Tag Archives: Space

Orphan Black

Production underway on final season of Orphan Black

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From a media release:

– Canadian actors Elyse Levesque, Andrew Moodie, Simu Liu, Jenessa Grant, and Stephen McHattie join the cast for Season 5 –
– Returning ensemble cast includes Jordan Gavaris, Kristian Bruun, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Kevin Hanchard, Ari Millen, Josh Vokey, Evelyne Brochu, and Skyler Wexler –

Space, BBC America, and Temple Street announced today that production is underway on the fifth and final season of the critically acclaimed award-winning series ORPHAN BLACK. Season 5 sees the return of Tatiana Maslany to her Emmy® Award-winning role as multiple Leda clones on the Canadian Screen Award and Peabody Award-winning series ORPHAN BLACK. Set to return to Space in 2017, 10 one-hour episodes are currently filming in Toronto. All past seasons of ORPHAN BLACK are available now exclusively on CraveTV™.

Joining the cast of ORPHAN BLACK this season are Elyse Levesque (SGU STARGATE UNIVERSE) as Detective Engers, a dirty Neolution cop who is a true believer; Andrew Moodie (COVERT AFFAIRS) as Mr. Frontenac, Rachel’s new mysterious consultant; Simu Liu (KIM’S CONVENIENCE) as Mr. Mitchell, Kira’s new teacher; Jenessa Grant (REIGN) as Mud, an eclectic young islander, and Stephen McHattie (THE STRAIN) as P.T. Westmoreland, the mythical 170-year-old founder of Neolution.

Returning to the final season of ORPHAN BLACK are fan-favourites Jordan Gavaris as Sarah’s battle-worn foster brother Felix; Kristian Bruun as Alison’s incredibly devoted husband Donnie; Maria Doyle Kennedy as Sarah and Felix’s fiercely loyal and stouthearted foster mother Mrs. S; Kevin Hanchard as Art, a detective torn between being a good cop and his loyalty to the clones; Ari Millen as castor clone Ira; Josh Vokey as Scott, science geek and confidante to Cosima; and Skyler Wexler as Sarah’s daughter Kira. Also returning this season is James Frain as Ferdinand, an intimidating and scheming executive; Evelyne Brochu as love-torn scientist Delphine, and Calwyn Shurgold as Hell Wizard.

New writers for Season 5 include Jeremy Boxen (KILLJOYS), Greg Nelson (FRONTIER), Jenn Engels (BITTEN), David Bezmozgis (Natasha), Renee St Cyr (Deadly Voltage), Natalia Guled (IRL: THE SERIES), and Aisha Porter-Christie (DEFIANCE) alongside returning writers Alex Levine and ORPHAN BLACK co-creator/writer Graeme Manson. Returning to direct is co-creator John Fawcett, along with David Frazee (FLASHPOINT); Aaron Morton (SPARTACUS: WAR OF THE DAMNED); David Wellington (SAVING HOPE, VIKINGS), Grant Harvey (BITTEN), and Helen Shaver (VIKINGS).

ORPHAN BLACK is executive produced by Ivan Schneeberg and David Fortier (X COMPANY, KILLJOYS), Graeme Manson (Cube, FLASHPOINT), John Fawcett (SPARTACUS, Ginger Snaps), and Kerry Appleyard (X COMPANY). The series is co-created by Manson and Fawcett, with Manson also serving as writer and Fawcett as director. BBC Worldwide distributes the series internationally.

ORPHAN BLACK is produced by Temple Street, a division of Boat Rocker Studios, in association with Space and BBC America.

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Orphan Black

Link: Orphan Black producers see bright future for Canadian TV

From Simon Houpt of The Globe and Mail:

Link: Orphan Black producers see bright future for Canadian TV
“There wasn’t enough money in the [Canadian] system to make great shows. Now, we’re in an era where there’s way more buyers, and Canadian broadcasters are much more inclined to support higher budget shows, because it’s actually in their own interests.” Continue reading.

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Aftermath, Featured

Heche and Tupper save the world in Space’s Aftermath

I’m a massive Stephen King fan; two of my favourite works are The Stand and The Mist. In the former, the world is brought down by a plague and the Americans that survive make their way across the nation to Boulder, Colo., recreating society out of a country with no power and no law. In The Mist, a cataclysmic thunderstorm tears a hole into another dimension, unleashing awful beasts that claim our planet as their own.

There’s plenty of both scenarios going on in Space and Syfy’s new series, Aftermath, and that’s just fine with me. Created and run by William Laurin and Glenn Davis (The Pinkertons, Missing), the 13-parter debuts Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET on Space, with Joshua (James Tupper) and Karen Copeland (Anne Heche) trying to keep their family safe from an approaching hurricane. A hurricane on its own isn’t a big deal, except the Copelands live in Washington state, nowhere near warm water where those storms spin. Battery-powered radios crackle alternately of the end times and science and … horrors … cell service is nonexistent. If no texting wasn’t bad enough, some folks have gone nuts and are skinning each other alive.

aftermath

It’s with this as the backdrop that Tuesday’s debut, “RVL 6768,” sets up one hell of a ride. (Keep an eye out for the episode title to show up in one memorable scene.) With so much going on in the first 10 minutes, I worried I’d be overwhelmed with information. Sci-fi series can do that as the world, the characters and parameters are set up, but that wasn’t the case with Aftermath. I credit that to Tupper and Heche’s characters who are islands of calm as the world goes to shit. Josh is a university professor who studies world cultures and beliefs, so he picks up on the significance of fish and snakes dropping out of the sky. Karen is a former Air Force pilot whose no-nonsense attitude and survival training will keep her family—son Matt (Levi Meaden) and twin sisters Briana (Taylor Hickson) and Dana (Julia Sarah Stone)—safe.

Her skills are called upon early and often as increasingly violent and odd folks begin popping up. Incredible CGI and effects turn merely scary situations into horrifying ones and one such scene causes the Copelands to leave their home in the rearview mirror and explore what America has become. And what it’s become is a terrifying place.

Aftermath airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on Space.

Images courtesy of Bell Media. 

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