Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction . Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality.
128-436: Orphan Black is a Canadian science-fiction thriller television series created by screenwriter Graeme Manson and director John Fawcett and starring Tatiana Maslany . The series focuses on Sarah Manning, one of several genetically identical human clones , and later on some of the other clones. The series raises issues about the moral and ethical implications of human cloning and its effect on identity . The series
256-415: A Peabody Award in 2013, and has won and been nominated for several Canadian Screen Awards . The series is also known for its fan base across social media platforms who identify as #CloneClub. The series was praised for portraying modern strategic board games as part of the plot (an idea of co-creator and board game enthusiast John Fawcett). These include Runewars , Agricola , Descent: Journeys in
384-513: A Primetime Emmy Award , two Critics' Choice Television Awards and two further nominations, one TCA Award and one further nomination, two Satellite Award nominations, and a Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. The series won a Peabody Award in 2013 and has been nominated for, and won, several Canadian Screen Awards . The series begins with Sarah Manning , a con artist of British origin residing in Toronto, witnessing
512-509: A 94% approval rating from critics, with an average score of 8 out of 10 based on 34 reviews. The site's consensus reads: " Orphan Black is a wild science fiction ride that incorporates dramatic sensibilities which can turn from suspenseful to light at a moment's notice." Tatiana Maslany received acclaim for her performance as the various clones. Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter called her performances "fantastic". Orphan Black continued to receive very positive reviews from critics, with
640-473: A Prolethean religious leader who opposes the clone science, played by Peter Outerbridge ; Mark, one of Johannsen's most devout followers, played by Ari Millen ; and Marion Bowles, Rachel's boss at the Dyad Institute, played by Michelle Forbes . Patrick J. Adams guest stars in season 2, episode 6 and in the season 3 finale, portraying the character Jesse, a regular guy who becomes the love interest of one of
768-419: A bas relief arranged in the position as described by Yeats. Nicaraguan poet Rubén Darío 's 1892 poem "Leda" contains an oblique description of the rape, watched over by the god Pan . H.D. (Hilda Doolittle) also wrote a poem called "Leda" in 1919, suggested to be from the perspective of Leda. The description of the sexual action going on makes it seem almost beautiful, as if Leda had given her consent. In
896-481: A broke and desperate single mother who witnesses the shocking suicide of a woman who looks just like her. The remake was produced by Telepack for Tokai TV under licence from BBC Worldwide. In March 2019, it was reported that a new series set in the Orphan Black universe was in early development stages at AMC , to be produced by Temple Street Productions . In February 2022, it was announced that Anna Fishko would be
1024-595: A century. This composition is known from many copies, including an ambitious engraving by Cornelis Bos , c. 1563; the marble sculpture by Bartolomeo Ammanati in the Bargello, Florence; two copies by the young Rubens on his Italian voyage, and the painting after Michelangelo, ca. 1530, in the National Gallery, London . The Michelangelo composition, of about 1530, shows Mannerist tendencies of elongation and twisted pose (the figura serpentinata ) that were popular at
1152-500: A double". Nick Abraham served a similar role as an acting double for Ari Millen's portrayal of the Castor clones. Maslany created different music playlists to help distinguish between the many clone personalities she portrays. She also used dance to develop the physicality of the characters, including their postures, gestures, and movements, and relied on her background in improv to develop the characters more fully. The character of Cosima
1280-458: A drug dealer. Ari Millen , who portrays Mark Rollins and other Project Castor clones, was promoted to the regular cast for season 3. A 10-episode fourth season of the show was green-lighted and officially announced on May 7, 2015. Filming for season 4 began in September 2015, and Joel Thomas Hynes was announced as having been cast as Dizzy, a self-reliant hacker. In February 2016, Jessalyn Wanlim
1408-421: A fabric and feather "swan" neck which coiled around Dietrich's own neck, as well a pair of large feathered wings, one stretching downwards across her chest and the other one upwards across her left shoulder. Sixty-six years later, at the 2001 Academy Awards, Icelandic singer Björk wore a dress by Marjan Pejoski in nude mesh and a white tulle skirt. The skirt gradually narrowed upwards over the torso to turn into
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#17328849381631536-528: A female superhero, wears traditional folkloric clothes and tries to save traditional elements of Dutch society against the factory owners. Italian TV shows include A come Andromeda (1972) which was a remake of 1962 BBC serial, A for Andromeda (from the novels of Hoyle and Elliott), Geminus (1968), Il segno del comando (1971), Gamma (1974) and La traccia verde (1975). French series are Highlander: The Series , French science-fiction/fantasy television series (both co-produced with Canada) and
1664-625: A film-performance called 7/64 Leda und der Schwan in 1964. The film retains the classical motif, portraying, for most of its duration, a young woman embracing a swan. There is a life-sized marble statue of Leda and the Swan at the Jai Vilas Palace Museum in Gwalior , Northern Madhya Pradesh , India. American artist and photographer Carole Harmel created the "Bird" series (1983), a Jean Cocteau-influenced collection of photographs that explored
1792-604: A great lover of painting, had periodic crises of conscience about his way of life, in one of which he attacked the figure of Leda with a knife. The damage has been repaired, though full restoration to the original condition was not possible. Both the Leonardo and Michelangelo paintings also disappeared when in the collection of the French Royal Family, and are believed to have been destroyed by more moralistic widows or successors of their owners. There were many other depictions in
1920-449: A group of Dutch space explorers and their adventures, De duivelsgrot (The devil's cave), broadcast from 1963 to 1964, about a scientist who finds the map of a cave that leads to the center of the Earth and Treinreis naar de Toekomst (Train journey to the future) about two young children who are taken to the future by robots who try to recreate humanity, but are unable to give the cloned humans
2048-468: A human pair made by artists of high quality in the same period. The fate of the erotic album I Modi some years later shows why this was so. The theme remained a dangerous one in the Renaissance, as the fates of the three best known paintings on the subject demonstrate. The earliest depictions were all in the more private medium of the old master print , and mostly from Venice. They were often based on
