Sanctuary: A Witch's Tale

Something wicked this way comes…and it’s the 2-Disc DVD-Set of SANCTUARY - A WITCH’S TALE! In this utterly spellbinding supernatural drama, Season 1 combines magic with a criminal investigation in such a clever way that even a seasoned witch might struggle keeping up with the rapidly unfolding events.

Elaine Cassidy stars as Sarah Fenn, a ‘good witch’ stemming from a long line of…witches. Sarah resides in the (fictional) small town of Sanctuary and a welcome-sign informs visitors that Sanctuary is twinned with Salem (Massachusetts). Say no more. The opening scene takes place at a garden party, where we make the acquaintance of Sarah and some of her best friends Abigail Whithall (Amy De Bhrún), Julia Garston (Kelly Campbell), Bridget Paterson (Valerie O’Connor) and Cheryl Lee (Sophie Mensah). Also present are the women’s husbands Michael Whithall (Barry John Kinsella), Albie Garston (Keith McErlean) and Pierre Martineau (Daniel Adegboyega), who is Bridget’s partner. Some of the adult’s kids are playing upstairs in the house. A voiceover explains that Sanctuary does exactly what it says on the tin, that is to say it is a haven for those who live in the quaint little town, where ancient (speak: pagan) beliefs co-exist harmoniously with Christian beliefs, after all, it’s the 21st century and superstitions from the days of yore are surely a thing of the past…

As the garden party is in full swing, a terrible accident interrupts the cheerful scene: someone plummets from an upstairs window and lands on the ground although we don’t see who. We just see panic and shocked faces and Sarah performing some magic on whoever fell down after a distressed Abigail begs her to do something. We can therefore assume that whoever fell from the balcony must have been a child of hers.
This opening scene only serves as a prologue, because the actual events kick off six years later. Sarah still lives on her own, together with her teenage daughter Harper (Hazel Doupe), in a house filled with lotions and potions and all sorts of herbs. She is respected as a ‘healer’ among the community and folks, especially women, come to her for treatment and advice. Sarah keeps records of all her clients in a cabinet. Although Abigail, Julia, Bridget and Cheryl are part of Sarah’s ‘inner sanctum’ they are not witches themselves. Only Sarah has the gift of the ‘craft. It’s an idyllic existence in Sanctuary which is about to get shattered in the worst possible way when teenagers from school hold a party in an abandoned warehouse. Also present are Harper, Abigail and Michael’s son Daniel and Pierre and Bridget’s daughter Izzy (Elish Liburd). The party literally comes to a crashing end when Daniel falls down the stairs and breaks his neck and the building goes up in flames.

When DCI Maggie Knight (Stephanie Levi-Johns) arrives to investigate, things initially look like a straightforward tragic accident. But how did the fire break out? During the course of the investigation, Maggie and her assistant Ryan Greenhoff (Adam Isla O’Brien) have no idea what a massive can of worms they are about to open when it transpires that Daniel may not have died due to an unfortunate accident but was murdered because of a video recorded on a phone which was projected on the wall for al party goers to see. It depicted him having sex with Harper - something that infuriated Julia and Albie’s daughter Beatrice (Holly Sturton) who was infatuated with Dan. Now things begin to shift as Dan’s death might have been murder. It’s clear that Harper, who had an on/off relationship with Dan, can’t stand Bea and vice versa but Bea goes one further by claiming that Harper killed Dan by means of witchcraft.

She even has evidence (apparently) as she had recorded Harper standing at the bottom of the stairs and moving her hands and fingers in a way which suggests a spell. Sarah refuses to believe that her daughter might have been responsible for Dan’s death because Harper does not possess what it takes to cast spells and perform magic but Abigail, whose son Dan was her entire life and who worshipped the ground on which he walked, isn’t so sure anymore. We then re-visit the garden party which happened six years earlier and it transpires that the person who had plummeted from the window was a very young Dan, and that he died instantly due to a broken neck. Sarah brought him back to life with her magic but when Abigail asks her to bring him back to life a second time, Sarah answers it’s not possible because Dan died days ago and is already buried six feet under. Abigail takes this as a sign of Sarah covering for her daughter Harper and before they know it, find themselves accused of witchcraft.

Cracks begin to appear left right and center, for example, that Abigail still seems in love with Albie Garston who was her boyfriend before she married Michael. It soon becomes clear that Abigail is the real ‘witch’ here as she leaves no stone unturned to smear Sarah and Harper’s reputation and by doing so, stirring up an almighty witch hunt. It’s a challenge alight for straight-thinking DCI Maggie who, no matter how ‘sober’ she approaches the case, has to admit that magic might exist after all. Things go from bad to worse when Policeman Ted Bolt (Stephen Lord - Elaine Cassidy’s real life husband) begins to believe Abigail more than he believes Sarah and when his young son Jake (Darragh Gilhooly) comes down with a mystery virus, all hell is about to break loose.

Suddenly, Sarah finds herself under attack from all sides and her only loyal friend appears to be Pierre… When Jake Bolt dies in hospital, the townsfolk and of course copper Ted and his wife are certain that either Sarah or Harper are behind it and Jake’s death gives an utterly unhinged and increasingly manipulative Abigail the necessary ammo to pull the entire town, including Ted Bolt, on her side. DCI Maggie and Ryan need to come up with a fool-proof plan in order to prevent a bloodbath… But then, a dark secret comes to light which might jeopardise everything.

This is truly gripping stuff and the leads, in particular Elaine Cassidy, Amy De Bhrún and Hazel Douple are top-notch, while an impressive Stephanie Levi-Johns tries to make sense of the ensuing mayhem. The magic is sensibly handled although one mustn’t forget that it is a supernatural drama and not merely a drama about ancient Wiccan practices, so yes, things fly through the air and tree branches glow blue at night. SANCTUARY particularly succeeds in juxtaposing prejudice against common sense and here, the power of mass manipulation proves to be more dangerous than the most dangerous spell taken from a witches’ grimoire.