Sanctuary for All
Encyclopedia
"Sanctuary for All" is the two-part series premiere of the science fiction
television series Sanctuary, a television spinoff from the web series of the same name. Both parts originally aired on the Sci Fi Channel
in the United States
for October 3, 2008, and subsequently aired on ITV4
in the United Kingdom
on October 6 and October 13, 2008. They were written by Damian Kindler
, and directed by Martin Wood
; both were known for their works on the Stargate
franchise.
"Sanctuary for All" is set in the fictional city of Old City, where forensic psychiatrist Will Zimmerman
(Robin Dunne
) investigates the bizarre murder of two police officers, and eventually comes across Helen Magnus
(Amanda Tapping
) and her team, who are hunting the creature responsible, known as an "abnormal". The title refers to the motto on Magnus's business card. It also achieved high ratings for both the Sci Fi Channel and ITV4, and received generally positive reviews. For its visual effects, the series premiere won a Gemini Award
, and a further Leo and Emmy nominations.
an immigrants. They discover the body of a man, apparently shot in the head, then they notice a young boy cowering under the bed in the same room. As he attempts to coax the boy out, the first officer is killed by a mysterious snake-like creature, which stabs him in the forehead, leaving a wound resembling a gunshot. When the boy emerges from behind the bed, the snake creature rears and (although not shown) it kills the second officer.
After the deaths, forensic expert Will Zimmerman (Robin Dunne
) is called in to inspect the murder scene. The police assume the victims have been shot, and claim to have apprehended the shooter (played by David Hewlett
in the first webisode, but was played by another actor in this episode), who was fleeing the scene. Will sees no evidence of a gun being used and quickly deduces that all is not as it seems at the apartment, but his theories are ridiculed by Detective Joe Kavanagh (Kavan Smith
). As he leaves, Will spots the boy and chases him down a back alley, where he narrowly avoids being struck by a young woman on a motorcycle who is also evidently pursuing the boy. He begins to chase them both, but moments later he is struck from behind by a car. Before lapsing into unconsciousness, he catches a glimpse of the driver—Helen Magnus.
Will regains consciousness and finds himself at Magnus' home. She begins to explain the truth behind the murders, and reveals that she knows about Will's long-repressed and traumatic childhood memory of his mother being killed by some kind of monster. She offers Will a position with her organization - The Sanctuary, which is housed in a top secret base under a partially ruined cathedral
in an unnamed city. It houses a variety of "abnormals," who are, she believes, some of nature's triumphs and mistakes. Magnus explains that these creatures would have been mistreated, exploited or killed in the outside world, and that she and her team have dedicated their lives to rescuing and caring for these abnormals. She shows Will the fantastic creatures who inhabit the Sanctuary, including a mermaid; he also meets a Bigfoot
(played by Christopher Heyerdahl
), who has become one of Magnus' staff after being rescued and healed by her.
She tells Will that she has been tracking the "snake-boy", cryptically hinting that he is, and yet is not, responsible for the murders. Though very reluctant and confused, Will agrees to give the new job a try. In the next sequence, we discover that the girl on the motorcycle is Magnus' daughter, Ashley (Emilie Ullerup
); she locates and chases the "mutant" boy down into the subway tunnels and after she finally corners him, Helen arrives and assists with his capture. On their return to the Sanctuary, they discover that the boy, Alexi (Cainan Wiebe) has a symbiotic appendage
growing from his abdomen, which seems to have a will of its own. This symbiote is evidently responsible for the murders, although the team are as yet unable to work out why, so Magnus assigns Will his first task - questioning the boy and finding out why his symbiote has killed.
. Meanwhile, John Druitt (also played by Christopher Heyerdahl
), who appears to have the power to teleport
anywhere at will, arrives in search of the Sanctuary, although he is at first prevented from entering by some kind of force barrier. John then locates Ashley and confronts her; after a struggle, she and one of her colleagues are eventually able to subdue him using tranquillizers and a powerful Taser
charge, although as he collapses he recites some kind of poem or incantation which mentions "The Five" (this is the first reference in the series to a key plot element which will have great significance in later episodes). Helen has meanwhile learned of a prostitute who has been murdered, and seems somewhat disturbed by this development.
