Relic Hunter

Relic Hunter
Relic Hunter title screen
Genre	Mystery Fantasy Action Adventure
Created by	Gil Grant
Starring	Tia Carrere Christien Anholt Lindy Booth Tanja Reichert
Composer(s)	Donald Quan
Country of origin	Canada/United Kingdom Co-Production
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	66 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Jay Firestone Adam Haight Simon MacCorkindale
Running time	45 mins
Broadcast
Original run	September 20, 1999 – May 20, 2002

Relic Hunter is an English Canadian television series, starring Tia Carrere and Christien Anholt. Actress Lindy Booth also starred for the first two seasons, and Tanja Reichert replaced her for the third. It was inspired by the success of the video game Tomb Raider.

It centres around Sydney Fox (Tia Carrere) who is a professor but primarily a globe-trotting "relic hunter," looking for ancient artifacts to return to museums and/or the descendants of the original owner. She's aided by her linguistic assistant Nigel, and occasionally by her somewhat air-headed secretary Claudia. She often ends up battling rival hunters seeking out artifacts for the money.

It ran for three seasons in the U.S. between 1999 and 2002 after fulfilling its initial three-season, 66-episode contract, from which it was not renewed. In the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, it is aired on Sky1 and subsidiary channels, while in Canada, it is aired on Citytv and Space and recently CTV's sister network A-Channel.

Overview and themes

Relic Hunter follows the globe-trotting adventures of unorthodox American archaeologist Sydney Fox (Tia Carrere) - and her more reserved British assistant Nigel Bailey (Christien Anholt). They are assisted at their 'home base', a generic American university identified only as Trinity College, by ditzy student secretary Claudia (Lindy Booth), the spoiled and fashion-conscious daughter of one of the college's major donors. The character of Claudia was replaced in the third season by Karen Petrushky (Tanja Reichert), who is closer to the standard 'sexy secretary' stereotype but with a facility for predicaments of a bureaucratic nature.

At the beginning of each episode, there is a short flashback in which a relic or artifact is used or abused in its original time before being lost, stolen, or hidden. The show cuts to Trinity College in the present day, where Sydney and Nigel are asked to find the relic by some person or agency such as a museum, private collector (who is in disguise), or government. Most episodes feature the duo travelling around the globe, hunting for clues in order to find the artifact. Complications abound, often with rival relic hunters getting involved, generally giving Sydney a chance to show off her martial arts prowess. It is then up to Sydney and Nigel to seize the relic and ensure it ends up in the proper hands (such as the rightful owners or a suitable museum). Each episode ends with a scene at Trinity College explaining what has happened to the relic.

The plots in Relic Hunter usually take a grain of historical information and are dramatised in order to fit in with the story. There are however historical errors on the show. For example, the episode "Devil Doll" mentioned Cuzco as an Aztec city, but Cuzco was an Inca city.

Nigel shows an artifact to Sydney.

Many episodes feature comic moments interlaced with the action. Sydney also knows how to hold her own in a fight, and Carrere is often involved in many fights and stunts in the show. The shows also exploits the sexual tension between Sydney and Nigel, including one episode in which they went undercover in a nudist colony. Sydney is also frequently seen wearing skimpy clothing, with lots of cleavage and tight-fitting shorts, this was a major aspect of the series.

Cast and Characters

Relic Hunter featured four starring roles throughout its run. The two protagonists of the series, Sydney Fox and Nigel Bailey, are the only characters to appear in all 66 episodes of the series.

• Tia Carrere as Sydney Fox (Seasons 1 – 3): The main protagonist of the series. Sydney works closely with Nigel Bailey whom she meets in the first episode. Sydney is proficient in both hand-to-hand (seen in most episodes) and weapons (seen in particular in episode thirty, "Roman Holiday") combat. She has a great many contacts all over the world, in the archaeological fields and otherwise. She is very protective of both her assistants as well as her students and colleagues. She is willing to fly to any country at no notice to fetch back, "save" or avenge them. (Episodes 1 - 66)
• Christien Anholt as Nigel Bailey (Seasons 1 – 3): Sydney's assistant and companion who accompanies her on her travels whilst searching for the relics. Nigel often finds himself in situations that are uncomfortable and needs Sydney's help to get out of them. This evens out as the series progresses though. (Episodes 1 - 66)
• Lindy Booth as Claudia (Seasons 1 – 2): Sydney's office assistant who often helps out Sydney and Nigel from the campus back home whilst they are abroad. She sometimes plays a vital role in finding the relic and shares witty banter with Nigel. (Episodes 1 - 7, 9 - 37, 39 - 44)
• Tanja Reichert as Karen Petrushky (Season 3): Claudia's replacement for the final season. (Episodes 45 - 66)

There were also a number of recurring characters in the series, as listed below:

• Lynette: Lori Gordon - Claudia's replacement whilst she's away. (Episodes 8 & 10)
• Avery Ko: Ho "Oyster" Chow - A mercenary, terrorist and rival relic hunter. (Episode 13)
• Cate Hemphill: Nancy Anne Sakovich - An Interpol agent and occasional romantic interest of Nigel. (Episodes 25, 34 & 53 (mentioned in 47, 54, 59 & 66))
• Dallas Carter: John Schneider - An ex-partner of Sydney and now rival relic hunter. (Episode 12)
• Kurt Reiner: Thomas Kretschmann - Another ex-partner of Sydney turned rival. (Episodes 6 & 12)
• Stewie Harper: Tony Rosato - Relic Hunter who has a love-hate relationship with Sydney. (Episodes 1, 8 & 21)
• Derek Lloyd: Louis Mandylor - A CIA agent who requires Sydney's help, more than once. (Episodes 7, 26 & 46)
• Allan Conroy: Peter O'Brien - Sydney's "soul mate" and relic hunter. (Episode 44)
• Andres De Viega: George Calil - Sydney's enemy who has been a hiccup in several hunts. Also Fabrice's son. (Episode 66)
• Preston Bailey: Crispin Bonham-Carter - Nigel's brother and worst enemy. (Episodes 42 & 65)
• Bruce Farrow: Kevin Jubinville - Sydney's relic hunter friend who is framed for robbery in Egypt for "stealing" Thutmose III's diamond. (Episode 13)
• Fabrice De Viega: Simon MacCorkindale - Sydney's sworn enemy who killed her mentor Alistair Newel when she was ten. (Episodes 47, 58 & 66)

Relics featured in the series

The following table lists the relics featured in each episode, together with the time and location of the flashback sequence and any other locations used in the episode.

Production

The "Trinity College" campus scenes were filmed at the St. George campus at the University of Toronto in Canada. Campus landmarks prominently featured throughout the series include Victoria College and the Soldier's Tower (directly adjacent to the Hart House).

The "Antianeiral" episode ship scenes were filmed aboard HMCS Haida, the last Tribal Class destroyer in the world, when she was berthed at Ontario Place, in Toronto, Canada. For instance, the scene where Sydney finds the belt was filmed in the forward mess deck. All signage onboard was covered with Russian words. Haida has a red maple leaf on one of her funnels, and this was covered with a "bird" design. Anything that would show the ship to be of Canadian, or "western" origin, was removed for the film shoot.

Filmed in widescreen 16/9 but mainly shown in pan and scan 4/3 as are most of Fireworks Entertainment productions.

Art imitates life

Sydney Fox, like the actress who portrayed her, was born and raised in Hawaii. She was portrayed as Asian on her mother's side. Her mother died when the character was eleven, as mentioned in the episode "So Shall It Be". Her father appeared in one episode, played by football player-turned-actor Fred Dryer.

Broadcast

Relic Hunter in other languages and TV channels:

• Slovenia "Lov za izgubljenim zakladom" (Kanal A)
• Spain "Cazatesoros" (Telecinco)
  • Galicia, Spain "Cazatesouros" (TVG)
• Brazil "Caçadora de Reliquias" (Rede Bandeirantes)
• Germany "Relic Hunter - Die Schatzjägerin" (Pro7, AXN, Kabel Eins)
• Greece "Sydney Fox Adventures" (Alter Channel)
• Austria "Relic Hunter - Die Schatzjägerin" (ATV+)
• Italy "Relic Hunter" (Italia1)
• Sri Lanka "Relic Hunter" (ITN)
• France "Sydney Fox l'aventurière" (M6)
• Slovakia "Lovkyňa Tajomstiev" (Markíza, Joj)
• Hungary "Az elveszett ereklyék fosztogatói" (means: The Hunters Of The Lost Relics) (TV2 and now AXN)
• Latin America "Relic Hunter" (AXN)
• Sweden "Kultjägarna" (Kanal 5)
• Finland "Aarteenmetsästäjä" (Nelonen)
• India "Relic Hunter" (AXN)
• Czech Republic "Lovci pokladů" (Nova, Prima, AXN)
• Turkey "Gizem Avcısı" (tv8)
• Bulgaria "Търсач на реликви" (AXN)
• Serbia "Ловац на благо" (FOX)
• Bosnia & Herzegovina "Lovac na blago" (FTV)
• Croatia "Pustolovine Sydney Fox" (NOVA)
• Romania "Vanatorii de comori"(AXN, TVR 2)
• Norway "Skattejegerne" (The treasure hunters) (TV Norge)
• Poland "Łowcy skarbów" (The treasure hunters) (TV4)/"Zagadki z przeszłości" (The Mysteries of the Past) (AXN)
• Russia "Охотники за древностями" (CTC)
• Great Britain Sky1, Sky2, Sky3 "Relic Hunter"
• Ukraine "Мисливці за старовиною" (ICTV)
• Portugal "A Caçadora de Reliquias" (Sony Entertainment Television)
• Vietnam "Truy tìm cổ vật" (Finding Treasures) HTV7

DVD releases

The series has been released in various incarnations in Region 1, 2 & 4.

Region 1

A best-of collection entitled Relic Hunter - The Best of Seasons 1 & 2 was released in North America on November 11, 2003. (9 selected episodes from Season 1 and 13 selected episodes from Season 2)

Region 2

In the UK, 4 volume collections have been released featuring various episodes.

Region 4

In Australia, Madman Entertainment has released the first two seasons on DVD.

See also

Bonekickers

References

External links

• Relic Hunter at the Internet Movie Database
• Relic Hunter at TV.com