Orphan Black

Orphan Black
Genre	Science fiction Drama Thriller
Created by	Graeme Manson John Fawcett
Starring	Tatiana Maslany Dylan Bruce Jordan Gavaris Kevin Hanchard Michael Mando Évelyne Brochu Maria Doyle Kennedy
Theme music composer	Two Fingers
Composer	Trevor Yuile
Country of origin	Canada
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	18 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Ivan Schneeberg David Fortier Graeme Manson John Fawcett
Production locations	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Running time	43 minutes
Production company	Temple Street Productions
Original release
Network	Space
Release	March 30, 2013 (2013-03-30) – present

Orphan Black is a Canadian science fiction television series created by screenwriter Graeme Manson and director John Fawcett, starring Tatiana Maslany as several identical women who are revealed to be clones. The series focuses on Sarah Manning, a woman who assumes the identity of one of her clones, Elizabeth Childs, after witnessing Childs' suicide. The series raises issues about the moral and ethical implications of human cloning and its effect on issues of personal identity. The show premiered at WonderCon in Anaheim, California, on March 29, 2013.

March 30, 2013, saw the television premiere of the first 10-episode season on Space in Canada and on BBC America in the United States. On May 2, 2013, Orphan Black was renewed for a 10-episode second season, which premiered on April 19, 2014.

Concept

The series begins with Sarah Manning, a con-artist by trade, witnessing the suicide of a woman, Beth Childs, who appears to be her doppelgänger and who is, like Sarah, one of many biological clones. Sarah takes Beth's identity and occupation (police detective) after Beth's death. During the first season, Sarah discovers that she is a clone, that she has 'sister' clones and that someone intends to kill her and them. Alongside her foster brother, Felix Dawkins, and a few of her fellow clones, Alison Hendrix and Cosima Niehaus, Sarah discovers the origin of the clones: a scientific movement called Neolution. The movement believes that human beings can use scientific knowledge to direct their evolution as a species. The Neolutionists thus advocate eugenics. The movement has an institutional base within the large, influential and wealthy biotech corporation, the Dyad Institute. The Dyad Institute conducts basic research, lobbies political institutions and promotes its eugenics program, aided by the clone Rachel Duncan. But it also seeks to profit from the technology the clones embody. It has thus placed "monitors" into the clones' personal lives, allegedly to study them scientifically but also to keep them under surveillance. Sarah eventually discovers that she's also wanted by the police and by a secret religious group, the Proletheans. A faction of the Proletheans carries out the clone assassinations. They use a clone, Helena, to kill the other clones. Yet Sarah and Helena share a birth mother and are twins genetically and with respect to their early maternal environment. The Proletheans assassinate clones because they believe them to be abominations. Eventually, the Dyad Institute and the Proletheans discover Kira, Sarah's daughter. Kira's importance issues from the fact that she is the only-known biological offspring of a clone, all other clones being presumed sterile because they are childless. The plot lines of the series revolve around Sarah and Kira's efforts to avoid capture by the clearly sinister Neolutionists and Proletheans as well as around the efforts made by each clone to give sense to her life and origin. The attempt to control the creation of human life provides the key or dominant theme which drives the various story lines. A second key theme forms around the intrigues made by the Dyad Group and the Proletheans along with the earlier intrigues made by the authors of Project Leda (see the Greek myth Leda and the Swan) and Mrs. S., Sarah’s foster mother, and her leftwing political network. Both themes intersect in the effort to control the creation of human life. Sarah, who matures because of her struggles, defends the bond which exists between parent and child against the Neolutionists and Proletheans.