2176-626: A man who becomes trapped in a telephone booth, while passersby seem unable to help him, won the 1973 International Emmy Award for Fiction. The series Plutón B.R.B. Nero (2008) was a brutal SF comedy by Álex de la Iglesia , in the line of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy , Red Dwarf , or Doctor Who , with 26 episodes of 35 minutes. Other series of the 2010s were Los protegidos (2010-2012), El barco (2011-2013), and El internado (2007-2010), all three inspired by North American productions, with minor SF elements. The latest success
2304-406: A mid-19th century mansion. Directed by Samuel Tressler IV and starring Adeline Thery , the story focuses on a pregnant Leda, nightmarishly haunted by the image of a swan and lost between dream and reality in a state of trauma. The Philadelphia cigar maker Bobrow Brothers made a brand of cigars with the name "Leda" which was sold at least into the 1940s. The cigar label depicted Leda and the Swan in
2432-411: A new source of income for actors, who began to charge money for autographs that they had previously been doing for free. This became significant enough that lesser-known actors would come to conventions without requesting any appearance fee, simply to be allowed to sell their own autographs (commonly on publicity photos). Today most events with actor appearances are organized by commercial promoters, though
2560-399: A nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series at both the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards and 66th Primetime Emmy Awards was seen as a snub by critics and received significant media exposure and criticism. Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter called it an "outrageous oversight". However, Maslany received a nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 2015 and won
2688-464: A number of fan-run conventions still exist, such as Toronto Trek and Shore Leave . The 1985 series Robotech is most often credited as the catalyst for the Western interest in anime. The series inspired a few fanzines such as Protoculture Addicts and Animag both of which in turn promoted interest in the wide world of anime in general. Anime's first notable appearance at SF or comic book conventions
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#17328849381632816-428: A number of smaller fiction/fantasy television series, including Tang in 1971, about a secret organization that attempts to control the world with a new super weapon, "Les atomistes" and 1970 miniseries "La brigade des maléfices". Another French-produced science fiction series was the new age animated series Il était une fois... l'espace (English: Once upon a time...space ). Anime-influenced animation includes
2944-553: A portrait of Leda in his "And Jeopardize the Integrity of the Hull" series. Zeus, as the swan, only appears metaphorically. Ronsard wrote a poem on La Défloration de Lède , perhaps inspired by the Michelangelo, which he may well have known. He imagines the beak going into Leda's mouth. "Leda and the Swan" is a sonnet by William Butler Yeats composed in 1923 and first published in
3072-611: A science fiction television series based upon Zoran Živković's story, winner of a World Fantasy Award . Návštěvníci (The Visitors) was a Czechoslovak (and Federal German, Swiss and French) TV series produced in 1981 to 1983. The family show aired in a larger number of European countries. For a list of notable science fiction series and programs on television, see: List of science fiction television programs . People who have influenced science fiction on television include: [REDACTED] Media related to Science fiction television programmes at Wikimedia Commons Leda and
3200-407: A sense, virtually all animated series allow characters and objects to perform in unrealistic ways, so they are almost all considered to fit within the broadest category of speculative fiction (in the context of awards, criticism, marketing, etc.) The artistic affinity of animation to comic books has led to a large amount of superhero -themed animation, much of this adapted from comics series, while
3328-400: A series of French-Japanese cartoons / anime , including such titles as Ulysses 31 (1981), The Mysterious Cities of Gold (1982), and Ōban Star-Racers (2006). The first Spanish SF series was Diego Valor , a 22 episode TV adaption of a radio show hero of the same name based on Dan Dare , aired weekly between 1958 and 1959. Nothing was survived of this series, not a single still; it
3456-437: A series of female clones (Leda) and a series of male clones (Castor) who are also brothers and sisters clones as they derive from one mother who is a chimera with male and female genomes. Musical artist Hozier released the single Swan Upon Leda in 2022, referencing the myth as a tool to advocate for reproductive rights. The 2021 wordless, 3D feature film Leda transports the myth to dark forests and deep lakes that surround
3584-459: A series of patent numbers. Sarah is given a photograph whose caption suggests that the cloning project that produced her was called "Project Leda ". The season 2 finale introduced Charlotte, an eight-year-old clone with a leg disability. It is also revealed that the military carried on with a male cloning initiative named Project Castor, which created Mark the Prolethean; Rudy, or "Scarface"; Miller
3712-416: A sheep mask is later confirmed as Veera Suominen; it is revealed that she is set on exacting revenge on Ferdinand Chevalier for the murder of her sister clone and only friend, Niki Lintula. The Castor clone, Ira, is very different from his brothers due to not being raised with the same military background and savage mindset of the other Castor men. During the series finale, Camilla Torres, a Colombian Leda who
3840-456: A soul. All three of these television series were aimed mostly at children. Later television series were Professor Vreemdeling (1977) about a strange professor who wants to make plants speak and Zeeuws Meisje [ nl ] (1997) a nationalistic post-apocalyptic series where the Netherlands has been built full of housing and the highways are filled with traffic jams. The protagonist,
3968-446: A swan-neck made out of fabric which coiled around the wearer's neck in exactly the same way as Dietrich's dress from 1935. Although Dietrich's costume remains largely unknown to the general public, Björk's dress "attained cult status instantly" and became an icon of red carpet culture . Yet, the reference to Marlene Dietrich's costume was rarely (if ever) mentioned at the time. In June 2021, Maria Grazia Chiuri as creative director for
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4096-462: A wide array of software. Models have been an essential tool in science fiction television since the beginning, when Buck Rogers took flight in spark-scattering spaceships wheeling across a matte backdrop sky. The original Star Trek required a staggering array of models; the USS Enterprise had to be built in several different scales for different needs. Models fell out of use in filming in
