Relic Hunter
Relic Hunter is a Canadian adventure television series, starring Tia Carrere and Christien Anholt.
Professor Sydney Fox is a globe-trotting "relic hunter" seeking ancient artifacts to return to museums or the original owner's descendants. She is aided by her linguistic assistant Nigel and occasionally by her secretary Claudia or Karen. She often battles rival hunters seeking artifacts for monetary gain. The series includes fantasy and science fiction elements, with relics featuring supernatural powers or unusually advanced technology.
It ran for three seasons in the United States between 1999 and 2002, fulfilling its initial three-season, 66-episode contract, which was not renewed. In aired on Sky1 and subsidiary channels in Ireland and the United Kingdom, while in Canada, it aired on CityTV and Space, CTV's sister network A-Channel and Showcase. The series was shot in the Toronto area and includes local landmarks. As of July 2023, the series airs on the Heroes and Icons cable network.
Overview
Relic Hunter follows the globe-trotting adventures of unorthodox American archaeologist Sydney Fox, and her reserved British assistant Nigel Bailey. They are assisted at their home base by student secretary Claudia, the spoiled and fashion-conscious daughter of a major donor to the college. The character of Claudia was replaced in the third season by Karen Petrusky, who is more capable in dealing with bureaucracy.Each episode begins with a flashback of an artifact in its original time before being lost, stolen or hidden. Then in the present day Sydney and Nigel are asked by some person or agency to find the relic. Most episodes feature the duo traveling the globe hunting for clues to find the artifact. Complications abound, with rival relic hunters giving Sydney a chance to use her martial arts. Each episode ends with a scene at Trinity College explaining what has happened to the relic.
Image:Relichunter1.jpg|thumb|Nigel shows an artifact to Sydney.
Cast and characters
Main
- Tia Carrere as Sydney Fox: a Professor of Ancient Studies at Trinity College, skilled in martial arts and self-defense.
- Christien Anholt as Nigel Bailey: Sydney's reserved British teaching assistant who accompanies Sydney on her travels. The producers describe Nigel as a "younger Hugh Grant". Anholt says Sydney is the female Indiana Jones and his character the English sidekick.
- Lindy Booth as Claudia: Sydney's office assistant who helps Sydney and Nigel from the campus whilst they are abroad. She is daughter of a major donor to the school. She sometimes organizes creative solutions to Sydney's and Nigel's travel difficulties, and occasionally joins them in the field.
- Tanja Reichert as Karen Petrusky : Claudia's replacement; more serious but also willing to use her attractiveness to get the job done.
Recurring
- Tony Rosato as Stewie Harper : Relic hunter who has a love-hate relationship with Sydney
- Thomas Kretschmann as Kurt Reiner : A rival relic hunter and former flame of Sydney Fox. Sarcastic, arrogant and charming.
- Louis Mandylor as Derek Lloyd : A CIA agent who requires Sydney's help on occasion.
- Lori Gordon as Lynette, a temp who twice filled in for Claudia
- Elias Zarou as Edward Patel : Leader of the Cult of Kali
- Nancy Anne Sakovich as Cate Hemphill : An Interpol agent and occasional romantic interest of Nigel
- Crispin Bonham-Carter as Preston Bailey : Nigel's older brother
- Ravi Steve Khajuriah as Sanjay : A helpful colleague of Karen's
- Simon MacCorkindale as Fabrice De Viega : Sydney's enemy who killed her mentor Alistair Newell when she was ten. MacCorkindale was co-executive producer for the third season.