Cast and characters

Main

• Tatiana Maslany as a number of clones (see below), all born in 1984 to various women by in vitro fertilisation. The series focuses on Sarah Manning, a small-time con woman at the start of the series. Other clones include Elizabeth "Beth" Childs, a police detective; Alison Hendrix, a soccer mom; Cosima Niehaus, a graduate student studying evolutionary developmental ("evo-devo") biology; Helena (last name unknown), a fanatic assassin trained by the Proletheans; and Rachel Duncan, raised to become an executive of the Dyad Institute.
• Jordan Gavaris as Felix ("Fee") Dawkins, Sarah's foster brother and confidant. He identifies as a modern artist, but moonlights as a male prostitute.
• Dylan Bruce as Paul Dierden, an ex-military mercenary, who was blackmailed into being Beth's monitor under the guise of being her boyfriend. Following the discovery of Beth's death and Sarah's impersonation of her, he chooses to continue trying to protect Sarah, calling it his job. The two continue a sexual relationship. However Dyad still holds his past over him and makes him Rachel's new monitor, with Rachel forcing him into a sexual relationship with her.
• Kevin Hanchard as Detective Arthur "Art" Bell, Beth's police partner. After he learns of the clones he sides with them over the police department.
• Michael Mando as Victor "Vic" Schmidt, Sarah's abusive, drug-dealing ex-boyfriend. He becomes a police informant for Angie and under her orders he befriends Alison at rehab. (regular season 1; recurring season 2)
• Évelyne Brochu as Dr. Delphine Cormier, Cosima's monitor, girlfriend, and fellow scientist. (recurring season 1; regular season 2)
• Maria Doyle Kennedy as Siobhan Sadler, Sarah's and Felix's Irish foster mother; they call her "Mrs. S." She acts as guardian to Sarah's daughter Kira while Sarah is away. Mrs. S used her network to hide Ethan Duncan and find Sarah as a child, claiming to have protected her from Dyad Sarah's whole life.

Recurring

Grouped by associated storyline, and listed in order of appearance.

Sarah's acquaintances

• Skyler Wexler as Kira Manning, Sarah's biological, naturally-conceived, daughter. (seasons 1–2)
• Nicholas Rose as Colin, a morgue attendant, and sometimes lover of Felix. (seasons 1–2)
• Melanie Nicholls-King as Amelia, Sarah and Helena's surrogate birth mother. (season 1)
• Michiel Huisman as Cal Morrison, one of Sarah's past con-victims and the alleged father of Kira. (season 2)

Beth's acquaintances

• Inga Cadranel as Detective Angela "Angie" Deangelis, Art's new partner, trying to uncover the clone conspiracy behind Art's back. (seasons 1–2)
• Ron Lea as Lieutenant Gavin Hardcastle, commanding officer of Beth, Art and Angie. (season 1)
• Jean Yoon as Janis Beckwith, coroner and co-worker of Beth, Art, and Angie. (season 1)
• Raymond Ablack as Raj Singh, a police technician smitten by Beth. (season 1)

Alison's acquaintances

• Kristian Bruun as Donnie Hendrix, Alison's husband and monitor. (seasons 1–2)
• Drew Davis and Millie Davis as Oscar and Gemma Hendrix, Allison's and Donnie's adopted kids. (seasons 1–2)
• Natalie Lisinska as Aynsley Norris, Alison's nosy neighbor. (season 1)
• Kristi Angus as Charity Simms, neighbor of Alison and Aynsley. (seasons 1–2)
• Priya Rao as Meera Kumar, neighbor of Alison and Aynsley. (season 1–2)
• Eric Johnson as Chad Norris, Aynsley's promiscuous husband. (season 1)
• Terra Hazelton as Sarah Stubbs, Alison's co-star in the amateur musical "Blood Ties". (season 2)
• Alex Karzis as Alexander, the director of "Blood Ties". (season 2)
• Raven Dauda as Yvonne, Alison's therapist at the rehabilitation center. (season 2)

Cosima's acquaintances

• Josh Vokey as Scott, a fellow student of Cosima at the University of Minnesota, who develops a huge crush on her and later joins her and Delphine at the Dyad Institute. (seasons 1–2)

