Relic: Guardians of the Museum

Relic: Guardians of the Museum is a British children's game show on CBBC that takes place at the British Museum at night.

Format

A ghostly 1920s British Museum tour guide named Agatha (Gemma Arrowsmith) guides three children from one town on a quest to help them defeat the evil Dark Lord, whose servants, cowled figures called the Dark Forces, glide the darkened corridors and display rooms of the museum, occasionally grabbing one of the young contestants and/or chasing Agatha and the children. The children have only one night to discover a relic in the museum itself and they have to win three challenges, which each have a vision. If the children succeed in the final battle, they will be awarded the golden scarab and will become "Guardians of the Museum". But if they fail, they become relics themselves and part of the museum forever.^[1]

Agatha carries a torch (flashlight) which enables her and the children to travel back in time, where the three challenges – which are either physical or mental – take place. The challenges vary from episode to episode, but recurring characters who set the challenges are: Pandora (Jolana Lee), who sets the contestants the task of choosing between three boxes, one of which is Pandora's Box; Cleopatra (Helen Evans), who sets a true-or-false quiz on Ancient Egypt; and Roman legionary General Gluteus Maximus (George Sawyer), who sets a true-or-false quiz on Ancient Rome. As well as the power of time-travel, Agatha's flashlight can also repel the Dark Forces if one of the children should be grabbed by them, and/or freeze General Gluteus Maximus into temporary immobility when he threatens to behead the young contestants at the end of his challenge.

If the children succeed in the challenge, then all three get to see the vision about a Relic that they will see . But if they fail, then only one of them gets to see the vision and the other two have to rely only on the memory of whoever that is.

After the three challenges are over, Agatha takes the children to the museum's Great Court, where she summons the Dark Lord for the final battle: "The moon shines bright and darkness reigns. I bring three children here again. Their minds are sharp, the visions seen. Dark Lord, awake. We challenge thee!" The contestants go face-to-face one at a time, where the team has to get three correct answers to questions set by the Dark Lord about the Relic they saw about the three visions. After the Dark Lord has asked his question and the contestant has given his/her answer, the appropriate part of the vision is then shown to see whether the contestant has answered correctly. A correct answer earns the team one of three 'passes', and the contestant is then told by the Dark Lord to go back to the others and wait to be called forward again. However, an incorrect answer or passing on a question results in the contestant being taken by the Dark Lord, disappearing and reappearing in a glass display case, i.e. becoming a relic. If all three children should end up being taken by the Dark Lord, then he has won and his darkness reigns. But if the children succeed in the final battle, the Dark Lord has lost; he is banished, resulting in the contestant(s) taken by him being freed. Agatha then awards each of them with a golden scarab, and informs them that they are now "Guardians of the Museum", bidding them farewell as they leave the museum at dawn.

The first episode was aired on 21 January 2010 the children were Natasha, Vanessa and Stacy and they came from Newcastle, they failed at the first round (which was finding the 5 cases of turquoids in the pyramid and they ran out of time because of the difficulty finding them), so only Stacy saw the vision and they passed at 2 more rounds (Which were Cleopatra's True or False on Ancient Egypt (they earned 3 passes and No One got got answers wrong and being Bitten by the snake) and a Treasure hunt of digging for ancient treasure (They only got 2 scorpions (which are the wrong ones) and they found 3 treasure) and the knowledge of the Benin plaques faced the dark lord and they were awarded with a golden scarab, which means Natasha, Vanessa and Stacy were now guardians of the museum.

In 2010 the show won a BAFTA award.^[2]

Meet the Three Children

1. Natasha, Vanessa and Stacy (Newcastle) - Won against the Dark Lord with the knowledge of the Benin plaques.

2. Danielle, Tia and James (cearphilly) - Won against the Dark Lord with the knowledge of Cleopatra's crown.

3. Nancy, Keishon and Remy (Brighton) - Won against the Dark Lord with the knowledge of the Royal Game of Ur.

4. Anthony, Sophie and Rory (Edinburgh) - Won against the Dark Lord with the knowledge of the Hoxne Hoard.

5. Kofi, Jade and Tom (Wandsworth) - Won against the Dark Lord with the knowledge of the Head of Augustus.

6. Isaac, Georgia and Maryam (Leeds) - Lost against the Dark Lord with the knowledge of The Sutton Hoo Helmet.

7. Lucas, Max and Lorelle (Islington) - Won against the Dark Lord with the knowledge of The Pieces of Eight.

8. Kesley, Robert and Rameen (Hackney) - Lost against the Dark Lord with the knowledge of The Colossal Bust Statue of Ramesses II.

9. Clinton, China and Jas (Enfield) - Won against the Dark Lord with the knowledge of The Double-Headed Serpent.

10. Mark, Wallis and Rachelle (Birmingham) - Won against the Dark Lord with the knowledge of the Dürer's Rhinoceros.

11. David, Harry and Ryan (Colchester) - Lost against the Dark Lord with the knowledge of The Chinese Tang dynasty tomb figures of Liu Tingxun.

12. Jude, Natalie and George (Cardiff) - Lost against the Dark Lord with the knowledge of the Rosetta Stone.

13. George, Ellie and Charlotte (Bromley) - Won against the Dark Lord with the knowledge of the Moai.

15. Marv, Morten, Lotta, Charlie and Lola (London) - Won against the Dark Lord with the knowledge of the Japanese's Tang dynasty tomb figures of Liu Tingxun.

Cast

• Gemma Arrowsmith .... Agatha
• Helen Evans .... Cleopatra (intermittently)
• George Sawyer .... Roman Legionary (intermittently)
• Jolana Lee .... Pandora (intermittently)
• Sophia Maria .... Princess (intermittently)

References

External links

• Relic: Guardians of the Museum at BBC Programmes