Soon after Ashley has brought Druitt inside the Sanctuary, he reveals that he has allowed himself to be captured. He immediately escapes and forces Magnus' technical expert Henry Foss (Ryan Robbins
) to shut down the EM shield. Now free to teleport at will, he appears in Magnus' study, seizes Ashley, teleports away with her, and imprisons her in the enclosure of one of the deadliest abnormals, as a means of forcing Magnus to do his bidding. However, unknown to Druitt, Ashley is quickly rescued by Will and "Bigfoot". Druitt then returns to Helen, reveals that he is dying again, and forces her to give him some of her blood to save him. However Magnus has prepared for such an eventuality and gives him a poisoned blood vial instead, hoping to end his reign of terror. Although evidently affected, Druitt manages to teleport away.
Soon after, Will's repressed childhood memories are triggered by the sight of the abnormal from which Ashley has just been rescued. He finally realises that that it was Magnus who had saved him as a boy from the monster that killed his mother. Realising that she looks exactly the same, he at first assumes that she can travel through time, but Magnus then admits that she in fact 157 years old, and that her longevity is the result of being injected with Vampire
blood during her studies in Oxford University in the 1800s.
Helen then reveals that Druitt had been her fiancé in the 1880s. After suffering a life-threatening injury, she saved his life, but the procedure had given him the power to teleport. This had driven him insane, and he went on a killing spree, murdering at least eight prostitutes in Victorian London
- John Druitt is in fact the serial killer who has become known to history as Jack the Ripper
. In a flashback, we see Helen confronting John in an attempt to stop him committing the last of Ripper murders, but he kills the girl anyway and teleports away, although Magnus apparently wounds him as he vanishes. She then reveals that, after John's disappearance, she froze one of the embryos she had conceived with him, but when she could no longer bear the loneliness of losing him, she used it to give birth to their daughter Ashley, who knows nothing of her father's true identity. It is because of Druitt's power that Magnus has placed an EM shield around the Sanctuary, to prevent him from being able to teleport into it. Zimmerman decides to join the Sanctuary.
. The working name for the city was "Odisburg". Cainan Wiebe was cast as Alexi, following his appearance in an episode of Stargate SG-1
series creator Damian Kindler
helped produce. The idea behind Alexi's "creepy" expressions in the beginning of the episode were Wiebe's idea, and the producers granted his request.
Both parts of the episode were effectively reshoots of the first of the original webisodes. According to director Martin Wood
, much of the footage of the webisodes were reshot in a very similar style. The producers decided not to include virtual sets for the first 20 minutes of the episode, in order to lull the audience to a false sense of security, so the production crew filmed on location. The apartment building from the beginning of the episode were shot at the partially decommissioned Riverview mental care facility. Because the producers found the location "creepy", they felt the location could be used to impart this creepiness to the audience. In the 18 months between the webisodes and the series, Wiebe grew taller. The corpses used in the beginning were mannequins the props department had in their possession and put holes in the forehead, and were easier to use than actors.
Like the web series, much of the episodes were filmed on green screen
. The production team performed over 480 visual effects shots, compared to 12 visual effects shots from an average Stargate episode. Amanda Tapping
(also executive producer of the series) described the process of using the green screen like doing theatre, and hasn't used green screen to an extent during her tenure in Stargate. The opening shot for the premiere took three months for special effects supervisor Lee Wilson's Vancouver
-based company to complete.
since the series premiere of Eureka
in July 2006. The 2.2 rating represented more than 2.7 million viewers; 1.08 million among the adult 18–49 demographic and 1.4 million among the adult 25–54 demographic. This placed Sanctuary the number one cable program among adults 25–54, and number four among adults 18–49. The ratings success also boosted the web series to 1.2 million views. In the United Kingdom, both parts placed the series first place on the top ten viewing programmes for ITV4
during the two weeks they aired. The first part was viewed by 565,000, while the second part received a higher viewing figure of 608,000.