The Dyad Institute and Project Leda

• David Richmond-Peck as Olivier Duval, Paul's handler within the Institute. (season 1)
• Matt Frewer as Dr. Aldous Leekie, frontman of the Institute and the face of the Neolution movement. (seasons 1–2)
• Matthew Bennett as Daniel Rosen, a Dyad associated lawyer, assigned to do Rachel's shady work. He had a sexual relationship with Rachel and also acted as her monitor with her knowledge. (seasons 1–2)
• Christy Bruce as Susan Duncan, Rachel's adoptive mother and one of the scientists behind Project Leda. Killed years prior to the series, only appearing in video footage from Rachel's childhood. (season 2)
• Andrew Gillies as Ethan Duncan, alias Andrew Peckham, Rachel's adoptive father and the other Leda scientist. Living off-grid since his wife's death. (season 2)
• Michelle Forbes as Marion Bowles, a high ranking official within Dyad that outranks both Leekie and Rachel. (season 2)

The Proletheans

• Daniel Kash as Tomas, responsible for the kidnapping and training of Helena. (seasons 1–2)
• Ari Millen as Mark Rawlins, a homicidal Prolethean, extremely loyal to Henrik Johanssen. (season 2)
• Peter Outerbridge as Henrik Johanssen, a Prolethean leader, attempting to revalue their view on science. (season 2)
• Kristin Booth as Bonnie Johanssen, Henrik's devoted wife. (season 2)
• Zoe De Grand'Maison as Grace Johanssen, Henrik and Bonnie's teenage daughter. (season 2)

Known clones

By the end of the first season, 10 clones are revealed. They are of various nationalities and stations in life. Two additional clones are revealed in the second season, including Jennifer, who died from the same respiratory illness that affected Katja and Cosima. In episode 8 of season 2, Tony, a transgender clone is introduced. In the season one finale, Cosima discovers each clone has a different DNA tag based on ASCII coded basepairs. In addition to the identification code is the text "THIS ORGANISM AND DERIVATIVE GENETIC MATERIAL IS RESTRICTED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY" followed by a series of patent numbers. Sarah is given a photograph whose caption suggests that the cloning project that produced her was called "Project Leda".