List of episodes, relics, and locations
| No. | Title | Relic | Flashback | Flashback location | Other locations |
| 1 | “Buddha’s Bowl” | Buddha’s alms bowl | 523 BC | Nepal | Hong Kong |
| 2 | “Smoking Gun” | Al Capone’s diamond-encrusted gun | 1930 | Chicago | United States |
| 3 | “The Headless Nun” | Remains of Sister Evangeline | 17th C. | Nova Scotia | Canada |
| 4 | “Flag Day” | Pioneer's Bear Flag of California | 1846 | California | United States |
| 5 | “Thank You Very Much” | Lost guitar of Elvis Presley | 1960 | Germany | Germany |
| 6 | “Diamond in the Rough” | Magical glove of former baseball great Jimmy Jonesboro | 1946 | Fenway Park, Boston | United States |
| 7 | “Transformation” | Paracelsus scrolls | 1946 | Salzburg, Austria | Peru |
| 8 | “Etched in Stone” | Treasure of legendary Viking Jann the Bold | 935 | Northumbrian Coast | Sweden |
| 9 | “The Book of Love” | Casanova’s Book of Love | 1749 | Casanova’s Hideaway, Italy | Italy |
| 10 | “The Myth of the Maze” | Minotaur’s maze | 3000 BC | Athens | Greece |
| 11 | “Irish Crown Affair” | Lost crown of the last King of Ireland | 1000 | Ireland | Dublin |
| 12 | “The Emperor’s Bride” | Coffin of the bride of a Chinese Emperor | 1000 BC | Huang River, China | Alaska |
| 13 | “Afterlife and Death” | Diamond of Thutmose III | 1425 BC | Egypt | Amsterdam |
| 14 | “Nine Lives” | Statue of the cat goddess Mafdet | 1895 | Egypt | New York |
| 15 | “Affaire de Coeur” | Rings that belonged to lovers, Callum and Elena | 1430 | Scotland | Scotland |
| 16 | “A Vanishing Art” | Scepter of the Kingdom of Hungary | 1897 | Budapest | Atlantic City |
| 17 | “A Good Year” | Crown jewels of France | 1792 | Paris | France |
| 18 | “The Last Knight” | Templar Grand Master's sword of Jacques de Molay | 1300 | Paris, circa | France |
| 19 | “Love Letter” | Records proving a secret marriage on the eve of the French Revolution | 1789 | Village South of Paris | France |
| 20 | “Possessed” | Zeus’ sacred sundial | 14th C. | Libya | Brussels |
| 21 | “Nothing but the Truth” | Ruby Chalice of Truth | 1534 | The Barbary Coast | Paris |
| 22 | “Memories of Montmartre” | A tiara known as the Heart of Europe | 1930s | Moulin Rouge | France |
| 23 | “The Put Back” | Idol from the Temple of Woot | 100 | Kuba, Africa | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| 24 | “Dagger of Death” | Dagger of Kali | 500 | Temple of Kali, India | Calcutta and Kashmir |
| 25 | “Last of the Mochicas” | Vessel believed to contain the Great Warrior Spirit of the Mochicas | 662 | South America | Peruvian jungle |
| 26 | “The Legend of the Lost” | The Kai Nomata | 4800 BC | Vanuatu Islands | New Guinea |
| 27 | “Fertile Ground” | Idol of Lono | 1779 | Hawaii | Madagascar |
| 28 | “Gypsy Jigsaw” | Crown of the Romani people | 1830 | Romania | Bucharest, Romania |
| 29 | “Three Rivers to Cross” | Jade Empress | 1245 | Three Rivers, China | Hong Kong and Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan, China |
| 30 | “Roman Holiday” | Caesar’s breastplate | 44 BC | Rome | Italy |
| 31 | “Cross of Voodoo” | Haitian Cross of Utu | late 18th C. | Haiti | New Orleans |
| 32 | “Lost Contact” | Sacrificial bowl | 1824 | Burma | Myanmar |
| 33 | “The Reel Thing” | Relics of Egyptian Pharaoh Amun II | 1516 BC | Egypt | England |