4224-499: Is El ministerio del tiempo ( The ministry of time ), premiered on February 24, 2015 on TVE 's main channel La 1 . The series follows the exploits of a patrol of the fictional Ministry of Time, which deals with incidents caused by time travel. It has garnered several national prizes in 2015, like the Ondas Prize , and has a thick following on-line, called los ministéricos . Serbia produced The Collector ( Sakupljač ),
4352-559: Is "a daring new way for a producer to work within CanCon strictures: Set your show in Canada (technically), employ a Canadian crew, run it on a Canadian channel...and make room for recurring guest stars like Maria Doyle Kennedy...by casting one Canadian to play close to a dozen roles." In a season 5 episode, Felix specifically identifies Canada as the location. Before this, the Canadian filming location
4480-455: Is heavily disputed for the biases Roman aristocrats including Procopius had towards the role of women and the reputation of actresses and sex workers at the time. The subject undoubtedly owed its 16th-century popularity to the paradox that it was considered more acceptable to depict a woman in the act of copulation with a swan than with a man. The earliest depictions show the pair love-making with some explicitness—more so than in any depictions of
4608-462: Is highly ambiguous. Palumba made another engraving, perhaps in about 1512, presumably influenced by Leonardo's sketches for his earlier composition, showing Leda seated on the ground and playing with her children. There were also significant depictions in the smaller decorative arts, also private media. Benvenuto Cellini made a medallion, now in Vienna, early in his career, and Antonio Abondio one on
4736-564: Is in fact the original of both clone lines by virtue of being a human chimera . In August 2015, the conclusion of IDW's comic book tie-in to the show revealed another self-aware clone: Veera Suominen. She was thought to be one of the clones executed in Helsinki but survived. The subsequent comic titled Orphan Black: Helsinki , published November 2015, expands on her character. The fourth season introduces two new Leda clones and one new Castor clone. The mysterious Leda clone known as "M.K." who wears
4864-527: Is leaving: "Did the swan apologize to Leda? Did an eagle apologize? Did a lion apologize? Hell no!" In Robert Galbraith 's 2020 novel, Troubled Blood , one of the main characters, Robin Ellacott, visits a painting gallery where she sees a painting of Leda and the swan done by one character who is an artist in the novel. Furthermore, the other protagonist of the Strike series, the eponymous detective Cormoran Strike,
4992-557: Is named after science historian Cosima Herter, a friend of showrunner Graeme Manson, who serves as the show's science consultant. Herter works with the writers to ensure the plausibility of cloning and other scientific aspects of the series, as well as the complexity of philosophical and ethical concerns the show raises. She also answers fan questions about the show's science in the writer's room blog known as "The Hive". Makeup artist Stephen Lynch, hair stylist Sandy Sokolowski, and wardrobe department head Debra Hanson are instrumental in creating
5120-438: Is not known if the show was even recorded or just a live broadcast. The 60s were dominated by Chicho Ibáñez Serrador and Narciso Ibáñez Menta , who adapted SF works from Golden Age authors and others to a series titled Mañana puede ser verdad . Only 11 episodes were filmed. The 70s saw three important television films, Los pajaritos (1974), La Gioconda está triste (1977), and La cabina (1972), this last one, about
5248-526: Is receiving the cure, is introduced. It is revealed that there are 274 Leda clones in total. 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 . The show is executive produced by writer Graeme Manson , director John Fawcett , and Temple Street co-presidents Ivan Schneeberg and David Fortier. Co-executive producers are Karen Walton and Kerry Appleyard, while
Orphan Black - Misplaced Pages Continue
5376-522: Is released through the platform Serial Box and the first episode was made available on September 12, 2019. A second season premiered in October 2021, co-produced by Realm and AMC Networks, adding original cast members Jordan Gavaris , Kristian Bruun and Evelyne Brochu to the cast. A Japanese remake of the show, Orphan Black – 7 Genes , launched December 2, 2017, on Fuji Television , starring South Korean actress and singer Kang Ji-young as Sara Aoyama,
5504-404: Is revealed to have recently died from a respiratory illness. In the third episode of season 3, it is revealed that the original samples for Projects Castor and Leda were brother and sister, making all the clones genetic siblings. But the ninth episode of this season 3 shows even more similarity between the Castor and Leda genomes. A single woman, Kendall Malone, biological mother to Siobhan Sadler,
5632-508: The Asgard characters are puppets in scenes where they are sitting, standing, or lying down. In Mystery Science Theater 3000 , the characters of Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo , two of the show's main (and most iconic) characters, are puppets constructed from random household items. As animation is completely free of the constraints of gravity, momentum, and physical reality, it is an ideal technique for science fiction and fantasy on television. In
5760-513: The Australian Broadcasting Corporation . Later series made in the 1960s included The Interpretaris (1966) Vega 4 (1967), and Phoenix Five (1970). The country's best known Science Fiction series was Farscape ; an American co-production, it ran from 1999 to 2003. A significant proportion of Australian produced Science Fiction programmes are made for the teens/young Adults market, including The Girl from Tomorrow ,
5888-530: The BBC in 1962. The play features the voices of three women. The first is a married woman who keeps her baby. The second is a secretary who suffers a miscarriage. The third voice, a student who is pregnant and gives her baby up for adoption, mentions "the great swan, with its terrible look,/ Coming at me,/ There is a snake in swans./ He glided by; his eye had a black meaning." and repeats a refrain of "I wasn't ready" stating "the face/ Went on shaping itself with love, as if I
6016-697: The Dial in June, 1924 , and later published in the collection 'The Cat the Moon and Certain Poems' in 1924. Combining psychological realism with a mystic vision, it describes the swan's rape of Leda . It also alludes to the Trojan war , which will be provoked by the abduction of Helen , who will be begotten by Zeus on Leda (along with Castor and Pollux , in some versions of the myth). Clytaemnestra , who killed her husband, Agamemnon , leader of
6144-717: The Super Robots such as Mitsuteru Yokoyama 's Tetsujin 28-go ( Gigantor ) and Go Nagai 's Mazinger Z , and the Real Robots such as Yoshiyuki Tomino 's Gundam series and Shōji Kawamori 's Macross series. Other primary aspects of Japanese science fiction television are the superhero tokusatsu (a term literally meaning special effects ) series, pioneered by programs such as Moonlight Mask and Planet Prince . The suitmation technique has been used in long running franchises include Eiji Tsuburaya 's Ultra Series , Shotaro Ishinomori 's Kamen Rider Series , and