Name	Place of origin	Date of birth	Status
Sarah Manning	London, United Kingdom	March 15, 1984	Alive
A con artist and thief. Sarah took on Beth Childs' identity upon witnessing Beth's death, originally as a scam to steal Beth's savings, but then got drawn into the hidden conspiracy of illegal human cloning. Sarah has a seven-year-old biological daughter, Kira; a foster brother, Felix; a twin sister Helena, and a foster mother, Siobhan Sadler. Street-smart and tough, Sarah at first wants no part of the other clones, caring only about getting together enough money to start over somewhere else with Kira and Felix, but discovers that she cares about others more than she thought. Although Sarah was born in the UK, she and Felix were raised in North America by their Irish foster mother Mrs. S. Upon retrieving Kira she leaves her daughter with her ex Cal, refusing to tell him about the clone conspiracy. Sarah battles Dyad and Rachel and soon discovers Helena survived much to her shock. When she digs into the origins of the experiment she is stunned to learn Mrs. S helped Ethan Duncan many years ago and remains distrustful of her foster mother. Sarah reluctantly considers bringing Kira to Dyad in order to try and save Cosima's life.
Elizabeth "Beth" Childs	Canada	Birth certificate: April 1, 1984 Cosima's chart: March 13, 1984	Died on November 23, 2012
Police detective. The series begins with her suicide by stepping in front of a train. Prior to the start of the series, she was suspended from the police department pending an investigation into her shooting of a civilian, Maggie Chen, who she knew was an agent of the Proletheans. Beth was prescribed a large number of psychoactive drugs by the psychiatrist treating her during her suspension, which she reportedly mixed and abused. She was infertile. Beth found out about the clones when Katja Obinger contacted her about the assassinations in Europe; Beth then tracked down Alison and Cosima and they formed a group (the "clone club") for mutual protection. Paul, her live-in boyfriend, was Beth's monitor. The reason for her suicide has yet to be revealed, but Sarah suspects that it was because she felt out of control of her life after discovering her nature as a clone. Before she stepped off the train platform, in a deliberate manner she removed, neatly folded, and set down her jacket, her high heels, and her handbag in an orderly row.
Alison Hendrix	Canada	Birth certificate: April 4, 1984 Cosima's chart: April 18, 1984	Alive
A suburban woman whom Sarah calls a "soccer mom", she is married and has two adopted children. She is the clone with whom Beth, then Sarah, is in the most direct physical contact, due to their geographical proximity. Conservative, orderly and highly protective of her family, she is prone to emotional instability when taken out of her comfort zone. Upon discovery that each clone is assigned a "monitor", she suspected both her husband Donnie and her neighbour and friend Aynsley of being her monitor. After interrogating and torturing her husband with a hot-glue gun, she became convinced that it was Aynsley. She repeatedly tried to get Aynsley to admit her role, and finally had sex with Aynsley's husband as revenge. She became obsessed with getting Aynsley to admit she's the monitor and let Aynsley die during an accident. In the first season finale, however, the identity of her monitor was revealed to the audience as her husband, Donnie. She signed a contract offered individually to herself, Sarah, and Cosima with the Neolutionists that supposedly freed her from further monitoring without knowing that they had "patented" the clones when they were created. Alison soon discovers that Donnie is her real monitor, this coupled with her guilt over Aynsley's death led her to abuse alcohol and prescription pills. Eventually she is forced into rehab by Donnie and befriends Vic, not knowing Vic is monitoring her for the police. Felix and Sarah are able to discredit Vic. It is revealed Donnie had no idea about the clones and thought he was part of a long-term sociology study he started in college. Donnie is furious Dr. Leekie ruined his family and accidentally kills him. Alison and Donnie bond over the deaths they caused.
Cosima Niehaus (Tag #324B21)	San Francisco, United States	March 9, 1984	Alive
PhD microbiology student focusing and majoring in evolutionary developmental biology at the University of Minnesota. She has the most scientific understanding of herself and her sister clones and the possible reasons as to why the illegal project started and why Helena wants to kill them, but is somewhat overconfident in science and her own ability to pursue risky courses of action. She is originally from San Francisco, California, and is believed to have received her bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley. She suspects, correctly, that her girlfriend, Delphine, is her monitor, and Cosima eventually revealed to Delphine that she knows, and Delphine has decided to betray the Neolutionists to help her. It is revealed that she is experiencing respiratory problems (coughing up blood) like Katja Obinger, but has not told any of her fellow clones, and only reveals this to Delphine. Leekie later informs Sarah of her sickness. Cosima begins treatment at the Dyad Institute with stem cells but when Delphine discovers the stem cells are from Kira she keeps it secret from Cosima. When Cosima learns the truth she is angered with Delphine and reluctantly asks Sarah to bring Kira to Dyad so she can continue treatment. Ethan claims he can cure her and begins working with her just as Cosima goes into critical condition, needing Kira's bone marrow to survive. The character is based on Cosima Herter, the show's science consultant. Herter is a PhD student at the University of Minnesota, working on the History and Philosophy of Biology.
