AMC Sets June Premiere for Spin-Off 'Orphan Black: Echoes'

With Doctor Who's much-ballyhooed move to the greener ($$$) pastures of Disney+, Luther decamping for Netflix, and Holby City and many soaps older favorites now on BritBox, there have been few reasons to pay attention to BBC America. Sure, it still has fantastic nature content — Attenborough and Planet Earth III remain faithful— but it's not an exaggeration to say that it's been struggling. Thank goodness for Clone Club and Orphan Black. BBC America and its parent company, AMC Networks, are officially gearing up to launch the long-awaited follow-up to its award-winning original science fiction series this summer.

Titled Orphan Black: Echoes, the series, which sits somewhere in between a sequel and a spin-off of the original, will take us back to the world of clones and high-stakes scientific conspiracies. The arrival of Echoes was announced just shy of the 11th anniversary of the original Orphan Black's premiere, a fitting choice as the series onscreen universe is finally set to expand. (A podcast titled Orphan Black: The Next Chapter, featuring original star Tatiana Maslany, was launched in 2021 and ran for two seasons.)

Though the series is set in the same universe as the original series, it's unclear how much direct connection (and/or overlap) Echoes will have to Sarah Manning and her world. It will reportedly take a deep dive into the scientific manipulation of human existence, but that could mean almost anything, given that clinging and genetic enhancement are the franchise's foundational premise.