| 34 | “M.I.A.” | Faberge egg | 1886 | St. Petersburg, Russia | New York City, several clips from other episodes |
| 35 | “Out of the Past” | Cleopatra’s necklace | 30 BC | Egypt | Alexandria, Egypt |
| 36 | “Eyes of Toklamanee” | Eyes of Toklamanee | 1605 | Mississippi Valley | St Louis |
| 37 | “Run Sydney Run” | Sword of Ateas | 339 BC | Ural Steppes | Russia |
| 38 | “French Connection” | Prophecy of Nostradamus | 1600 | Church Of Cordiers Salon | France |
| 39 | “Don’t Go Into the Woods” | Golden Falcon of Maribor | 1711 | Carpathian Mountains | Ljubljana, Slovenia |
| 40 | “Midnight Flight” | Ruby-encrusted scepter of Gunther the Brave | Circa 400 | Germania | Luxembourg and Paris |
| 41 | “The Executioner’s Mask” | Executioner's Mask | 1789 | Bourg, France | Paris |
| 42 | “The Royal Ring” | Ring of Anne Boleyn | 1536 | Tower of London | London, Leeds Castle in Kent, England |
| 43 | “Set in Stone” | Magical sword of St. Gabriel | 1595 | Balaton, Hungary | Balaton, Hungary |
| 44 | “Deadline” | First Christian Tau cross | 1099 | Jerusalem | Paris |
| 45 | “Wages of Sydney” | Chinese dragon’s egg | 1359 | Quan Shu Fortress, Manchuria | New York, USA and Quan Shu, China |
| 46 | “Mr. Right” | Bowl of Parvati | 1459 | Bali, Indonesia | Singapore |
| 47 | “Sydney at Ten” | Egyptian necklace of Tutankhamun | 1981 | St. Beatrice's School | Turkey |
| 48 | “The Light of Truth” | Light of Truth lamp | 843 | Arabia | Morocco |
| 49 | “Treasure Island” | The treasure of Treasure Island | 1790 | The Spanish Main | South Seas |
| 50 | “Star of Nadir” | Star of Nadir jewel | 1423 | Palace of the Talibs, Endostan | The ruins of Azir, Endostan |
| 51 | “Vampire’s Kiss” | Vampire chalice | 1720 | Czechoslovakia | Prague, Czech Republic and Târgovişte, Romania |
| 52 | “Devil Doll” | Cursed Aztec Devil doll | 1488 | Meso-America | Central America |
| 53 | “Incognito” | Lancet which causes anyone cut with it to gain incredible strength | 1522 | New Guinea | Papua New Guinea, Lisbon, Portugal and Valletta, Malta |
| 54 | “All Choked Up” | Statue of Athena | 800 BC | Greece | Skyros Island, Greece |
| 55 | “Warlock of Nu Theta Phi” | Wicca amulet | 1692 | New England Colonies | Harper's Wood |
| 56 | “Women Want to Know” | Statue of Ganesha | 1075 | Southeast Asia | Gamoran Heights |
| 57 | “Fire in the Sky” | Extraterrestrial artifact | 1398 | Pacific Northwest | Okanagan Mountains |
| 58 | “Hunting with the Enemy” | Urn containing the ashes of Confucius | 1952 | Cambodia | Rayong Province, Thailand |
| 59 | “Antianeirai” | Belt of Hippolyte | 1200 BC | Asia Minor | Istanbul, Turkey |
| 60 | “Under the Ice” | Anasazi mummy | 1355 | Arctic Circle | Ikaulat Airfield, Arctic Station Peary |
| 61 | “Arthur’s Cross” | Cross of King Arthur | 455 | England | Tintern Abbey and Chepstow Castle, Chepstow, Wales |
| 62 | “Faux Fox” | Crown jewels of Charles IV of Spain | 1808 | Royal Palace, Madrid | Seville, Spain |
| 63 | “Pandora’s Box” | Pandora's box | 422 | An-Najaf, Persia | |
| 64 | “The Warlord” | Kahina's Saddle | 1401 | Bekkastan | Bekka-la Sherideen Valley |
| 65 | “Fountain of Youth” | Water from the Fountain of Youth | 1521 | Pascus Florida, West Indies | Seville, Spain and Cotswolds, England |
| 66 | “So Shall it Be” | Keys to Stonehenge | 121 | Stonehenge, England | Bristol, England |