Tatau Premieres On BBC AMERICA Saturday, April 18

From the makers of Being Human, new mystic-drama debuts following the return of Orphan Black

New York – April 7, 2015 – From the makers of Being Human and set in the stunning Cook Islands, BBC AMERICA’s new eight-part series, Tatau, follows two friends who set out to explore the world, but discover truths and new abilities that they never could have imagined – all inextricably linked to the Maori myths of the island and a haunting mystery of deadly proportions. Following the return of Orphan Black, Tatau premieres Saturday, April 18, 10:00pm ET on BBC AMERICA.

A pair of 20-something friends from London, Kyle Connor (Joe Layton) and Paul ‘Budgie’ Griffiths (Theo Barklem-Biggs) are traveling the world looking for sun, fun and adventure. Kyle even got himself a Maori-style tattoo, excited about their eventual destination: the Cook Islands.

When snorkelling in a lagoon, Kyle finds the body of a local girl, Aumea, tied up underwater – dead. Returning to the lagoon with the police, Kyle finds her corpse has disappeared. But Kyle knows what he saw. Desperate to uncover what happened, Kyle and Budgie find themselves sucked deeper and deeper into a world of Maori myths, symbols, and hallucinatory visions… until finally the full meaning of Kyle’s tattoo is revealed.

Richard Zajdlic, creator and writer, and Rob Pursey are the executive producers for Touchpaper TV, John Barnett and Chris Bailey for South Pacific Pictures in New Zealand and Matthew Read for the BBC. John Rushton is producer and Wayne Yip is lead director.

BBC AMERICA delivers U.S. audiences high-quality, innovative and intelligent programming. Established in 1998, it has been the launch pad for talent embraced by American mainstream pop culture, including Ricky Gervais, Gordon Ramsay, Graham Norton, and successful programming formats including ground-breaking non-scripted television like Top Gear and top-rated science-fiction like Doctor Who. A joint venture between BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, and AMC Networks, BBC AMERICA has attracted both critical acclaim and major awards including four Emmy® Awards, five Golden Globes® and 12 Peabody Awards. The channel attracts one of cable’s most affluent and educated audiences and is available on cable and satellite TV in nearly 80 million homes. It broadcasts in both standard and high-definition, with content available On Demand across all major digital platforms. Online, www.BBCAmerica.com is the place to go to dig deeper into pop culture with a British twist. Find out more by visiting www.Press.BBCAmerica.com/ or follow us on www.twitter.com/BBCAMERICA.