2008, only three days after the release on the Sci Fi Channel. In Australia, the season debuted on

ABC2 ABC TV Plus (formerly ABC2 and ABC Comedy) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and part of its ABC Television network. The channel broadcasts a range of general entertainment pr ...

on March 1, 2010.

Ratings

"Sanctuary for All" started off the season with over 2.7 million viewers and a household rating of 2.2 after its original broadcast. It became Sci Fi Channel's highest rated series premiere since the pilot episode of ''

'' in July 2006. It was the number one prime time cable entertainment program among adults aged 25 through 54 years, and fourth among adults aged 18 through 49 years. Because of the high ratings, views of Sci Fi's ''Sanctuary'' page rose to 1.2 million, as well as 287,000 video streams the day it was broadcast. Viewing figures for the following episodes were somewhat under 2 million, but the finale drew its biggest audience since the premiere; "Revelations (Part 2)" was seen by 2 million viewers and received a 1.6 household rating. Including timeshifted viewings, the first season averaged 2.35 million viewers, and a 1.8 rating. The first season of ''Sanctuary'' beat the fifth season of its lead in ''

Stargate Atlantis ''Stargate Atlantis'' (usually stylized in all caps and often abbreviated ''SGA'') is an adventure and military science fiction television series and part of MGM's ''Stargate'' franchise. The show was created by Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper ...

'' by two tenths of a point. Because of the success, Sci Fi ordered a second season on November 2008. In the United Kingdom, the first part of "Sanctuary for All" was seen by 565,000 viewers. The second part received 608,000 viewers the following week. Since then, ratings have steadily declined to 398,000 by the season finale. The penultimate episode received the lowest ratings of the season, with only 279,000 viewers.

Critical reception

The season received generally mixed reviews from critics.

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gave the season a normalized rating of 56 out of 100 based on seven reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Linda Stasi of the ''

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'' stated "the monsters are first rate, the virtual sets are very cool, the acting is excellent. Why I was fighting fatigue while watching, I can't say. It was either the martinis from Steve Dunleavy's farewell party – or the plot." Maureen Ryan of the ''

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'' felt the pace was "a little on the stately side", and was unclear why Tapping "speaks with an iffy English accent", but believed the "low-key, low-budget but well-intentioned sci-fi/action hybrid might be of interest to fans of Tapping's earlier work as

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on ''

''". Robert Lloyd of the ''

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'' felt that "much of it feels dreadfully slow, not so much moody as stretched for time. Hard-to-sell dialogue such as 'Such imperfect children are often adopted by well-meaning immigrant families' doesn't make it flow any faster", but still stated "it looks great". Brian Lowry of ''

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'' called the first two episodes "competent but uninspiring", and said it "suffers by comparison with any number of similarly themed dramas, most recently

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's fun-loving ''

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''". Lowry also believes that "it's hard to imagine this series doing much more than satisfying some of the odd humanoids still pining for (and emailing on behalf of) ''

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''". Mike Hale of ''

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'' felt that ''Sanctuary'' "sits at about the same level of writing and performance as the ''Stargate'' shows, which means it doesn't have the narrative force of ''

'' or the wit and creativity of Sci Fi's best original series, ''Eureka''", adding that "it's not an embarrassment for the channel, but it doesn't raise the stakes either". Hale also noted that there is a connection with ''Stargate'', which is "in its 12th year and still going strong". David Blackwell of ''Enterline Media'' thought that ''Sanctuary'' was an "interesting concept", but felt the first six episodes were "hit-or-miss". Of the series' use of green screen for sets, Blackwell stated "sometimes it really works and sometimes the CGI sets could use improvement". He also felt that Amanda Tapping was convincing as a British scientist. In conclusion, Blackwell stated "''Sanctuary'' does take a while to kick in, but it is a very good series once the writers actually write something with depth." Alex Walker of ''Den of Geek'' rated the first season three stars out of five, stating "the acting and scripting is good, but ''Sanctuary'' lacks the wit and charm of the genre's top shows like ''

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'' and ''

''. Also, the way some episodes alternate between fighting and exposition gives the impression of watching someone else play a videogame." Walker also dubbed it a "poor man's ''

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'', but said that it "makes for "agreeable early-evening viewing". Walker also believed that the DVD of the first season should really be for "die-hard fans only". Paul Simpson of ''Total Sci-Fi'' rated the season 7 out of 10, and summed it up as "although frequently predictable, ''Sanctuary'' usually provides an entertaining hour." John Sinnott of ''

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'', being a fan of Tapping's earlier work of ''Stargate SG-1'', believes the first season is "highly recommended". Sinnott also noticed that while "the first six shows are so-so ..the last seven are great".

Awards and nominations

The season won a total of five awards. The pilot episode "Sanctuary for All" won a 2009

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for Best Visual Effects. The other four were

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. "Warriors" won "Best Make-Up in a Dramatic Series". Actor Ryan Robbins won "Best Guest Performance by a Male in a Dramatic Series" for his role as Henry Foss in "Edward", beating co-star Jonathan Young. Gabrielle Rose won "Best Guest Performance by a Female in a Dramatic Series" for the same episode. Amanda Tapping won "Best Lead Performance by a Female in a Dramatic Series" for her role as Helen Magnus in "Requiem". The most prestigious nomination for the season was for a

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects This is a list of the winning and nominated programs of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a series, miniseries, film, or special. Since the award ceremony of 1998, the category has been divided into Special Vis ...

for "Sanctuary for All", but it lost the award to ''

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''.

Home video releases

A DVD box set of the first season, published by

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, was first released in Region 1 on September 15, 2009, in Region 2 on October 12, 2009, and in Region 4 on September 9, 2009. The season was later released on

in the United States on June 15, 2010, and in Australia on June 9, 2010. The four-disc set consists of all 13 episodes, each with audio commentaries from cast and crew, as well as the original webisodes in two installments. The set also includes three behind the scenes featurettes: ''Welcome to the Sanctuary'', ''The Sanctuary Residents'', and ''Sanctuary Visual Effects'', as well as a blooper reel, photo gallery, and sneak preview of season two. John Sinnott of ''DVD Talk'' reacted positively to the number of extras, rating it four and a half stars out of five; Sinnott was also "very pleased" to see the original webisodes included in the set.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Sanctuary Sanctuary (TV series) 2008 Canadian television seasons 2009 Canadian television seasons