The Sanctuary team

Meet Ashley Magnus, Dr Will Zimmerman and Dr Helen Magnus: the Sanctuary team dedicating their lives to protecting abnormals from humans - and vice-versa...

The beautiful and enigmatic Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping) has devoted her life to the practical research of cutting edge medicine and science. The daughter of the most brilliant and controversial medical researcher of his day, she was exposed early on to her father’s secret laboratory. He further taught her the wonders of his world, knowing these revelations would change her forever. 

Well over a century later, Magnus runs the Sanctuary where she tracks, protects and learns from the extraordinary and paranormal creatures that inhabit our world. Her past is long and colourful… as one would expect from a life lasting 157 years. The secret to her seemingly eternal youth is but one of many mysteries hidden within the walls of the Sanctuary.

Dr Will Zimmerman (Robin Dunne) is a brilliant forensic psychiatrist who gained stature while working with the Federal authorities. A master of behavioural science, he can translate the most veiled human signals into case-breaking deductions. Problem is, no one believes him. His fascination with alternative and otherworldly explanations for horrific crimes has cost him the respect of his peers - and his job. 

He is recognized as a good man with an inarguable talent for psychiatry and analysis. However, his inability to submit to the status quo of crime investigation has resulted in demotions and a mundane affiliation with Homicide in Old City. 

Ashley (Emilie Ullerup) is yin to Will's yang in the Sanctuary's dual agenda of "preserve and protect."  Strikingly beautiful, she is tough as nails, physically adept and a skilled fighter making her perfectly suited to her calling as monster-hunter supreme. Ashley has moments of vulnerability but it’s a side she deftly covers with a veneer of bravado and fearlessness. 

Growing up in the world of the Sanctuary with her mother, Helen, she has come to accept the impossible as a matter of course. And while there are the usual generational sparks between mother and daughter, Ashley is acutely respectful of her mother’s work and knowledge.

One of Magnus’s employees at the Sanctuary, Henry (Ryan Robbins) is an uber-geek of the cool variety, a weapons designer and computer expert. His skill and intelligence with all things technical keep the Sanctuary at maximum security…most of the time. 

Not one to be shy, Henry doesn’t hesitate to speak his mind and always has a witty remark at the ready for anyone who will listen.  He’s smart-mouthed, sarcastic and undeniably brilliant. But like most residents of the Sanctuary, there is more to Henry than meets the eye.

And then there's John... He’s far from being a member of the team, but the mysterious John Druitt (Christopher Heyerdahl) enters the world of Sanctuary quite literally in a flash. His sinister presence is palpable and his strength and power seem unmatched. Able to appear and disappear at will, he is unlike any ‘abnormal’ the team have yet encountered. 

Sharing a past with Helen, his unexpected return to her life shakes her steady demeanour, as she knows all too well of his extraordinary capabilities and strength. But there is also a depth to Druitt that is hidden among the secrets of his history and his personal connection to Magnus.