BBC America has picked up a new 10 part science fiction series titled Orphan Black, which had previously been green-lit by Canada’s Bell Media for their Space channel. Ten episodes have been ordered for the show’s first season, which will air as part of the network’s ‘Supernatural Saturday’ programming block.
Created by Graeme Manson (Flashpoint) and John Fawcett (Spartacus), Orphan Black follows outsider, orphan and street-wise chameleon Sarah. After witnessing a woman’s suicide, Sarah assumes the strangers identity – who happens to look just like her. Expecting to solve all her problems by cleaning out the dead woman’s savings, Sarah is instead thrust headlong into a kaleidoscopic mystery as she realizes the dizzying truth: that she and the dead woman are clones. As Sarah searches for answers, she discovers the chilling fact that there are more people like her out there: genetically identical individuals who were planted in unsuspecting birth parents and nurtured in completely different circumstances. With no idea who created the clones, she’ll need to discover the reason in a hurry as an assassin is killing them one by one. Temple Street Productions is producing, Ivan Schneeberg and David Fortier are serving as executive producers,with Manson also serving as writer and Fawcett as director.
Production on the show’s ten episode first season is due to commence this fall in Toronto, Canada. BBC Worldwide is handling international distribution.