6272-610: The Super Sentai Series. In addition, several dramas utilize science fiction elements as framing devices, but are not labeled as "tokusatsu" as they do not utilize actors in full body suits and other special effects. Among the notable German language productions are: Danish television broadcast the children's TV-series Crash in 1984 about a boy who finds out that his room is a space ship. Early Dutch television series were Morgen gebeurt het [ nl ] (Tomorrow it will happen), broadcast from 1957 to 1959, about
6400-502: The obverse of a medal celebrating a Roman courtesan . A fresco depicting the Greek myth of Leda and the Swan was unearthed at the Pompeii archeological site. Leonardo da Vinci began making studies in 1504 for a painting, apparently never executed, of Leda seated on the ground with her children. In 1508, he painted a different composition of the subject , with a nude standing Leda cuddling
6528-549: The "Dyad Institute". Scenes set in the Scarborough suburb where Alison lives are actually filmed in Markham, Ontario , a suburb immediately north of Scarborough. However, details are often deliberately obscured; American pronunciations of words like "lieutenant" are used. The co-production also influenced another important aspect of the show: Sarah's British accent and background. John Fawcett explained that BBC America asked them to make
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#17328849381636656-450: The "Leda and the Swan" myth in tightly cropped, voyeuristic images of a nude female and an undefinable birdlike creature hinting at intimacy. Bristol Museum and Art Gallery currently exhibits Karl Weschke's Leda and the Swan , painted in 1986. The Winnipeg Art Gallery in Canada has, in its permanent collection, a ceramic "Leda and the Swan" by Japanese-born American artist Akio Takamori . Genieve Figgis painted her version of Leda and
6784-580: The 1950s". Doctor Who , which launched in 1963 and ran until 1989, then was revived in 2005, was listed in the Guinness World Records in 2006 as the longest-running science fiction television show in the world and as the "most successful" science fiction series of all time. Other cult British series in the science fiction genre include The Tomorrow People , Space: 1999 , Blake's 7 , Star Cops and Red Dwarf . Science fiction in Canada
6912-453: The 1970s. No other show attracted a large organized following until the 1990s, when Babylon 5 attracted both Star Trek fans and a large number of literary SF fans who previously had not been involved in media fandom. Other series began to attract a growing number of followers. The British series, Doctor Who , has similarly attracted a devoted following. In the late 1990s, a market for celebrity autographs emerged on eBay , which created
7040-472: The 1990s as CGI became more affordable and practical, but even today, designers sometimes construct scale models which are then digitized for use in animation software. Models of characters are puppets . Gerry Anderson created a series of shows using puppets living in a universe of models and miniature sets, notably Thunderbirds . ALF depicted an alien living in a family, while Farscape included two puppets as regular characters. In Stargate SG-1 ,
7168-688: The Dark , Dead of Winter , Gloomhaven and Scythe . In Canada, the series originally aired on Space , and made its broadcast network television debut on CTV on August 16, 2013. In the US, it aired on BBC America . It began airing in the UK on September 20, 2013, on BBC Three , with season 2 debuting on April 30, 2014. Netflix picked up the broadcast rights in the UK and Ireland for season 4 onwards. It premiered in Australia on January 14, 2014, on SBS2 . In July 2014, it
7296-515: The Dior dress was directly inspired by Pejoski's iconic 2001 creation. However, only a few days later, Dior openly defended the inspiration of the dress referring to it on its Twitter account as a recreation of a costume worn by Marlene Dietrich, who was, famously, an important and loyal client of the French brand during the 40s and 50s. Notably, Chiuri's 2021 Dior dress featured feathered swan-wings spanning over
7424-773: The French fashion house Dior , designed a collection strongly inspired by Hellenistic culture, the Olympic Games , and Ancient Greek Mythology, and showed it at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens as an homage to the Olympic tradition (the collection was shown a month before the beginning of the 2020 Summer Olympics ). The collection's closing pièce de résistance was a Leda-inspired swan dress. The immediate visual similarity between Chiuri's swan Dress and Björk's swan dress sparked excitement on social media as most people inevitably thought
7552-499: The Greek myth Leda and the Swan ), Sarah's foster mother Mrs. S., and her 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 between parent and child against the Neolutionists and Proletheans. By the end of the first season, ten clones of various nationalities and walks of life are revealed. Additional clones gradually emerge in
7680-476: The Greeks at Troy, was also supposed to have hatched from one of Leda's eggs. The poem is regularly praised as one of Yeats's masterpieces. Camille Paglia , who called the poem "the greatest poem of the twentieth century," and said "all human beings, like Leda, are caught up moment by moment in the 'white rush' of experience. For Yeats, the only salvation is the shapeliness and stillness of art." See external links for
7808-513: The Renaissance, including cycles of book illustrations to Ovid, but most were derivative of the compositions mentioned above. The subject remained largely confined to Italy, and sometimes France – Northern versions are rare. After something of a hiatus in the 18th and early 19th centuries (apart from a very sensuous Boucher , ), Leda and the Swan became again a popular motif in the later 19th and 20th centuries, with many Symbolist and Expressionist treatments. Also from that era were sculptures of
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#17328849381637936-516: The Swan Leda and the Swan is a story and subject in art from Greek mythology in which the god Zeus , in the form of a swan , seduces or rapes Leda , a Spartan queen. According to later Greek mythology, Leda bore Helen and Polydeuces , children of Zeus, while at the same time bearing Castor and Clytemnestra , children of her husband Tyndareus , the King of Sparta . According to many versions of
8064-497: The Swan in 2018 after an earlier work by François Boucher . Figgis’ contemporary version reinvents the idyllic romantic scene of lavish playfulness with a dark humor creating a scene of profanity and horror. There is a sculpture in neon lights depicting Leda and the Swan in Berlin, near Sonnenallee metro station and the Estrel hotel, designed by AES+F . Photographer Charlie White included
