Orphan Black’s story is continuing—it’s just doing so on a new platform, and in a new format. And it’s got nothing to do with that peculiar semi-spinoff at AMC.
This morning ebook and audiobook platform Serial Box, in collaboration with Temple Street, announced Orphan Black: The Next Chapter, a ten-part audiobook series that will pick up where the show itself left off. Malka Older, author of the cyberpunk political thriller Infomocracy will showrun the audio series, with Mishell Baker, Lindsay Smith, and Heli Kennedy on tap to write the continuation.
While story details—beyond the fact it takes place after the events of the final season—are currently being kept under wraps, the good bit of news for Clone Club members is that The Next Chapter’s ten parts will be voiced by none other than Tatiana Maslany herself, reprising her role from the show. Well, roles. See, that’s the good thing about Orphan Black projects: you get Maslany on board, and that’s already like, 90 per cent of the cast sorted!
Though the press release offered no more, a report from IndieWire suggested a few other curious tidbits:
[The series] will find Maslany reprising her various clone characters for a new adventure set eight years after the television series finale.
Neither Serial Box or Temple Street Productions are giving away plot details about “Orphan Black: The Next Chapter,” although they did tease that the fan favourite relationship between Cosima (Maslany) and Delphine (Évelyne Brochu) “definitely plays a big part in the story.”
What made Orphan Black a delight was seeing Maslany effortlessly switch performances between her myriad clone sisters at the drop of a hat. Sure, it was done with a mix of CG trickery and splicing together different takes on the show, but the real reason it works was just how Maslany physically made that change and that difference between the characters was stark on screen.
It’ll be interesting to see how that translates in a format in which she only has her voice to convey those characters—but that should be more than enough for someone of Maslany’s talent to bring back the Clone Club for a new adventure.
Orphan Black: The Next Chapter will be available exclusively on Serial Box in both ebook and audiobook formats later this winter.