What to Expect from Sanctuary

Leading up to the Sanctuary premiere on Friday, here's some information to help everyone get ready. The paranormal show, which will air 13 episodes on Sci Fi, stars Stargate veteran Amanda Tapping as Dr. Helen Magnus, the 157-year-old keeper of a sanctuary for nature's secret mistakes and triumphs – unusual creatures most people refuse to believe exist.

In a recent candid interview, Tapping, who's both the star and an executive producer with creator Damian Kindler and director Martin Wood, talked about what viewers can expect from the show now that it's migrated from a string of webisodes to a television production.

She also discussed the wrenching experience of moving on from Stargate after eleven years of playing Samantha Carter – and then going back to Stargate for the series finale of Stargate Atlantis. Tapping is a delightful and easily approachable woman – I'll always remember talking with her at the Sci Fi upfronts, where she joked about how she'd be working for Sci Fi forever – and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing her in an entirely new context.

The cast and characters of Sanctuary are described here. Look for a review of the two-hour Sanctuary premiere to be posted later this week.