'Orphan Black' Is In Talks For A BBC America Revival
Most anglophiles know BBC America isn't much like the real BBC, and not just because of the commercials. Despite the name, it only has a few BBC series that air regularly, like Doctor Who, Top Gear, and Planet Earth. There's no Strictly Come Dancing; there's no Pointless, Celebrities or otherwise, and much of the time, the BBC's biggest hits, like The Great British Bake Off and Bodyguard wind up either on PBS or Netflix.
This has left the channel rather to cope, and create its own programming. So far, BBCA has managed two out of the box hits over the last decade. The current one, Killing Eve, returns with Season 2 next month. The original, Orphan Black, aired from 2013-2017, ending after six seasons of Clone Club goodness. The premise, as you may surmise, centered on a young woman, Sarah Manning, who, after attempting to con her way into the life of a woman who looks just like her after witnessing her death, discovers this was no accidental doppelganger. She is one of over a dozen clones created by "Project Leda." The series quickly picked up a cult following, both the performance of star Tatiana Maslany as these dozens of characters, each individually crafted to the point one forgot the same actress played them all, and for the feminist message slyly embedded in the tale.
When the show went off the air in 2017, pop culture was only catching up to Orphan Black's overtly feminist leanings, leaving it a show that came just ahead of its time. However, in a world where reboots and reimaginings are everywhere, not to mention sequels, it's only natural BBC America's parent company, AMC, is looking to bring the series back.
According to Variety, which broke the news:
Variety has learned from sources that a new series set in the “Orphan Black” universe is currently in the early development stages at AMC. Temple Street Productions, which produced the original series, is onboard to produce the new series as well. Sources stressed, however, that this would not be a spinoff or reboot of the original series, but rather a completely new story set in the same world. The producers are currently seeking a writer for the project and are looking to bring in multiple people to pitch different takes on what the show could be.
For fans of British-American hybrid programming, this is excellent news, especially for those looking for a series to pair with Killing Eve, another openly feminist story helmed by women.
It's also good news for fans of BBC America, who would love to see the channel succeed, even if it refuses to bring us Strictly. Though the show thoroughly examined a lot of the mythos behind both the science and the religious aspects of cloning via the Dyad Institute and Proletheans, there's still much to explore in the series' near-future world of cloning human beings. If there's anyone good at that sort of thing, it's the same culture which gave us Doctor Who.
