Deepwater Black is a 1995 novel, first in the Deepwater trilogy, by the New Zealand science fiction writer Ken Catran, where a cast of young characters are supposedly stranded in space while a virus ravages Earth. The book series itself is quite different from the television series later developed. The approach of the novels focused on the characters as younger children, around 13-14 rather than the television approach where the characters were much older.
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The main plot involved a virus that breaks out and leaves the humans residing on Earth doomed. However, in a desperate attempt before the end, all humanity's resources are dedicated to a crash program to produce a deep space ark, capable of seeding humanity on a new world. The ship is crewed by six clones; teenage versions of people who achieved great works during the ark project and equipped with the memories of their donors. Prior to its arrival, however, the crew is awoken prematurely to face a threat to the ship, before their memories are complete. They must come to terms with the workings of the ship, the dangers faced by their ship, the realization that they are clones, and their ultimate destiny to save their race.
The trilogy was adapted as the Sci Fi Channel's first original television series in 1997 under the name Mission Genesis. In the United Kingdom and in Canada, where the show was co-produced by the YTV Network, the series retained the original title, Deepwater Black. Only one season of 13 episodes was made, and involved a relatively small cast and heavy use of CGI. Soon after production ended, lead actress Nicole de Boer joined the cast of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and lead actor Gordon Michael Woolvett joined the cast of Andromeda.
The series was filmed in Toronto, Canada.
The cast only had 7 members:
The show only had 13 episodes before it was canceled. They were:
| # | Title | Original Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Awakening" | July 21, 1997 |
| 2. | "Lullaby" | July 28, 1997 |
| 3. | "Legacy" | August 4, 1997 |
| 4. | "Reflections" | August 11, 1997 |
| 5. | "Plague" | August 18, 1997 |
| 6. | "Cycles" | August 25, 1997 |
| 7. | "Refugee" | September 8, 1997 |
| 8. | "Hunt" | September 15, 1997 |
| 9. | "Fugue" | November 10, 1997 |
| 10. | "Siege" | November 24, 1997 |
| 11. | "Prime" | December 1, 1997 |
| 12. | "Infestation" | December 15, 1997 |
| 13. | "Aurora" | December 22, 1997 |