Reviews of the pilot were generally positive, where reviewers marked comparisons between Sanctuary, and other science fiction series such as Primeval and Torchwood
, as well as the comparisons between Zimmerman and Stargate SG-1
's Daniel Jackson. Jason Hughes of TV Squad described the episode as "one of the more hyped premieres of recent years on Sci Fi," and thought it made a "nice job of creating a cohesive narrative from the elements of [the] webisodes," as well as praising Christopher Heyerdahl's acting for John Druitt's stereotype as the antagonist. Hughes also dubbed the green screen usage as a resounding success, though he felt that some of the scenes somewhat hindered the pace of the episode. Mark Wilson of About.com stated that the synergy between the writers and cast looked promising, and that Robin Dunne's performance is "one who really pulls the viewer into Sanctuary," as well as stating the cast served as eye candy for the viewers, since they consist of guest stars, who made other appearances throughout other series as Stargate (Tapping, Heyerdahl, Kavan Smith
), Battlestar Galactica
(Kandyse McClure
), Flash Gordon
(Panou
) and The 4400
(Caiman Wiebe).
Tory Ireland Mell of IGN
rated the episode a "great" 8.7 out of 10, describing the story as intriguing, and the concept as mind blowing, and though the concept of the series from a production standpoint was executed well, but criticised the seemingly slow pace. Paul Simpson of Total Sci-Fi rated the both parts 7/10, and made comparisons of this episode, and "Everything Changes
", the pilot episode of Torchwood. He thought the first part, with such aspects as Heyerdahl's effective acting holds potential for the series, while the second part still reminisces Simpson of Primeval and Torchwood again, but still holds potential. However, Brian Lowry of Variety Magazine has said that the pilot episode was "Uninspiring" and further stated that it didn't "Rock anyone else's world."
The visual effects of the episodes were submitted for three award nominations, one of which was won. In 2009, the first part won a Gemini Award
for "Best Visual Effects", beating fellow nominee "The Five". It received a Leo Award nomination for "Best Visual Effects in a Dramatic Series," but lost to Stargate Atlantis
"First Contact". It was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects but lost to Heroes
.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
television series Sanctuary, a television spinoff from the web series of the same name. Both parts originally aired on the Sci Fi Channel
Sci Fi Channel (United States)
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for October 3, 2008, and subsequently aired on ITV4
ITV4
ITV4 is a British television station which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV network. The channel has a male-oriented line-up, including sport, cop shows and US comedies and dramas, as well as classic ITV action...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
on October 6 and October 13, 2008. They were written by Damian Kindler
Damian Kindler
Damian Kindler is an Australian-born Canadian writer and producer. He emigrated to Toronto, Canada, when he was young. He currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia. He lives with his wife and his two children Hannah and Phoebe Kindler.He is most noted for his contributions to the Stargate...
, and directed by Martin Wood
Martin Wood
Martin Wood is a Canadian television director who has been directing since the mid 1990s. Specializing in science fiction, where he is best known for his work as a director and producer on Stargate SG-1 , as well as its spin-off series Stargate Atlantis .-Career:Martin Wood began his television...
; both were known for their works on the Stargate
Stargate
Stargate is a adventure military science fiction franchise, initially conceived by Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin. The first film in the franchise was simply titled Stargate. It was originally released on October 28, 1994, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Carolco, and became a hit, grossing nearly...
franchise.
"Sanctuary for All" is set in the fictional city of Old City, where forensic psychiatrist Will Zimmerman
Will Zimmerman
Doctor William "Will" Zimmerman is a main character and male lead of the Canadian fantasy-science fiction television series Sanctuary. He is portrayed by Robin Dunne...
(Robin Dunne
Robin Dunne
Robin Dunne is a Canadian actor who is mainly known for having had numerous leading roles in sequels throughout his career, and lately for his role as Doctor Will Zimmerman in the cult Science fiction Television series, Sanctuary....
) investigates the bizarre murder of two police officers, and eventually comes across Helen Magnus
Helen Magnus
Doctor Helen Magnus is the series protagonist and central character of the Canadian fantasy-science fiction television series Sanctuary. She is portrayed by Amanda Tapping...
(Amanda Tapping
Amanda Tapping
Amanda Tapping is an English-born Canadian actress, producer and director. She is best known for portraying Samantha Carter in the Canadian-American military science fiction television series Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis...