8192-414: The Swan making love with gusto, despite being on top of a triumphal car, being pulled along and surrounded by a considerable crowd. An engraving dating to 1503 at the latest, by Giovanni Battista Palumba , also shows the couple in coitus , but in deserted countryside. Another engraving, certainly from Venice and attributed by many to Giulio Campagnola , shows a love-making scene, but there Leda's attitude
8320-514: The Swan, with the two sets of infant twins (also nude), and their huge broken egg-shells. The original of this is lost, possibly deliberately destroyed, and was last recorded in the French royal Château de Fontainebleau in 1625 by Cassiano dal Pozzo . However it is known from many copies, of which the earliest are probably the Spiridon Leda , perhaps by a studio assistant and now in the Uffizi , and
8448-498: The Temple Street producers are Claire Welland and Karen Troubetskoy. On June 26, 2012, BBC America announced that they had picked up the show in the US. Though Canadian actor Elliot Page was considered for the lead role, the casting eventually went to another Canadian, Tatiana Maslany . 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
8576-454: The alternate clone role, then alone in the same clone role, then alone in the alternate clone, and then a fourth time with the scene filmed with just the camera motion for a background plate. Suspended tennis balls help Maslany retain the proper eyelines. In postproduction , Alexandre and the tennis balls are replaced with the images of Maslany from the alternate shots, thereby allowing for more action in scenes where she interacts with herself. In
8704-448: The basic concept of a series, influencing all the artistic choices. By the late 1990s, improved technology and more training and cross-training within the industry made all of these techniques easier to use, so that directors of individual episodes could make decisions to use one or more methods, so such artistic choices no longer needed to be baked into the series concept. Special effects (or "SPFX") have been an essential tool throughout
8832-421: The category in 2016. In 2018, Maslany received another nomination for the final season of the series. Maslany has also received several other accolades for her performance, including two Critics' Choice Television Awards and one further nomination, one TCA Award and one further nomination, four Satellite Award nominations, and one Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. The series won
8960-564: The chest and shoulder. This dramatic detail, taken directly from Dietrich's costume from 1935, sets Chiuri's dress for Dior entirely apart from Björk's red-carpet dress, and makes it, irrefutably, a reference to Dietrich's costume, and by extension, to the myth of Leda and the Swan. A version of the Leda and the Swan story is the foundation myth in the Canadian futuristic thriller television series Orphan Black which aired over 5 seasons from 2013 to 2017. A corporation uses genetic engineering to create
9088-525: 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 is a dominant theme that drives 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 (an allusion to
9216-526: The clone Rachel Duncan. It also seeks to profit from the technology the clones embody and has thus placed "monitors" into the clones' personal lives, allegedly to study them scientifically but actually 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 because they believe clones are abominations , and they use Sarah's biological twin sister, Helena, to kill
9344-401: The clones – Helena. In March 2014, BBC Worldwide North America signed a deal with Amazon.com for exclusive streaming rights to the series on Amazon Prime Instant Video. The show's "binge-worthy" quality was cited as a major reason for Amazon's interest. In April 2014, the show's second-season premiere scored a 91% rise in viewership from the 18- to 49-year-old demographic through DVR playback,
9472-408: The death of the infant Abel. In the season 3 premiere, it is revealed that, in 2006, six self-aware Project Leda clones in the Helsinki area were executed. Comics depicting these events would later place it during 2001. It is also revealed that there is a non-self-aware clone named Krystal Goderitch who works as a manicurist. She is later featured in the eighth episode, in which an unnamed Polish clone
9600-529: The development of the Massive software application permits producers to include hordes of non-human characters to storm a city or space station. The robotic Cylons in the new version of Battlestar Galactica are usually animated characters, while the Asgard in Stargate SG-1 are animated when they are shown walking around or more than one is on screen at once. In general, science fiction series are subject to
9728-473: The domestic television market, most Canadian productions involve partnerships with production studios based in the United States and Europe. However, in recent years, new partnership arrangements are allowing Canadian investors a growing share of control of projects produced in Canada and elsewhere. Australia's first locally produced Science Fiction series was The Stranger (1964–65) produced and screened by
9856-546: The earliest forms of media fandom was Star Trek fandom . Fans of the series became known to each other through the science fiction fandom . In 1968, NBC decided to cancel Star Trek . Bjo Trimble wrote letters to contacts in the National Fantasy Fan Foundation, asking people to organize their local friends to write to the network to demand the show remain on the air. Network executives were overwhelmed by an unprecedented wave of correspondence, and they kept
9984-508: The extremely brief account in the Metamorphoses of Ovid (who does not imply a rape), though Lorenzo de' Medici had both a Roman sarcophagus and an antique carved gem of the subject, both with reclining Ledas. The earliest known explicit Renaissance depiction is one of the many woodcut illustrations to Hypnerotomachia Poliphili , a book published in Venice in 1499. This shows Leda and
10112-451: The first decade of the 21st century, changes in provincial tax legislation prompted many production companies to move from Toronto to Vancouver . Recent popular series produced in Vancouver include The Dead Zone , Smallville , Andromeda , Stargate Atlantis , Stargate Universe , The 4400 , Sanctuary and the reimagined Battlestar Galactica . Because of the small size of
10240-489: The first season. On February 7, 2013, it was announced that Matt Frewer had been cast as an edgy philosophical professor, Dr. Leekie, and Evelyne Brochu was cast as a graduate student in molecular and cellular biology. The show was renewed for a second season of 10 episodes on May 2, 2013, and premiered on April 19, 2014. Season 2 features several new recurring characters, including: Cal Morrison, one of Sarah's past lovers, played by Michiel Huisman ; Henrik "Hank" Johanssen,
