BBC America

BBC AMERICA ANNOUNCES FINAL SEASON OF “ORPHAN BLACK,” CLONES GROUNDBREAKING FAN FAVORITE SERIES FOR FIFTH SEASON

Season Four Finale Airs Tonight

New York, NY – June 16, 2016 –BBC AMERICA announced today the renewal of its award-winning original series “Orphan Black” for a fifth and final season.  The drama starring Tatiana Maslany has been re-commissioned for a 10-episode order from Temple Street and is slated to air in 2017. The series has been hailed as “thoroughly impressive, wildly entertaining” by The Hollywood Reporter, and as “a singular accomplishment in drama” by The Daily Beast.  Season four is currently airing and will finale tonight, Thursday, June 16th at 10/9c.

Sarah Barnett, President of BBC AMERICA, stated, “’Orphan Black is a thrilling, genre-bending ride that has captured our fans’ imaginations and hearts like no other show.  Our genius team of actors, writers and producers have, time after time, taken us to a place of awe, delight and utter shock and surprise. Tatiana has been and continues to be a complete revelation, hers is one of the most remarkable performances on television, and she is joined by an extraordinary cast.  We can’t wait to take our incredibly passionate audience on one final gobsmacking clone adventure.”

Co-creators John Fawcett and Graeme Manson stated: “We are excited to deliver an epic conclusion to the tale of Sarah and her clone sisters. The past four seasons have been a phenomenal adventure and we are eternally grateful to our loyal fans who have loved the twists and thrills of our weird little show.  We are thankful to our partners at Temple Street, and to BBC AMERICA and Space for their support and giving us the opportunity to end on a high.”

“When we embarked upon this journey with John and Graeme, we knew we had something special on our hands, but didn’t imagine how deeply it would resonate with audiences and the worldwide acclaim it would receive.   We are truly in awe of Tatiana who, each season, pulls off the impossible and brings each clone and their unique personalities to life in an extraordinarily captivating way,” said David Fortier and Ivan Schneeberg, Executive Producers of Orphan Black and Co-Presidents of Boat Rocker Studios.

“We are so proud of the cast and crew, who will be on this final ride with us as we draw the Orphan Black story to a close, and extremely thankful to our partners at BBC America and Space for their continued support, as well as the legions of fans who have made these five seasons possible”.

The series has received considerable critical and award attention. It earned a Peabody Award in 2014, and lead actress Tatiana Maslany has received a 2015 Emmy nomination for Best Actress, two Critics’ Choice Awards for Best Actress, a TCA Award for Individual Achievement, a Young Hollywood Award, a Gracie Award, two Canadian Screen Awards and Golden Globe®, SAG and People’s Choice nominations.

It all started on a train platform. A troubled woman, Beth Childs (Maslany), locked eyes with an unknown identical woman, Sarah Manning (Maslany), before jumping to her death. From that day on, they’ve been inextricably linked to a clone conspiracy that has come to rule Sarah’s life. Every twist and turn around the maze of this world has led to a new enemy, a new ally, a new clone and always, new questions. How many of us are out there? Who created us? Who is trying to kill us? Why are we sick and how do we survive?  The search for these answers have sent Sarah and her newly-found sisters Alison (Maslany), Cosima (Maslany) and Helena (Maslany) crashing head first into some of the most nefarious foes and life revelations they could’ve ever imagined.  Neutralizing enemies and gaining answers to some of these questions however hasn’t brought them any closer to solving the most important mystery of all – their survival.  The cast includes Tatiana Maslany, Ari Millen, Jordan Gavaris, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Skyler Wexler, Kevin Hanchard, Evelyne Brochu, Kristian Bruun and Josh Vokey.

“Orphan Black” is produced by Temple Street in association with BBC AMERICA and Space. Executive Producers are Ivan Schneeberg, David Fortier and Kerry Appleyard of Temple Street, and Graeme Manson and John Fawcett. “Orphan Black” is distributed by BBC Worldwide.

BBCA recently announced its upcoming premiere slate, as well as new development projects from Amy Poehler and Natasha Lyonne, and Neal Baer, and the producers of “Top of the Lake,” among others. Upcoming premiere dates include The Hunt on July 3rd, Ripper Street S4 on July 28th, Undercover on November 17th, The Living and the Dead in Fall 2016, and Planet Earth II coming in Winter 2017.  Recently announced special David Beckham: For the Love of the Game will premiere this summer.

The network’s next original scripted project Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency starring Sam Barnett and Elijah Wood, is currently in production and will premiere on October 22nd.

Created in 1998, BBC AMERICA is a hub of innovative, culturally contagious programming like the ground-breaking un-scripted series Top Gear, the top-rated science-fiction phenomenon Doctor Who, and the fan-favorite Orphan Black. The influential network has been the launch pad for talent including Ricky Gervais, Gordon Ramsay, and Graham Norton — all adopted as American pop culture icons. A joint venture between BBC Worldwide (the commercial arm of the BBC) and AMC Networks, BBCA has attracted both critical acclaim and major awards including four Emmy® Awards, five Golden Globes® and 12 Peabody Awards. The irrepressible network has garnered one of cable’s most curious, educated and affluent audiences, with many properties boasting super-fan levels of engagement. Available on cable and satellite TV, BBC America broadcasts in both standard and high-definition, is available On Demand across all major digital platforms and offers full episodes online at bbcamerica.com. Find out more by visiting press.bbcamerica.com or follow us on twitter.com/bbcamerica.

About Temple Street
Temple Street is a leading producer of television, film and digital media content based in Toronto and Los Angeles. A selection of Temple Street’s past and present projects include, Orphan Black (BBC AMERICA, Space), X Company (CBC), Killjoys (Syfy, Space), Being Erica (CBC, SOAPnet), The Next Step (Family Channel, Hulu), Lost and Found Music Studios (Family Channel, Netflix), Wingin’ It (Family Channel), Say Yes to the Dress Canada (W), Million Dollar Critic (W, BBC America), Cook’d (YTV), Over the Rainbow (CBC), Recipe to Riches (CBC, Food Network, Global), Cover Me Canada (CBC), Billable Hours (Global, Showcase), Canada’s Next Top Model (CTV), How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? (CBC), Queer as Folk (Showtime, Showcase), and Darcy’s Wild Life (NBC, Discovery Kids, Family Channel). Temple Street is a division of Boat Rocker Studios. For more company information, visit www.templestreet.com, follow us on Twitter @TempleStreet or connect with us on Facebook.

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