‘Wow, wow. Welcome to the trip, man.’ It’s an apt declaration early on in one of the trippiest TV shows of all time, Orphan Black, helmed by the inimitable Tatiana Maslany.
When we talk about the greats of TV acting, some obvious performances spring to mind. Perhaps Bryan Cranston during his spectacular run on Breaking Bad or Ken Leung’s haunting performance in Industry.
There’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge in Fleabag, which has become a TV classic, or Michaela Coel in I May Destroy You, which has been hailed as the gold standard for limited series.
Although Tatiana’s name does often get mentioned in this cohort, it’s worth reminding people given just what a feat she pulled off.
The sci-fi series, which started in 2013, came to a dramatic conclusion in August 2017, after five seasons and 50 episodes of nail-biting action, heart-pounding plot twists and shocking revelations.
I first remember watching the show when I was 16, already a few seasons into airing, and I was immediately captured by the pacey pilot episode that thrust us straight into the action.
The opening sequence packs a mean punch as our spiralling protagonist Sarah Manning (played by Tatiana) watches her doppelganger (also played by Tatiana, you may be noticing a theme) jump in front of a train and kill herself… before stealing her identity.
Talk about an intriguing hook.
From there, it’s full steam ahead with a plot that doesn’t relent as Sarah is swept into a deadly world she had no clue about and discovers she is one of several clones who are being killed one by one.
Despite being identical (and of course, all played by Tatiana), each clone has their own unique, wonderfully fleshed and vastly different personality. In fact, Sarah’s adopted brother Fe (Jordan Gavaris) neatly lays it out when we meet our first ones (who are still alive).
We’ve got fan-favourite Cosima (played by Tatiana) as the ‘dreadlock science geek’, and uptight Alison as the stereotypical ‘soccer mum’.
Then, of course, there are our antagonists, first Helena (played by, you guessed it, Tatiana), who takes us on a heartwarming redemption arc, followed by the far more cold and clinical Rachel (say it with me, played by Tatiana), who shows no mercy.
What makes the 40-year-old’s performance all the more awe-inspiring is that, on many occasions, she is one clone pretending to be another, meaning she has to convince us she’s playing two characters at once – and often she does it with ease.
In the first season alone we see Sarah pretending to be Beth as she attempts slip into the cop persona, or Alison pretending to be Sarah and failing to trick the latter’s daughter Kira. Or the time Cosima attempted to slip into Alison’s skin.
Such is Tatiana’s magic that you manage to completely forget these characters are all played by the same actor.
Nine years on from the show – for which she was nominated for three Emmys and deservedly won one – Tatiana continues to prove she’s a master at what she does.
Just this year, she’s wowed with her tour-de-force performance in Apple TV show’s new thriller, Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed in which she plays a ‘newly divorced mom Paula, who falls down a rabbit hole of blackmail, murder and youth soccer.’
It’s landed an impressive 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, with her latest performance hailed a ‘brilliant central performance’ and a star that single-handedly ‘propels’ the show.
No doubt she earned her stripes starring in Orphan Black, making this job seem a walk in the park.
So, if it’s been a while since you gave the hit show a watch, this is your sign to slick it on.
Orphan Black is available to stream on ITVX now.