) and her team, who are hunting the creature responsible, known as an "abnormal". The title refers to the motto on Magnus's business card. It also achieved high ratings for both the Sci Fi Channel and ITV4, and received generally positive reviews. For its visual effects, the series premiere won a Gemini Award
Gemini Award
The Gemini Awards are annual television broadcasting industry awards in Canada.First awarded in 1986, the Geminis celebrate the achievements of TV members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Essentially, it presents awards for the best television productions in Canada. Awards are...
, and a further Leo and Emmy nominations.
Part 1
As the episode opens, two police officers answer a call to a disturbance in the home of Eastern EuropeEastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
an immigrants. They discover the body of a man, apparently shot in the head, then they notice a young boy cowering under the bed in the same room. As he attempts to coax the boy out, the first officer is killed by a mysterious snake-like creature, which stabs him in the forehead, leaving a wound resembling a gunshot. When the boy emerges from behind the bed, the snake creature rears and (although not shown) it kills the second officer.
After the deaths, forensic expert Will Zimmerman (Robin Dunne
Robin Dunne
Robin Dunne is a Canadian actor who is mainly known for having had numerous leading roles in sequels throughout his career, and lately for his role as Doctor Will Zimmerman in the cult Science fiction Television series, Sanctuary....
) is called in to inspect the murder scene. The police assume the victims have been shot, and claim to have apprehended the shooter (played by David Hewlett
David Hewlett
David Ian Hewlett is an English-born Canadian actor best known for his role as Dr. Meredith Rodney McKay on the science fiction television shows Stargate SG1 and Stargate Atlantis.-Early life:...
in the first webisode, but was played by another actor in this episode), who was fleeing the scene. Will sees no evidence of a gun being used and quickly deduces that all is not as it seems at the apartment, but his theories are ridiculed by Detective Joe Kavanagh (Kavan Smith
Kavan Smith
Kavan Joel Smith is a Canadian actor best known for playing Major Evan Lorne in Stargate Atlantis and Stargate SG-1 and for his recurring role as Agent Jed Garrity in The 4400.-Biography:...
). As he leaves, Will spots the boy and chases him down a back alley, where he narrowly avoids being struck by a young woman on a motorcycle who is also evidently pursuing the boy. He begins to chase them both, but moments later he is struck from behind by a car. Before lapsing into unconsciousness, he catches a glimpse of the driver—Helen Magnus.
Will regains consciousness and finds himself at Magnus' home. She begins to explain the truth behind the murders, and reveals that she knows about Will's long-repressed and traumatic childhood memory of his mother being killed by some kind of monster. She offers Will a position with her organization - The Sanctuary, which is housed in a top secret base under a partially ruined cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
in an unnamed city. It houses a variety of "abnormals," who are, she believes, some of nature's triumphs and mistakes. Magnus explains that these creatures would have been mistreated, exploited or killed in the outside world, and that she and her team have dedicated their lives to rescuing and caring for these abnormals. She shows Will the fantastic creatures who inhabit the Sanctuary, including a mermaid; he also meets a Bigfoot
Bigfoot
Bigfoot, also known as sasquatch, is an ape-like cryptid that purportedly inhabits forests, mainly in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. Bigfoot is usually described as a large, hairy, bipedal humanoid...
(played by Christopher Heyerdahl
Christopher Heyerdahl
Christopher Heyerdahl is a Canadian actor who has had roles in many prominent television shows and movies. He is tall.-Biography:Heyerdahl was born in the mountains of British Columbia and is of Norwegian and Scottish descent...
), who has become one of Magnus' staff after being rescued and healed by her.
She tells Will that she has been tracking the "snake-boy", cryptically hinting that he is, and yet is not, responsible for the murders. Though very reluctant and confused, Will agrees to give the new job a try. In the next sequence, we discover that the girl on the motorcycle is Magnus' daughter, Ashley (Emilie Ullerup
Emilie Ullerup
Emilie Ullerup is a Danish actress. She is best known for playing Ashley Magnus on the television series Sanctuary.-Early life and education:...