Helena	London, United Kingdom	March 15, 1984	Alive
Assassin, known to have killed Katja Obinger, and probably the other deceased European clones. Her last name has not been revealed. A highly disturbed religious fanatic, she has been manipulated by the Proletheans to believe she is the "original" while the other clones are satanic doppelgängers, and that it is her duty to kill them all. Mentally unstable, she self-mutilates by cutting. Her self-harm is focused on her back, and her cuts give the appearance of feathered angel wings. She is often seen eating or trying to experience tactile sensations with her fingertips. Her caretaker Tomas, a member of the Prolethians, subjected her to physical and emotional abuse and instructed her to kill her fellow clones. Helena has no monitor because the Neolutionists lost track of her after her birth mother hid her in a Ukrainian convent, where she was reared. She and Sarah are twin sisters, both gestated by the same birth mother. Sarah shoots her in the season finale after Helena stabs and kills their birth-mother. In season 2, Helena is revealed to have survived the gunshot, contrary to previous beliefs, because she is a mirror twin of Sarah, meaning her organs were formed on the opposite side of her body, including her heart, which is a rare occurrence in mirror twins. Henrik and his new group of Proleathans believe the clones are part of God's Work and should be used to understand the world. Henrik kidnaps and "marries" Helena then extracts one of her eggs and fertilizes it intending Helena to carry the pregnancy.
Katja Obinger	Würzburg, Germany	Passport: March 24, 1984 Driving licence: March 12, 1984	Died on November 25, 2012
Killed by Helena via sniper rifle while meeting with Sarah as "Beth". She is the second clone Sarah encountered (Beth being the first) and it was Katja's death that got her directly involved in the conspiracy. Katja contacted Beth and told her about the existence of the clones and that their counterparts in Europe were being killed. At the time of her death, Katja was suffering from a serious respiratory illness that made her cough blood; Cosima is trying to determine if this is a genetic risk to all the clones.
Rachel Duncan	Cambridge, United Kingdom	March 17, 1984	Alive
Raised by the Neolutionists after the alleged death of her adoptive parents Ethan and Susan Duncan, working as a high-ranking official within the Dyad Institute. Sarah refers to her as a "Proclone". Rachel speaks fluent German. Ethan and Susan were the scientists behind Project LEDA, and were supposedly killed in a lab explosion that destroyed all data on the original person the clones were created from. However, Ethan is still alive, hidden by Mrs. S's network in exchange for giving them Sarah's location when she was a child. Ethan claims the Neolutionists hijacked Project LEDA and changed it from its original purpose and claims Leekie killed Susan after the Duncans destroyed the data and planned on escaping with Rachel. When Rachel hears Ethan's story she contacts Marion Bowles who orders Leekie's death. Rachel lets him run as one act of mercy because he raised her. Upon learning the clones are intentionally supposed to be infertile she has a meltdown. Amelia, Sarah and Helena's birth mother, was originally supposed to give birth to the clone raised by the Duncans.
Danielle Fournier	Paris, France	Birth certificate: March 20, 1984 Cosima's chart: March 12, 1984	Died on September 24, 2012
Presumed dead before the events of the series.
Aryanna Giordano	Rome, Italy	Birth certificate: April 4, 1984 Cosima's chart: April 28, 1984	Died on April 11, 2012
Presumed dead before the events of the series.
Janika Zingler	Salzburg, Austria	March 10, 1984	Died on July 13, 2012
Presumed dead before the events of the series.
Jennifer Fitzsimmons	United States	1984	Dead
A teacher and swim coach from the Midwest who suffers from respiratory illness, similar to both Katja and Cosima. She received treatment for her illness at the Dyad Institute and was asked to document her experience in a video journal. She is unaware that she is a clone and was being monitored by her boyfriend Greg. Delphine shows Jennifer's dead body to Cosima to give her a deeper look into the terminal condition. Cosima's autopsy of Jennifer leads her to speculate that the illness begins when something goes wrong in the uterus, which could also cause the infertility of most of the clones.
Tony Zwickey (born Antoinette Zwickey)	Cincinnati, United States	1984	Alive
A transgender, female to male clone. He rejected Beth's call when she said she was a cop. He worked as a thief with his friend Sammy, who was killed in an ambush. Sammy was an ex-military man who had contact with Beth and had some sort of history with Paul. Tony learns of the clones from Sarah and Felix before they send him away for his own safety.