10368-479: The history of science fiction on television: small explosives to simulate the effects of various rayguns , squibs of blood and gruesome prosthetics to simulate the monsters and victims in horror series, and the wire-flying entrances and exits of George Reeves as Superman . The broad term "special effects" includes all the techniques here, but more commonly there are two categories of effects. Visual effects ("VFX") involve photographic or digital manipulation of
10496-512: The impossible characters and settings allowed in animation made this a preferred medium for both fantasy and for series aimed at young audiences. Originally, animation was all hand-drawn by artists, though in the 1980s, beginning with Captain Power , computers began to automate the task of creating repeated images; by the 1990s, hand-drawn animation became defunct. In recent years as technology has improved, this has become more common, notably since
10624-413: The largest for any cable drama premiere that season. In April 2014, writer Stephen Hendricks filed a lawsuit against BBC and Temple Street for $ 5 million, alleging that they had stolen the idea for Orphan Black from a screenplay he had written in the late 1990s called Double Double . He had submitted this screenplay to Temple Street in 2004, where it went into review and was ultimately rejected. The suit
10752-502: The lead character British, which she was not originally, to better fit the BBC brand. Fawcett, however, saw this directive as an advantage, as it allowed for an easy differentiation of Sarah from the other clones and a broadening of the geographical scope of the show's plot. The series received generally positive reviews, with the first season scoring a 73 out of 100 on Metacritic based on reviews from 20 critics. On Rotten Tomatoes , it received
10880-514: The lines, all of my blocking, all of her blocking, my mannerisms, my impulses; she, somehow, memorizes all of that and gives it back to me with a performance I can play off of." Alexandre had worked as a reader for auditioning actors in the casting stages of Orphan Black ' s initial production. She auditioned for the role of Maslany's double and earned the spot because the producers were in search of, in Alexandre's words, "an actor as opposed to just
11008-448: The long-running Mr. Squiggle , Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left , Ocean Girl , Crash Zone , Watch This Space and Spellbinder . Other series like Time Trax , Roar , and Space: Above and Beyond were filmed in Australia, but used mostly US crew and actors. Japan has a long history of producing science fiction series for television. Some of the most famous are anime such as Osamu Tezuka 's Astro Boy ,
11136-413: The majority of science fiction media fandom has been represented by males of all ages and for most of its modern existence, a fairly diverse racial demographic. The most highly publicized demographic for science fiction fans is the male adolescent; roughly the same demographic for American comic books . Female fans, while always present, were far fewer in number and less conspicuously present in fandom. With
11264-610: The one at Wilton House in the United Kingdom (illustrated). Also lost, and probably deliberately destroyed, is Michelangelo 's tempera painting of the pair making love, commissioned in 1529 by Alfonso d'Este for his palazzo in Ferrara , and taken to France for the royal collection in 1532; it was at Fontainebleau in 1536. Michelangelo's cartoon for the work—given to his assistant Antonio Mini, who used it for several copies for French patrons before his death in 1533—survived for over
11392-536: The onscreen image, usually done in post-production . Mechanical or physical effects involve props, pyrotechnics, and other physical methods used during principal photography itself. Some effects involved a combination of techniques; a ray gun might require a pyrotechnic during filming, and then an optical glowing line added to the film image in post-production. Stunts are another important category of physical effects. In general, all kinds of special effects must be carefully planned during pre-production . Babylon 5
11520-467: 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 movement has an institutional base in the large, influential, and wealthy biotech corporation, the Dyad Institute, which is seemingly headed by Dr. Aldous Leekie. The Dyad Institute conducts basic research , lobbies political institutions, and promotes its eugenics program, aided by
11648-407: The other clones. Sarah and Helena share a surrogate birth mother and are twins both genetically and with respect to their early maternal environment. Eventually, the Dyad Institute and the Proletheans learn that Sarah has a daughter, Kira, the only known offspring of a clone; all other clones are sterile by design. The plotlines of the series revolve around Sarah and Kira's efforts to avoid capture by
11776-461: The production films the scene multiple times with dolly-mounted motion control cameras that replicate the movement between each shot. This apparatus, the Technodolly, is referred to as the "Time Vampire" on the Orphan Black set due to the amount of time multiple clone scenes take from the production schedule. In these scenes, Maslany first acts the scene with her acting double Kathryn Alexandre in
11904-484: The reach of current reality obliges producers to make extensive use of specialized techniques of television production. Through most of the 20th century, many of these techniques were expensive and involved a small number of dedicated craft practitioners, while the reusability of props, models, effects, or animation techniques made it easier to keep using them. The combination of high initial cost and lower maintenance cost pushed producers into building these techniques into
12032-404: The rising popularity of fanfiction , a large majority of which is categorized as slash fanfiction . Female fans comprise the majority of fanfiction writers. U.S. television science fiction has produced Lost In Space , Star Trek , The Twilight Zone , and The X-Files , among others. British television science fiction began in 1938 when the broadcast medium was in its infancy with
12160-424: The rising popularity of fanzines, female fans became increasingly vocal. Starting in the 2000s (decade), genre series began to offer more prominent female characters. Many series featured women as the main characters with males as supporting characters. True Blood is an example. Also, such shows premises moved away from heroic action-adventure and focused more on characters and their relationships. This has caused
12288-403: The same financial constraints as other television shows. However, high production costs increase the financial risk, while limited audiences further complicate the business case for continuing production. Star Trek was the first television series to cost more than $ 100,000 per episode, while Star Trek: The Next Generation was the first to cost more than $ 1 million per episode. One of
12416-480: The season 2 finale, when a dance party scene called for the presence of four different clones, two days of shooting and several additional body doubles were used to create the effect, and postproduction work from Geoff Scott and his team at Intelligent Creatures VFX is rumored to have taken hundreds of hours to complete. Alexandre's performances were central to Maslany's ability to create the characters. Maslany said, of Alexandre, "She's so amazing. She memorizes all of