); she locates and chases the "mutant" boy down into the subway tunnels and after she finally corners him, Helen arrives and assists with his capture. On their return to the Sanctuary, they discover that the boy, Alexi (Cainan Wiebe) has a symbiotic appendage
Appendage
In invertebrate biology, an appendage is an external body part, or natural prolongation, that protrudes from an organism's body . It is a general term that covers any of the homologous body parts that may extend from a body segment...
growing from his abdomen, which seems to have a will of its own. This symbiote is evidently responsible for the murders, although the team are as yet unable to work out why, so Magnus assigns Will his first task - questioning the boy and finding out why his symbiote has killed.
Part 2
Will questions Alexi, and realises that the symbiote detects fear in its host and only kills if the boy feels frightened, remaining dormant if he feels safe. They also learn that his mutation has been caused by the Chernobyl disasterChernobyl disaster
The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine , which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow...
. Meanwhile, John Druitt (also played by Christopher Heyerdahl
Christopher Heyerdahl
Christopher Heyerdahl is a Canadian actor who has had roles in many prominent television shows and movies. He is tall.-Biography:Heyerdahl was born in the mountains of British Columbia and is of Norwegian and Scottish descent...
), who appears to have the power to teleport
Teleportation
Teleportation is the fictional or imagined process by which matter is instantaneously transferred from one place to another.Teleportation may also refer to:*Quantum teleportation, a method of transmitting quantum data...
anywhere at will, arrives in search of the Sanctuary, although he is at first prevented from entering by some kind of force barrier. John then locates Ashley and confronts her; after a struggle, she and one of her colleagues are eventually able to subdue him using tranquillizers and a powerful Taser
Taser
A Taser is an electroshock weapon that uses electrical current to disrupt voluntary control of muscles. Its manufacturer, Taser International, calls the effects "neuromuscular incapacitation" and the devices' mechanism "Electro-Muscular Disruption technology"...
charge, although as he collapses he recites some kind of poem or incantation which mentions "The Five" (this is the first reference in the series to a key plot element which will have great significance in later episodes). Helen has meanwhile learned of a prostitute who has been murdered, and seems somewhat disturbed by this development.
Soon after Ashley has brought Druitt inside the Sanctuary, he reveals that he has allowed himself to be captured. He immediately escapes and forces Magnus' technical expert Henry Foss (Ryan Robbins
Ryan Robbins
Ryan Robbins is a Canadian actor. He was married to the actress Rebecca Reichert and they have one daughter.-Biography:...
) to shut down the EM shield. Now free to teleport at will, he appears in Magnus' study, seizes Ashley, teleports away with her, and imprisons her in the enclosure of one of the deadliest abnormals, as a means of forcing Magnus to do his bidding. However, unknown to Druitt, Ashley is quickly rescued by Will and "Bigfoot". Druitt then returns to Helen, reveals that he is dying again, and forces her to give him some of her blood to save him. However Magnus has prepared for such an eventuality and gives him a poisoned blood vial instead, hoping to end his reign of terror. Although evidently affected, Druitt manages to teleport away.
Soon after, Will's repressed childhood memories are triggered by the sight of the abnormal from which Ashley has just been rescued. He finally realises that that it was Magnus who had saved him as a boy from the monster that killed his mother. Realising that she looks exactly the same, he at first assumes that she can travel through time, but Magnus then admits that she in fact 157 years old, and that her longevity is the result of being injected with Vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
blood during her studies in Oxford University in the 1800s.
Helen then reveals that Druitt had been her fiancé in the 1880s. After suffering a life-threatening injury, she saved his life, but the procedure had given him the power to teleport. This had driven him insane, and he went on a killing spree, murdering at least eight prostitutes in Victorian London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
- John Druitt is in fact the serial killer who has become known to history as Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper
"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
. In a flashback, we see Helen confronting John in an attempt to stop him committing the last of Ripper murders, but he kills the girl anyway and teleports away, although Magnus apparently wounds him as he vanishes. She then reveals that, after John's disappearance, she froze one of the embryos she had conceived with him, but when she could no longer bear the loneliness of losing him, she used it to give birth to their daughter Ashley, who knows nothing of her father's true identity. It is because of Druitt's power that Magnus has placed an EM shield around the Sanctuary, to prevent him from being able to teleport into it. Zimmerman decides to join the Sanctuary.
