Fans wanting to see another Orphan Black will be disappointed.

By Louise Griffin

Published: Sunday, 02 April 2023 at 12:00 am

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It’s been 10 years since Orphan Black first hit screens (feeling old yet?) but never fear – co-creator John Fawcett has teased new details surrounding the upcoming spin-off.

Orphan Black: Echoes recently wrapped production, and is set to star Jessica Jones‘ Krysten Ritter alongside British TV legend Keeley Hawes.

Speaking to RadioTimes.com to celebrate 10 years of Orphan Black, Fawcett said of the spin-off: “There were always characters that I was interested in knowing what was going to happen with them.

“It was a project that was going to happen with or without me. Either I contribute and be a part of it or I let it go. There were some ideas for what the spin-off was going to be that I thought were really cool. And I thought, why not?

“The spin-off is a very different show. If you go with the expectation that you’re going to see Orphan Black, you’re going to probably be disappointed. It’s got its own feel, it’s got its own identity. What makes it Orphan Black, there’s a bit of a slow burn to it. I think it’ll be exciting for fans to discover.”

He added: “No one can do better than Tatiana [Maslany]. You’re setting the bar very high. When we were talking about what the spin-off would be, it was like, well, let’s come up with a concept that works in the Orphan Black world but isn’t necessarily just an Orphan Black – a clone of Orphan Black, so to speak.”

Meanwhile, Hawes’s character is a key part of the new series, with Fawcett continuing: “She plays a scientist character and is a very important part of it, as you can imagine.

“The one thing about Orphan Black is there’s always a large science component. And there certainly is in this one as well, as Keeley is at the centre of that science. There’s a lot of layers to that character.”

Orphan Black first hit screens in 2013, with Maslany playing up to 13 different characters. It ran until 2017 and is still widely loved.