12544-423: The season has a score of 80 out of 100 based on 5 reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 97% approval rating based on 110 reviews, with a rating average of 8.25 out of 10. The critical consensus reads: " Orphan Black makes a 180-degree return to its roots with an experimental fourth season that delves deeper into the show's strange, innovative premise." The fifth season received acclaim from critics. On Metacritic,
12672-470: The season has a score of 83 out of 100 based on 7 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 95% approval rating from critics, with a rating average of 8.3 out of 10 based on 119 reviews. The critical consensus reads: " Orphan Black ' s final season solidifies its standing as a classic science fiction television show – and offers yet another persuasive showcase for Tatiana Maslany's dramatic prowess." Maslany's failure to receive
12800-481: The second season scoring 79 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on reviews from 26 critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it received a 98% approval rating from critics, with a rating average of 8.3 out of 10, based on reviews from 40 critics. The critical consensus reads: "Anchored by Tatiana Maslany's brilliant multi-role performance, Orphan Black is as densely-layered, thought-provoking, and wildly entertaining as ever." Mary McNamara of The Los Angeles Times wrote that "Beneath
12928-444: 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
13056-580: The series, critics and fans derided it as a snub. The third season received generally positive reviews from critics. On Metacritic, the season has a score of 70 out of 100 based on 12 reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds an 83% approval rating based on 145 reviews, with rating averages of 7.75 out of 10. The critical consensus reads: "Season three of Orphan Black lures viewers into an expanded series mythology while continuing to highlight Tatiana Maslany's multiple standout performances." The fourth season received very positive reviews from critics. On Metacritic,
13184-549: 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." John Fawcett concurred, arguing that "To be honest, we don't want to say we're American and alienate the Canadians, or say we're Canadian and alienate the Americans. The bottom line is we're one big happy family. We're just a little bit further North than you." Grantland 's Tara Ariano argued that this ambiguity
13312-482: The show on the air. Although the series continued to receive low ratings and was canceled a year later, the enduring popularity of the series resulted in Paramount creating a set of movies, and then a new series Star Trek: The Next Generation , which by the early 1990s had become one of the most popular dramas on American television. Star Trek fans continued to grow in number, and first began organizing conventions in
13440-473: The soldier; and Seth, the mustached clone. All the Project Castor clones are aware of their clone nature and were raised together by Dr. Virginia Coady in a military setting. The fourth episode of season 3 introduces the Castor clone Parsons, a victim of inhumane brain experiments. Sarah also discovered that Henrik Johanssen attempted to create a Castor clone from a stolen genetic sample but failed, resulting in
13568-416: The song "Power and Glory" from Lou Reed 's 1992 album Magic and Loss , Reed recalls the experience of seeing his friend dying of cancer and makes reference to the myth: I saw isotopes introduced into his lungs trying to stop the cancerous spread And it made me think of Leda and The Swan and gold being made from lead Sylvia Plath alludes to the myth in her radio play Three Women written for
13696-545: The soundtrack includes the music featured in Orphan Black by other artists. In June 2019, a 10-episode audio series titled Orphan Black: The Next Chapter was announced, with Tatiana Maslany reprising her role as the Project Leda clones. Serving as an official continuation of the series, it is set eight years after the series finale. Malka Older serves as the showrunner with Mishell Baker , Lindsay Smith, Heli Kennedy, Madeline Ashby and E.C. Myers as writers. The series
13824-544: The story, Zeus took the form of a swan and raped Leda on the same night she slept with her husband King Tyndareus . In some versions, she laid two eggs from which the children hatched. In other versions, Helen is a daughter of Nemesis , the goddess who personified the disaster that awaited those suffering from the pride of Hubris . Especially in art, the degree of consent by Leda to the relationship seems to vary considerably; there are numerous depictions, for example by Leonardo da Vinci , that show Leda affectionately embracing
13952-557: The suicide of a woman, Beth Childs, who appears to be her doppelgänger . Sarah assumes Beth's identity and occupation (as a police detective ) after Beth's death. During the first season , in episode 3, Sarah discovers that she is a clone, that she has many "sister" clones spread throughout North America and Europe that are all part of an illegal human cloning experiment, and that someone is plotting to kill them and her. Alongside her foster brother, Felix Dawkins, and two of her fellow clones, Alison Hendrix and Cosima Niehaus, Sarah discovers
14080-448: The swan, as their children play. The subject was rarely seen in the large-scale sculpture of antiquity, although a representation of Leda in sculpture has been attributed in modern times to Timotheus ( compare illustration, below left ); small-scale sculptures survive showing both reclining and standing poses, in cameos and engraved gems , rings, and terracotta oil lamps. Thanks to the literary renditions of Ovid and Fulgentius it
14208-508: The theme by Antonin Mercié and Max Klinger . Cy Twombly executed an abstract version of Leda and the Swan in 1962. It was purchased by Larry Gagosian for $ 52.9 million at Christie's May 2017 Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale. Avant-garde filmmaker Kurt Kren along with other members of the Viennese Actionist movement, including Otto Muehl and Hermann Nitsch , made
14336-537: The time. In addition, a sculptural group, similar to the Prado Roman group illustrated, was believed until at least the 19th century to be by Michelangelo. The last very famous Renaissance painting of the subject is Correggio 's elaborate composition of c. 1530 (Berlin); this too was damaged whilst in the collection of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans , the Regent of France in the minority of Louis XV . His son Louis , though
14464-455: The transmission of a partial adaptation of Karel Čapek 's play R.U.R. . Despite an occasionally chequered history, programmes in the genre have been produced by both the BBC and the largest commercial channel, ITV . Nigel Kneale 's The Quatermass Experiment (1953) and its sequels have been called "one of BBC Television's earliest audience successes" and Kneale became "one of the most influential television and film writers to emerge in
