Relic Hunter is a Canadian adventure television series, starring Tia Carrere and Christien Anholt.
Professor Sydney Fox (Carrere) 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 (Seasons 1 and 2) or Karen (Season 3). 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. It 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 & Icons cable network.
Overview Relic Hunter follows the globe-trotting adventures of unorthodox American archaeologist Sydney Fox (Tia Carrere), and her reserved British assistant Nigel Bailey (Christien Anholt). They are assisted at their home base (an American university identified as Trinity College) by student secretary Claudia (Lindy Booth), 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 (Tanja Reichert), 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.
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 (Season 3): Claudia's replacement; more serious but also willing to use her attractiveness to get the job done.
Recurring Tony Rosato as Stewie Harper (Episodes 1, 8, 21): Relic hunter who has a love-hate relationship with Sydney Thomas Kretschmann as Kurt Reiner (Episodes 6, 12): A rival relic hunter and former flame of Sydney Fox. Sarcastic, arrogant and charming. Louis Mandylor as Derek Lloyd (Episodes 7, 26, 46): A CIA agent who requires Sydney's help on occasion. Lori Gordon as Lynette (Episodes 8, 10), a temp who twice filled in for Claudia Elias Zarou as Edward Patel (Episodes 24, 34): Leader of the Cult of Kali Nancy Anne Sakovich as Cate Hemphill (Episodes 25, 34, 53; mentioned in 47, 54, 59, 66): An Interpol agent and occasional romantic interest of Nigel Crispin Bonham-Carter as Preston Bailey (Episodes 42, 65): Nigel's older brother Ravi Steve Khajuriah as Sanjay (Episodes 45, 48): A helpful colleague of Karen's Simon MacCorkindale as Fabrice De Viega (Episodes 47, 58, 66): 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 bowl523 BC Nepal Hong Kong 2 “Smoking Gun” Al Capone’s diamond-encrusted gun1930 Chicago United States 3 “The Headless Nun” Remains of Sister Evangeline17th C. Nova Scotia Canada 4 “Flag Day” Pioneer's Bear Flag of California1846 California United States 5 “Thank You Very Much” Lost guitar of Elvis Presley1960 Germany Germany 6 “Diamond in the Rough” Magical glove of former baseball great Jimmy Jonesboro1946 Fenway Park, Boston United States 7 “Transformation” Paracelsus scrolls1946 Salzburg, Austria Peru 8 “Etched in Stone” Treasure of legendary Viking Jann the Bold935 Northumbrian Coast Sweden 9 “The Book of Love” Casanova’s Book of Love1749 Casanova’s Hideaway, Italy Italy10 “The Myth of the Maze” Minotaur’s maze3000 BC Athens Greece11 “Irish Crown Affair” Lost crown of the last King of Ireland1000 Ireland Dublin12 “The Emperor’s Bride” Coffin of the bride of a Chinese Emperor1000 BC Huang River, China Alaska13 “Afterlife and Death” Diamond of Thutmose III1425 BC Egypt Amsterdam14 “Nine Lives” Statue of the cat goddess Mafdet1895 Egypt New York15 “Affaire de Coeur” Rings that belonged to lovers, Callum and Elena1430 Scotland Scotland16 “A Vanishing Art” Scepter of the Kingdom of Hungary1897 Budapest Atlantic City17 “A Good Year” Crown jewels of France1792 Paris France18 “The Last Knight” Templar Grand Master's sword of Jacques de Molay1300 Paris, circa France19 “Love Letter” Records proving a secret marriage on the eve of the French Revolution1789 Village South of Paris France20 “Possessed” Zeus’ sacred sundial14th C. Libya Brussels21 “Nothing but the Truth” Ruby Chalice of Truth1534 The Barbary Coast Paris22 “Memories of Montmartre” A tiara known as the Heart of Europe1930s Moulin Rouge France23 “The Put Back” Idol from the Temple of Woot100 Kuba, Africa Democratic Republic of the Congo24 “Dagger of Death” Dagger of Kali500 Temple of Kali, India Calcutta and Kashmir25 “Last of the Mochicas” Vessel believed to contain the Great Warrior Spirit of the Mochicas662 South America Peruvian jungle26 “The Legend of the Lost” The Kai Nomata (lost tribe)4800 BC Vanuatu Islands New Guinea27 “Fertile Ground” Idol of Lono1779 Hawaii Madagascar28 “Gypsy Jigsaw” Crown of the Romani people1830 Romania Bucharest, Romania29 “Three Rivers to Cross” Jade Empress1245 Three Rivers, China Hong Kong and Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan, China30 “Roman Holiday” Caesar’s breastplate44 BC Rome Italy31 “Cross of Voodoo” Haitian Cross of Utulate 18th C. Haiti New Orleans32 “Lost Contact” Sacrificial bowl1824 Burma Myanmar33 “The Reel Thing” Relics of Egyptian Pharaoh Amun II1516 BC Egypt England34 “M.I.A.” Faberge egg1886 St. Petersburg, Russia New York City, several clips from