It's almost a year to the day since Sanctuary began. Championed as "the first broadcast-quality, high definition dramatic series designed specifically for the Internet", it seems an appropriate moment to take stock of Stage 3 Media's web-exclusive experiment.
With an innovative distribution model and a high concept to seduce the horde of genre fans who – let’s be honest about it – practically own the Internet, the eight short episodes originally released over a period of four months last summer are apt to be digested now in a single sitting. And what better way to prepare for the thirteen impending full-length episodes ordered by the SciFi Channel than by asking, a year on, without the hype and PR doublespeak to coast on, how well does Sanctuary hold up?
"There are monsters loose in the world. And they are the key to the future of our race." So goes the sales pitch. I’ll spare you the particulars – you’ll hear enough of them should you choose to point your browsers toward Sanctuary for All and download the series – but suffice it to say that Sanctuary has as its premise a place where monsters of all shapes and sizes can book an indefinite stay in the myriad selection of cells and containment facilities Helen Magus has to offer. She's immortal, of course; a lovelorn scientist left over from Victorian-era England with a soft spot for the CG creatures that cause havoc on the periphery of contemporary civilisation. The titular sanctuary purports to be a place where they can kick back without fear of rogue vampire slayers or demon-hunting PIs, but it hasn’t yet proven much more than a sprawling Gothic mansion for Magus to lock up her who's who of captive supernatural species.
In the first batch of four webisodes, a pilot of sorts, she enlists the aid of Will Zimmerman, a promising young doctor whose character seems as multi-dimensional as a drawing of a piece of paper. He’s the sceptic – the Scully to Magus' Mulder – and his token protests are easily overcome by the promise of adventures untold. Will joins the team, which also comprises a werewolf butler, an on-call tech guy, and Ashley Magus, our protagonist’s wayward daughter and Sanctuary's designated brawler. Together they can join their powers to summon forth Captain Planet! Failing that, or in case of a missing magical ring, they are nevertheless a force to be reckoned with. With science and fighting, what horrors could possibly pose a problem to this predictably dysfunctional family affair?
Article comments
1 - MIke
Sanctuary is an awesome TV show. I loved Outer limits and X-Files. Now i got what i looked for.