Production
The producers wished to feature the series in a fictional city, Old City, located in the West Coast of North AmericaNorth America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. The working name for the city was "Odisburg". Cainan Wiebe was cast as Alexi, following his appearance in an episode of Stargate SG-1
Stargate SG-1
Stargate SG-1 is a Canadian-American adventure and military science fiction television series and part of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Stargate franchise. The show, created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner, is based on the 1994 feature film Stargate by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich...
series creator Damian Kindler
Damian Kindler
Damian Kindler is an Australian-born Canadian writer and producer. He emigrated to Toronto, Canada, when he was young. He currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia. He lives with his wife and his two children Hannah and Phoebe Kindler.He is most noted for his contributions to the Stargate...
helped produce. The idea behind Alexi's "creepy" expressions in the beginning of the episode were Wiebe's idea, and the producers granted his request.
Both parts of the episode were effectively reshoots of the first of the original webisodes. According to director Martin Wood
Martin Wood
Martin Wood is a Canadian television director who has been directing since the mid 1990s. Specializing in science fiction, where he is best known for his work as a director and producer on Stargate SG-1 , as well as its spin-off series Stargate Atlantis .-Career:Martin Wood began his television...
, much of the footage of the webisodes were reshot in a very similar style. The producers decided not to include virtual sets for the first 20 minutes of the episode, in order to lull the audience to a false sense of security, so the production crew filmed on location. The apartment building from the beginning of the episode were shot at the partially decommissioned Riverview mental care facility. Because the producers found the location "creepy", they felt the location could be used to impart this creepiness to the audience. In the 18 months between the webisodes and the series, Wiebe grew taller. The corpses used in the beginning were mannequins the props department had in their possession and put holes in the forehead, and were easier to use than actors.
Like the web series, much of the episodes were filmed on green screen
Green Screen
The Green Screen international wildlife film festival is held annually in Eckernförde, Germany. The festival shows full-length and short nature documentaries about animals in their natural habitat. It is the only festival of its kind in Germany...
. The production team performed over 480 visual effects shots, compared to 12 visual effects shots from an average Stargate episode. Amanda Tapping
Amanda Tapping
Amanda Tapping is an English-born Canadian actress, producer and director. She is best known for portraying Samantha Carter in the Canadian-American military science fiction television series Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis...
(also executive producer of the series) described the process of using the green screen like doing theatre, and hasn't used green screen to an extent during her tenure in Stargate. The opening shot for the premiere took three months for special effects supervisor Lee Wilson's Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
-based company to complete.
Reception
The series premiere received a household rating of 2.2, the highest rated original series premiere from the Sci Fi ChannelSci Fi Channel (United States)
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
since the series premiere of Eureka
Eureka (TV series)
Eureka is an American science fiction television series that premiered on Syfy on July 18, 2006. Since then four seasons have aired, and a fifth is currently being filmed. The second half of season 4 began on SyFy on July 11, 2011 and ended on September 19, 2011...
in July 2006. The 2.2 rating represented more than 2.7 million viewers; 1.08 million among the adult 18–49 demographic and 1.4 million among the adult 25–54 demographic. This placed Sanctuary the number one cable program among adults 25–54, and number four among adults 18–49. The ratings success also boosted the web series to 1.2 million views. In the United Kingdom, both parts placed the series first place on the top ten viewing programmes for ITV4
ITV4
ITV4 is a British television station which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV network. The channel has a male-oriented line-up, including sport, cop shows and US comedies and dramas, as well as classic ITV action...
during the two weeks they aired. The first part was viewed by 565,000, while the second part received a higher viewing figure of 608,000.
Reviews of the pilot were generally positive, where reviewers marked comparisons between Sanctuary, and other science fiction series such as Primeval and Torchwood
Torchwood
Torchwood is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. The series is a spin-off from Davies's 2005 revival of the long-running science fiction programme Doctor Who. The show has shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing audience, moving from...
, as well as the comparisons between Zimmerman and Stargate SG-1
Stargate SG-1
Stargate SG-1 is a Canadian-American adventure and military science fiction television series and part of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Stargate franchise. The show, created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner, is based on the 1994 feature film Stargate by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich...