Production

Bell Media announced on June 12, 2012 that they had commissioned a 10 episode season of Orphan Black that would be produced by Temple Street Productions and distributed internationally by BBC Worldwide.

On June 26, 2012, BBC America announced that they had picked up the show in the U.S. The casting of Canadian actress Tatiana Maslany as the lead was announced on September 17, 2012. The rest of the principal cast was announced in late October 2012 as production began in Toronto for the first season. On February 7, 2013 it was announced that Matt Frewer had been cast as an edgy philosophical professor, Dr. Leekie, and Évelyne Brochu was cast as a graduate student in molecular and cellular biology. Filming of season 1 was scheduled to be completed by February 12, 2013.

Maslany created different music playlists to listen to, to help her differentiate the various characters she portrays. When filming scenes in which Maslany has multiple parts the scene is filmed multiple times using motion control cameras mounted on dollies to replicate the movement between each shot. She acts the scene first with her body double Kathryn Alexandre in the alternate clone role, then again with the roles swapped, and a third time with the scene is filmed with just the camera motion for a background plate. In post-production Alexandre is replaced with the images of Maslany from the alternate shots, thereby allowing for more action in scenes where she interacts with herself.

Location

Orphan Black is shot on location in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. While this is apparent from details such as cars with Ontario license plates, Beth's Ontario driving licence, Mrs. S having a Toronto driving licence, the colour of currency, scripted references to the suburb of Scarborough, Ontario, and a plane ticket in the pilot episode identifying Toronto Pearson International Airport, Graeme Manson said that the setting is deliberately ambiguous. "It’s meant to be Generica. It’s part of the price you pay for this kind of co-production."

Episodes

Main article: List of Orphan Black episodes

Orphan Black seasons

Season	Episodes		Originally aired
			First aired	Last aired
1	10		March 30, 2013 (2013-03-30)	June 1, 2013 (2013-06-01)
2	10		April 19, 2014 (2014-04-19)	June 21, 2014 (2014-06-21)
3	10		April 18, 2015 (2015-04-18)	June 20, 2015 (2015-06-20)
4	10		April 14, 2016 (2016-04-14)	June 16, 2016 (2016-06-16)
5	10		June 10, 2017 (2017-06-10)	August 12, 2017 (2017-08-12)

Critical reception

The series received generally favourable reviews, with the first season scoring a 73 out of 100 on Metacritic.

Tatiana Maslany has received universal acclaim for her performance as the various clones. Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter called her performance "fantastic." When Maslany failed to garner a nomination for Lead Actress in a Drama Series at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards, this was seen as a snub by many critics. Goodman called it an "outrageous oversight."

The series continued to receive very positive reviews from critics, with the second season scoring a 79 out of 100 on Metacritic.

Awards and accolades

Awards and accolades for Orphan Black

Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result
2013	Critics' Choice Television Award	Best Actress in a Drama Series	Tatiana Maslany	Won
	Television Critics Association Awards	Individual Achievement in Drama
		Outstanding New Program	Orphan Black	Nominated
	Young Hollywood Awards	Breakthrough Performance — Female	Tatiana Maslany	Won
	EWwy Award	Best Actress in a Drama Series
		Best Drama Series	Orphan Black
	Tubey Award	Most Underrated Show
		Best New Show
2014	Satellite Award	Best Television Series or Miniseries, Genre		Nominated
		Best Actress in a Drama Series	Tatiana Maslany	Nominated
	People's Choice Award	Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy Actress		Nominated
	Golden Globe Award	Best Performance in a Television Series – Drama Actress
	Canadian Screen Awards	Shaw Media Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role		Won
		Shaw Media Award for Best Dramatic Series	Orphan Black	Won
		Best Costume Design	"Instinct"	Nominated
		Best Direction in a Dramatic Series	"Endless Forms Most Beautiful"	Won
		Best Photography in a Dramatic Program or Series		Won
		Best Writing in a Dramatic Series	"Natural Selection"	Won
			"Unconscious Selection"	Nominated
		Best Picture Editing in a Dramatic Program or Series		Won
		Best Production Design or Art Direction in a Fiction Program or Series	"Conditions of Existence"	Won
		Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program or Series	Michael Mando	Nominated
			Kevin Hanchard	Nominated
			Jordan Gavaris	Won
		Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program or Series	Maria Doyle Kennedy	Won
		Best Performance in a Guest Role, Dramatic Series	Natalie Lisinska	Won
	GLAAD Media Award	Outstanding Drama Series	Orphan Black	Nominated
	Gracie Award	Outstanding Female Actor in a Breakthrough Role	Tatiana Maslany	Won
	Peabody Awards	Peabody Award	Orphan Black	Won
	Hugo Award	Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form	"Variations Under Domestication"	Pending

Broadcast

In Canada, the series originally airs on Space, and it made its broadcast network television debut on CTV on August 16, 2013. In the U.S., it airs on BBC America. It began airing in the UK on September 20, 2013, on BBC Three, and season 2 debuted on April 30, 2014. It premiered in Australia on January 14, 2014, on SBS2. The series premiered in the Philippines on April 7, 2014, on Lifetime.

External links

• Orphan Black at BBC Online
• Orphan Black at BBC America
• Orphan Black at Space
• Orphan Black at IMDb
• Orphan Black at Netflix