Space announced today that it has ordered a second season of its hit conspiracy clone thriller ORPHAN BLACK from Toronto-based Temple Street Productions. Just halfway through its first season, ORPHAN BLACKhas been captivating viewers and keeping them on the edge of their seats as new twists and turns are revealed Saturdays at 9 p.m. ET on Space. With production set to begin on Season 2 later this year, the series will return in the spring of 2014 with 10 all-new, mind-bending episodes.
A record-breaker from the beginning, ORPHAN BLACK had the highest Original Series premiere ever for Space with an average of 513,000 viewers for its March 30 launch. After five episodes ORPHAN BLACK has been watched in part by 2.8 million Canadians. With a weekly average of 364,000 viewers, ORPHAN BLACKis the #2 series for Space this broadcast year behind only DOCTOR WHO.
“ORPHAN BLACK is a huge success – reflective of our focus on exceptional programming that delivers on the promise of our Specialty brands,” said Catherine MacLeod, Vice-President, Specialty Channels, Bell Media. “This joint-Canadian production demonstrates our commitment to produce original, world-class content in Canada while simultaneously showcasing our amazing homegrown talent.”
“We’re delighted with the second season order for ORPHAN BLACK and want to thank everyone at Space, BBC AMERICA, and BBC Worldwide for their support and commitment to our show,” said David Fortier and Ivan Schneeberg, executive producers of ORPHAN BLACK and Co-Presidents of Temple Street Productions. “We’re thrilled to continue this journey with such a strong team and fantastic cast, led by the ridiculously talented Tatiana Maslany. A huge thanks to the fans for their steadfast support of the show. We’re looking forward to giving every one of them more ORPHAN BLACK.”
Anchored by Tatiana Maslany (Picture Day) who, to date, portrays Sarah, Beth, Katja, Alison, Cosima, and Helena, at its core ORPHAN BLACK centres on English punk and streetwise hustler Sarah who returns home after being separated from her daughter. But her homecoming isn’t exactly what she expected. After witnessing the suicide of a woman who looks just like her, Sarah takes over Beth’s life, including her job as a cop as well as her boyfriend Paul (Dylan Bruce, NCIS). Sarah soon discovers that she and Beth are clones, and as she becomes embroiled in the mystery, she learns that there are more of them out there – all genetically identical individuals nurtured in completely different circumstances. Working with her fellow ‘orphans,’ soccer mom Alison and PHD student Cosima, Sarah begins to unravel the mystery surrounding their identities, while also fighting for her life when an assassin begins killing the clones one by one.
ORPHAN BLACK also stars Jordan Gavaris (UNNATURAL HISTORY) as Felix, Sarah’s foster brother; Gemini Award-winner Maria Doyle Kennedy (DOWNTON ABBEY) as Mrs. S, Sarah and Felix’s hard-nosed working class foster mother; Kevin Hanchard (REPUBLIC OF DOYLE) as Art, a veteran detective who works alongside Beth; Michael Mando (THE KILLING) as Vic, Sarah’s sporadically violent ex; and Skyler Wexler (ALPHAS) as Kira, Sarah’s seven-year-old daughter.
Episodes of ORPHAN BLACK are available online at Space.ca following their television broadcast.
ORPHAN BLACK is produced by Temple Street Productions in association with Space and BBC America.