's Daniel Jackson. Jason Hughes of TV Squad described the episode as "one of the more hyped premieres of recent years on Sci Fi," and thought it made a "nice job of creating a cohesive narrative from the elements of [the] webisodes," as well as praising Christopher Heyerdahl's acting for John Druitt's stereotype as the antagonist. Hughes also dubbed the green screen usage as a resounding success, though he felt that some of the scenes somewhat hindered the pace of the episode. Mark Wilson of About.com stated that the synergy between the writers and cast looked promising, and that Robin Dunne's performance is "one who really pulls the viewer into Sanctuary," as well as stating the cast served as eye candy for the viewers, since they consist of guest stars, who made other appearances throughout other series as Stargate (Tapping, Heyerdahl, Kavan Smith
Kavan Smith
Kavan Joel Smith is a Canadian actor best known for playing Major Evan Lorne in Stargate Atlantis and Stargate SG-1 and for his recurring role as Agent Jed Garrity in The 4400.-Biography:...
), Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)
Battlestar Galactica is an American military science fiction television series, and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was developed by Ronald D. Moore as a re-imagining of the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series created by Glen A. Larson...
(Kandyse McClure
Kandyse McClure
Kandyse McClure is an actress, best known for playing Anastasia Dualla on the Sci Fi Channel's television program Battlestar Galactica.- Biography :...
), Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon (2007 TV series)
Flash Gordon is an American science fiction television series that debuted on Sci Fi in the United States on August 10, 2007 and continued airing new episodes through February 8, 2008. It has also appeared on the United Kingdom Sci Fi Channel and SPACE in Canada...
(Panou
Panou
Panou is a Canadian actor.His birth-name translates to 'God Among Us' in his native Creole. He is 5'11". His first feature film was Trial of a Serial Killer in 1997; he has since had roles in such film projects as Steal This Movie! , the independent feature Fizzy Bizness, and the feature film The...
) and The 4400
The 4400
The 4400 is a science fiction TV series produced by CBS Paramount Network Television in association with Sky Television, Renegade 83, and American Zoetrope for USA Network. The show was created and written by Scott Peters and René Echevarria, and it stars Joel Gretsch and Jacqueline McKenzie...
(Caiman Wiebe).
Tory Ireland Mell of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
rated the episode a "great" 8.7 out of 10, describing the story as intriguing, and the concept as mind blowing, and though the concept of the series from a production standpoint was executed well, but criticised the seemingly slow pace. Paul Simpson of Total Sci-Fi rated the both parts 7/10, and made comparisons of this episode, and "Everything Changes
Everything Changes (Torchwood)
"Everything Changes" is the first episode of the British science fiction television programme Torchwood, which was first broadcast on 22 October 2006.-Synopsis:Police constable Gwen Cooper comes across the mysterious organisation known as Torchwood...
", the pilot episode of Torchwood. He thought the first part, with such aspects as Heyerdahl's effective acting holds potential for the series, while the second part still reminisces Simpson of Primeval and Torchwood again, but still holds potential. However, Brian Lowry of Variety Magazine has said that the pilot episode was "Uninspiring" and further stated that it didn't "Rock anyone else's world."
The visual effects of the episodes were submitted for three award nominations, one of which was won. In 2009, the first part won a Gemini Award
Gemini Award
The Gemini Awards are annual television broadcasting industry awards in Canada.First awarded in 1986, the Geminis celebrate the achievements of TV members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Essentially, it presents awards for the best television productions in Canada. Awards are...
for "Best Visual Effects", beating fellow nominee "The Five". It received a Leo Award nomination for "Best Visual Effects in a Dramatic Series," but lost to Stargate Atlantis
Stargate Atlantis
Stargate Atlantis is a Canadian-American 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 as a spin-off series of Stargate SG-1, which was created by Wright and Jonathan Glassner and was itself...
"First Contact". It was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects but lost to Heroes
Heroes (TV series)
Heroes is an American science fiction television drama series created by Tim Kring that appeared on NBC for four seasons from September 25, 2006 through February 8, 2010. The series tells the stories of ordinary people who discover superhuman abilities, and how these abilities take effect in the...
.
External links
- Sanctuary for All, Part 1 on scifi.comSci Fi Channel (United States)Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
- Sanctuary for All, Part 2 on scifi.comSci Fi Channel (United States)Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...