14592-409: The twists and turns ... lie the even more basic theme of revelation: How would you react if you discovered that what you had come to know as your life was based on misinformation." Alan Sepinwall of HitFix praised the show, calling it "a good, solid show that understands its strengths and keeps playing to them in season 2." When Maslany again failed to receive an Emmy nomination for her work on
14720-467: The visual differences necessary to distinguish each clone, often using these to develop the characters' personalities before any lines of dialogue are written for them. Art drawn by Sarah's daughter, Kira, in the show is created by art department member Sash Kosovic. Orphan Black was shot on location in Toronto , Ontario. The show was vague about whether it was set in Canada. Graeme Manson said, in 2014, that
14848-495: The writer of the show and that the series would follow a new story set in the same world as Orphan Black . In April 2022, the series was greenlit and titled Orphan Black: Echoes . In July 2022, Krysten Ritter was cast in the lead role of Lucy. The series premiered in June 2024 on AMC, AMC+ and BBC America . Science fiction on television The need to portray imaginary settings or characters with properties and abilities beyond
14976-581: Was a well-known myth through the Middle Ages, but emerged more prominently as a classicizing theme, with erotic overtones , in the Italian Renaissance. The historian Procopius claims, in his Secret History, that the Roman Empress Theodora acted in a reproduction of this particular myth at some point in her youth in the early sixth century CE prior to her becoming the empress. This account
15104-463: Was acquired by BBC America for the fourth season. In April 2022, a spin-off titled Orphan Black: Echoes was announced, which premiered in June 2024 on AMC . Orphan Black developed a loyal online fan base across social media platforms who identify as #CloneClub, a reference to those who are in-the-know in the story. Throughout its run, the series received critical acclaim and various accolades, particularly for Maslany's performance, which earned her
15232-621: Was announced as having been cast as Evie Cho, a seductive bio-engineer and advocate of women's health. A fifth and final season consisting of 10 episodes was announced on June 6, 2016. Filming began in October 2016. Several new castings for the fifth season include: Stephen McHattie as Neolution founder P.T. Westmorland; Elyse Levesque as Detective Engers, a dirty cop associated with Neolution; Simu Liu as Mr. Mitchell, Kira's teacher; Andrew Moodie as Mr. Frontenac, Rachel's mysterious new consultant; and Jenessa Grant as Mud, an eclectic islander. In scenes in which Tatiana Maslany has multiple parts,
15360-453: Was announced that a comic book series published by IDW Publishing would begin in early 2015. The first issue was released in February 2015, and the comic book series is co-written by series creators John Fawcett and Graeme Manson. In May 2015, two soundtracks were released by Varèse Sarabande Records featuring music from seasons 1 and 2. The score includes music composed by Trevor Yuile and
15488-405: Was apparent from details such as cars with Ontario licence plates, Beth's and Mrs. S's Ontario driving licences, the currency that is used, scripted references to the suburb of Scarborough , Ontario and to Parkdale, Toronto , and a plane ticket in the pilot episode identifying Toronto Pearson International Airport . Toronto's Bridgepoint Health and Don Jail are stand-ins for the exterior of
15616-400: Was born to a mother named Leda and swans appear in several of the novels. In 1935, German-born movie star Marlene Dietrich wore a dramatically designed Leda costume to a Hollywood costume party. Designed by the acclaimed costume designer Travis Banton , a longtime Dietrich collaborator, the white tulle and feather dress featured a thigh-slit, a mid-length train and, most characteristically,
15744-635: Was filed in United States District Court in California. A third 10-episode season was announced on July 9, 2014, which began production in fall 2014. In November 2014, several new cast members for season 3 were announced, including James Frain as Ferdinand, a ruthless "cleaner"; Ksenia Solo as Shay, a holistic healer; Kyra Harper as Dr. Coady, a military doctor; Earl Pastko as Bulldog, Ferdinand's bodyguard; and Justin Chatwin as Jason Kellerman,
15872-588: Was in the form of video showings of popular anime, untranslated and often low quality VHS bootlegs. Starting in the 1990s, anime fans began organizing conventions. These quickly grew to sizes much larger than other science fiction and media conventions in the same communities; many cities now have anime conventions attracting five to ten thousand attendees. Many anime conventions are a hybrid between non-profit and commercial events, with volunteer organizers handling large revenue streams and dealing with commercial suppliers and professional marketing campaigns. For decades,
16000-459: Was produced by Temple Street Productions in association with BBC America and Bell Media 's Space . The show premiered on March 30, 2013, on Space in Canada, and on BBC America in the United States. On June 16, 2016, the series was renewed for a fifth and final ten-episode season, which ran from June 10 to August 12, 2017. An aftershow , After the Black , began airing in the third season on Space and
16128-608: Was produced by the CBC as early as the 1950s. In the 1970s, CTV produced The Starlost . In the 1980s, Canadian animation studios including Nelvana , began producing a growing proportion of the world market in animation. In the 1990s, Canada became an important player in live action speculative fiction on television, with dozens of series like Forever Knight , Robocop , and most notably The X-Files and Stargate SG-1 . Many series have been produced for youth and children's markets, including Deepwater Black and MythQuest . In
16256-684: Was ready." describing the unwanted pregnancy. Several references to the myth are presented in novels by Angela Carter , including Nights at the Circus and The Magic Toyshop . In the latter novel, the myth is brought to life in the form of a performance in which a frightened young girl is forced to act as Leda in accompaniment with a large mechanical swan. The myth is also mentioned in Richard Yates ' 1962 novel Revolutionary Road . The character Frank Wheeler, married to April Wheeler, after having had sex with an office secretary ponders what to say as he
16384-401: Was the first series to use computer-generated imagery , or "CGI", for all exterior space scenes, even those with characters in space suits. The technology has made this more practical, so that today models are rarely used. In the 1990s, CGI required expensive processors and customized applications, but by the 2000s (decade), computing power has pushed capabilities down to personal laptops running
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