BBC America kicked off its panel at Television Critics Association press tour with the announcement that critical darling Orphan Black has been renewed for a 10-episode third season. Production on new episodes will begin in September for a Spring 2015 premiere. Additionally, the network has also given series orders to new dramas Tatau and The Last Kingdom.
Orphan Black stars Tatiana Maslany as multiple clones trying to unravel the conspiracy that lead to their creation. The drama has quickly become a benchmark for the cable network as it expands its foothold in original scripted programming.
Orphan Black was created by Graeme Manson and John Fawcett, with Manson also serving as writer and Fawcett as director. The cast also includes Jordan Gavaris, Dylan Bruce, Kevin Hanchard, Maria Doyle Kennedy and Evelyne Brochu.
Set in the Cook Islands, Tatau follows Kyle Connor and Pete 'Budgie' Griffiths, two 20-something friends from London that set off to travel the world. They've worked hard, saved even harder and they're now eager to soak up as many different cultures and experiences as possible. Ahead of the journey, Kyle gets a Maori-style tattoo to celebrate their eventual destination: the Cook Islands. But upon his arrival in the South Pacific, Kyle is unsettled by the local people's reaction to his tattoo - it clearly has a significance that he is entirely unaware of. Later, while snorkeling in a lagoon, Kyle discovers the dead body of a local girl, Aumea, tied up underwater. When he returns with the police, the corpse has disappeared. Budgie questions if his friend is going mad, but Kyle begins to believe that he has instead seen into the future. Kyle and Budgie find themselves sucked into a desperate race to prevent Aumea's murder, as Kyle learns that his gifts don't stop at prophecy... and the full meaning of the tattoo is soon revealed. Tatau is an ambitious drama that explores the questions of identity, love and destiny.
Richard Zajdlic created the series and will serve as executive producer alongside Rob Pursey, John Barnett, Chris Bailey and Matthew Read. BBC America, Touchpaper TV, South Pacific and Zodiak Media Company will co-produce. Filming will begin in September 2014 and casting will be announced shortly.
Stephen Butchard will adapt Bernard Cornwell's best-selling franchise "The Saxon Stories for the screen in The Last Kingdom. Set in the year 872, when many of the separate kingdoms of what we now know as England have fallen to the invading Vikings, the great kingdom of Wessex has been left standing alone and defiant under the command of King Alfred the Great. The Last Kingdom is a show full of heroic deeds and epic battles but with a thematic depth that embraces politics, religion, warfare, courage, love, loyalty and our universal search for identity. Combining real historical figures and events with fictional characters, it is the story of how a people combined their strength under one of the most iconic kings of history in order to reclaim their land for themselves and build a place they call home.
Butchard will executive produce with Gareth Neame and Nigel Marchant, with Nick Murphy co-executive producing and directing multiple episodes and Chrissy Skinns producing. BBC America and Carnival Films will produce.
