Sarah Gardner
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Doctor Sarah Gardner is a Consultant for the National Intelligence Department, and the former host of Osiris.
History
Sarah Gardner is an archaeologist, who earned her doctorate from the University of Cambridge before accepting a research fellowship at the University of Chicago, under Professor David Jordan. There she worked alongside Doctor Daniel Jackson, with whom she shared a brief romantic involvement - the brevity entirely down to him. While Daniel Jackson would go on to become something of an academic pariah for his (ultimately correct) theories about aliens and the pyramids, Sarah remained at the University, erring more towards research than teaching. (SG1: "The Curse", "Chimera")
While studying artifacts from the Stewart Expedition, Gardner inadvertently opened the Osiris Jar, reviving the symbiote within from stasis, who took her as a host. (SG1: "The Curse")
Osiris was able to reach his temple in Egypt, and escape Earth using an antiquated vessel buried nearby. He was able to leverage the chaos following the deaths of Apophis and Cronus, and slowly establish a new power base - enough to draw the attention of Anubis, who recruited him to act as a proxy in his dealings with the System Lords. He would further serve as one of Anubis' chief lieutenants, and one of his more effective, succeeding in the capture of Supreme Commander Thor of the Asgard, among other feats. During Anubis' search for the Lost City of the Ancients, Osiris exploited the knowledge of his host in an attempt to interrogate Daniel Jackson's subconscious for the location. This proved to be his downfall: visiting Jackson at night several times from a cloaked Al'kesh in orbit, he inadvertently alerted the Tau'ri of his presence, which led to his capture, and his subsequent extraction by the Tok'ra. (SG1: "The Curse", "Summit", "Last Stand", "Revelations", "Chimera")
After being held for observation to ensure she was herself once more, Sarah was released back to civilian life, though not without frequent debriefing requests from various facets of the Stargate Program. This proved to be more challenging than expected: due to her new knowledge and perspective, most of her academic career now seemed as if it was based upon mistakes and misinformation, and created a conflict of interest between her desire to educate truthfully and the necessary secrecy of the Stargate. At Daniel Jackson's suggestion, she was invited to join the Atlantis Expedition: he reasoned that Sarah might "get a kick" out of visiting the Lost City that Osiris and Anubis had tried so hard and failed to find, but Sarah politely declined in favour of staying on Earth. Instead, she accepted a job with the NID, who felt her "unique perspective" might help reveal other possible sites of Stargate-adjacent interest on Earth, like the temple to Telchak in Honduras, or the Ancient outpost under Glastonbury Tor. Sarah's official title was Consulting Archaeologist, which she described as sounding "delightfully Sherlock Holmes". (SGR: "The Arrow")
Though officially on the NID payroll, Gardner's workspace was located within the secure area of The Pentagon set aside for the Office of Homeworld Security. One of her work acquaintances was Agent Burke, part of the CIA task force investigating the Goa'uld infiltration of The Trust, which Osiris had inadvertently helped to facilitate. After Burke was assigned to escort an IOA delegation to the Beta Site, Gardner agreed to accompany him under the pretense of "asking stupid questions" so he could make a good impression on his potential future employers. In fact, Burke's ulterior motive was to draw Gardner to the IOA's attention as well, her status as a British citizen potentially making her a valuable asset to Earth on a much broader scale than her current employment. (SGR: "The Arrow")
Behind the Scenes
Sarah Gardner was portrayed by Anna-Louise Plowman in 5 episodes of Stargate SG-1. She is familiar as Mrs. Hudson on Black Sails, and as Zola on The Witcher, as well as roles in Holby City and Doctor Who.
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