Created by: Damian Kindler
Starring: Amanda Tapping, Robin Dunne, Emilie Ullerup, Christopher Heyerdahl, Ryan Robbins
Number of Episodes: 8 (1 Season)
Syfy – 2008
TV on DVD: Web Series
In Short: Dr. Helen Magnus and her daughter Ashley recruit Dr. Will Zimmerman to help her chase down various creatures that go bump in the night.
Recommended: Hell yes!
HELEN: Good doctors come and go. But the really great ones have always seen beyond the boundaries of science, beyond the known. The great ones dare to believe in the unbelievable.
Around the time Stargate SG-1 was winding down, a …

After four seasons on Syfy, the webseries-made-good Sanctuary has sadly come to an end. Here, a tribute.
by Geonn Cannon
“Good doctors come and go, but the great ones have always seen beyond the boundaries of science, beyond the known. The great ones dare to believe in the unbelievable.”
– Helen Magnus
This was the little show that could. A lot of shows can be described as labors of love, but Sanctuary truly earnt the title. It was created as a webseries, filmed between lead actress Amanda Tapping’s commitments to Stargate (because really, she only …

Written by: James Thorpe
Directed by: Amanda Tapping
US Airdate: Friday, October 14, 2011
In Short: In Helen’s absence, Will attempts to negotiate a ceasefire between Lotus and the Hollow Earth refugees.
Recommended: Kind of.
HELEN: What’s it take to get a decent cup of tea around here?
– Helen Magnus, returning to the Sanctuary after 113 years
When last we left our intrepid band of heroes, Will and Henry were watching as legions of Abnormals invaded from Hollow Earth while Kate and the Big Guy were trapped in the refugee camp during a riot between the Abnormals …

Written by: Gillian Horvath
Directed by: Steven A Adelson
US Airdate: Friday, October 21, 2011
In Short: Helen Magnus has to contend with a team of UN inspectors who will decide whether the Sanctuary continues getting funding. Henry, meanwhile, has to deal with the return of his girlfriend Erika.
Recommended: YES!
HELEN: We could waste a lot of energy fighting this battle, but there’s a long war ahead.
WILL: Okay, but if you start calling me ‘young grasshopper,’ I’m quitting.
- about the UN liaison team
Following a failed mission in Jakarta, the United Nations sends a troubleshooter …

Written by: Damian Kindler
Directed by: Martin Wood
US Airdate: Friday, October 28, 2011
In Short: Abnormals take over an airport terminal with Helen as one of their hostages; Will and Henry deal with an escaped Abnormal in the “new era” of Sanctuary business.
Recommended: YES!
CHARLOTTE: What’s your deal, anyway? You’re being totally cryptic about being here, you went Die Hard on these guys… what are you? A spy, an agent or something?”
HELEN: A doctor.
CHARLOTTE: Of ass-kicking.
Okay, we’re going to get plot stuff out of the way first. This episode may have been called …

Written by: Alan McCullough
Directed by: Lee Wilson
US Airdate: Friday, November 4, 2011
In Short: Helen and Henry track down the government’s Abnormal testing facility and discover an old friend is in charge; Will and Big Guy deal with a Hollow Earth refugee
Recommended: Yes!
HELEN: He’s hiding something. He needs our help, but he’s too stubborn to ask.
HENRY: I did not get that.
HELEN: I’ve known him for over a hundred years. He only acts this way when he’s really rattled. No, something’s going on here, and whatever it is, it’s big.
Helen, Henry and …

Written by: Damian Kindler and James Thorpe
Directed by: Robin Dunne
US Airdate: Friday, November 11, 2011
In Short: Helen, Henry and the Big Guy deal with a pair of birdbrain Abnormals while Will sleeps through his own back story.
Recommended: Kind of.
HELEN: It’s an imperfect world. Being flexible with our allies gives us more than condemning them. The days of judging things at face value are over.
HENRY: So we’ve gone rogue, and now we have to hang with the deadbeats, I get that, Doc, but we don’t have to trust them.
HELEN: Maybe we need …

Written by: Martin Wood
Directed by: Martin Wood
US Airdate: November 18, 2011
In Short: Henry joins Declan and a team from the Moscow and UK Sanctuaries to recover a smugglers’ ship that has run aground. When they arrive, they discover a deadly Abnormal they’ve encountered before is on the loose.
Recommended: Yes
HENRY: I’m frozen, on a sinking ship full of dead people, taking the body of my friend out into a snowstorm, and I don’t know if the guy standing next to me wants to kill me or not.
DECLAN: No offense, mate, but …

Written by: Damian Kindler
Directed by: Damian Kindler
Songs by: Andrew Lockington and Damian Kindler
US Airdate: Friday, November 25, 2011
In Short: Abby is attacked by an Abnormal that makes her unable to understand normal speech, so the Sanctuary team is forced to sing.
Recommended: Yes!
HELEN: Because her DNA is being overwritten, she can only perceive certain harmonic frequencies.
WILL: Music?
HELEN: Music!
This episode has been the subject of much discussion since the word “musical” was first uttered at a convention while Season 3 was airing. Some people didn’t believe it, other people were flat-out determined …

Written by: James Thorpe
Directed by: Martin Wood
US Airdate: Friday, December 2, 2011
In Short: A bug left in the Sanctuary’s computer system is released and begins wreaking havoc, forcing Helen and Tesla to go into the machine to stop it. Unfortunately, the bug isn’t alone.
Recommended: Yes!
BIGGIE: I don’t like it when you visit.
– to Tesla, expressing the exact opposite opinion of most Sanctuary fans
Even shorter summary: Helen plays Tron in her jammies. With Tesla.
Late at night in the Sanctuary corridors, a wee mechanical spider takes a little trip. It’s the same …