other episodes35 “Out of the Past” Cleopatra’s necklace30 BC Egypt Alexandria, Egypt36 “Eyes of Toklamanee” Eyes of Toklamanee1605 Mississippi Valley St Louis37 “Run Sydney Run” Sword of Ateas339 BC Ural Steppes Russia38 “French Connection” Prophecy of Nostradamus1600 Church Of Cordiers Salon France39 “Don’t Go Into the Woods” Golden Falcon of Maribor1711 Carpathian Mountains Ljubljana, Slovenia40 “Midnight Flight” Ruby-encrusted scepter of Gunther the BraveCirca 400 Germania Luxembourg and Paris41 “The Executioner’s Mask” Executioner's Mask1789 Bourg, France Paris42 “The Royal Ring” Ring of Anne Boleyn1536 Tower of London London, Leeds Castle in Kent, England43 “Set in Stone” Magical sword of St. Gabriel1595 Balaton, Hungary Balaton, Hungary 44 “Deadline” First Christian Tau cross1099 Jerusalem Paris45 “Wages of Sydney” Chinese dragon’s egg1359 Quan Shu Fortress, Manchuria New York, USA and Quan Shu, China46 “Mr. Right” Bowl of Parvati1459 Bali, Indonesia Singapore47 “Sydney at Ten” Egyptian necklace of Tutankhamun1981 St. Beatrice's School Turkey48 “The Light of Truth” Light of Truth lamp843 Arabia Morocco49 “Treasure Island” The treasure of Treasure Island1790 The Spanish Main South Seas50 “Star of Nadir” Star of Nadir jewel1423 Palace of the Talibs, Endostan The ruins of Azir, Endostan51 “Vampire’s Kiss” Vampire chalice1720 Czechoslovakia Prague, Czech Republic and Târgovişte, Romania52 “Devil Doll” Cursed Aztec Devil doll1488 Meso-America Central America53 “Incognito” Lancet which causes anyone cut with it to gain incredible strength1522 New Guinea Papua New Guinea, Lisbon, Portugal and Valletta, Malta54 “All Choked Up” Statue of Athena800 BC Greece Skyros Island, Greece55 “Warlock of Nu Theta Phi” Wicca amulet1692 New England Colonies Harper's Wood (near Trinity College)56 “Women Want to Know” Statue of Ganesha1075 Southeast Asia Gamoran Heights57 “Fire in the Sky” Extraterrestrial artifact1398 Pacific Northwest Okanagan Mountains (Washington state)58 “Hunting with the Enemy” Urn containing the ashes of Confucius1952 Cambodia Rayong Province, Thailand59 “Antianeirai” Belt of Hippolyte1200 BC Asia Minor Istanbul, Turkey60 “Under the Ice” Anasazi mummy1355 Arctic Circle Ikaulat Airfield, Arctic Station Peary61 “Arthur’s Cross” Cross of King Arthur455 England Tintern Abbey and Chepstow Castle, Chepstow, Wales62 “Faux Fox” Crown jewels of Charles IV of Spain1808 Royal Palace, Madrid Seville, Spain63 “Pandora’s Box” Pandora's box422 An-Najaf, Persia 64 “The Warlord” Kahina's Saddle1401 Bekkastan Bekka-la Sherideen Valley65 “Fountain of Youth” Water from the Fountain of Youth1521 Pascus Florida, West Indies Seville, Spain and Cotswolds, England66 “So Shall it Be” Keys to Stonehenge121 Stonehenge, England Bristol, England
Production The show and character was designed around Carrere, her skills and interests. It was intended to be a light-hearted adventure series. The episodes were filmed mainly in and around the Toronto area where there were lots of places that could stand in for locations around the world. The final six episodes of the first season was filmed at various locations in France.
Many of the relics were related to some tidbit of historical fact, and a story developed around how it was used, abused, and lost, and how Sydney and Nigel are able to recover it after going through adventures where they have to solve puzzles, evade traps and confront rival hunters and enemies. Carrere would often do her own martial arts stunts.
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 Soldiers' Tower (directly adjacent to Hart House). The "Antianeirai" 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 onboard signage 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.
All seasons were filmed in widescreen 16:9 but mainly shown in pan and scan 4/3 as are most of Fireworks Entertainment productions from 2000. The widescreen versions of all seasons are available for viewing at Netflix in Nordics as of 2012.
International distribution Relic Hunter was broadcast in many countries around the world including:
Australia "Relic Hunter" (Fox8) Austria "Relic Hunter – Die Schatzjägerin" [Treasure Huntress] (ATV+) Belgium "Relic Hunter" (VT4) Bosnia & Herzegovina "Lovac na blago" (FTV) Brazil "Caçadora de Reliquias" (RecordTV, Rede Família and Rede Bandeirantes) Bulgaria "Търсач на реликви" (AXN), "Ловци на реликви" (TV7 and Super 7) - July 16, 2010 and "Търсачи на реликви" (BNT 1) - June 17, 2019 Croatia "Pustolovine Sydney Fox" (NOVA) Cyprus "Sydney Fox Adventures" (Sigma TV) Czech Republic "Lovci pokladů" (Nova, Prima, AXN) Denmark "Relic Hunter" (Kanal 5)