Outlander (TV series)

In 1945, former World War II nurse Claire Randall and her husband Frank are visiting Inverness, Scotland, when she is carried from the standing stones at Craigh na Dun back in time to 1743. She falls in with a group of rebel Highlanders from Clan MacKenzie, who are being pursued by British redcoats led by Captain Jonathan "Black Jack" Randall, who turns out to be Frank's ancestor. She marries a Highlander, Jamie Fraser, out of necessity, but they quickly fall in love. The Clan suspect her of being a spy, and retain her as a healer, preventing her from attempting to return to her own time. Knowing that the Jacobite cause is doomed to fail, Claire tries to warn them against rebellion. Her husband Jamie is captured, tortured, and raped by the sadistic Randall, but Claire and his clansmen rescue him. Claire tells Jamie that she is pregnant and they set sail for France.

In Paris, Claire and Jamie try to thwart the Jacobites by subverting the funds that King Louis XV of France is likely to provide. Jamie becomes the confidant of Charles Stuart, but the Frasers fail to prevent the risings. Randall reappears in Paris, but Claire makes Jamie swear to keep him alive until Frank's descent is assured. She achieves this by convincing Randall to marry Mary Hawkins. Claire loses her baby, and she and Jamie return to Scotland. The Jacobites win the Battle of Prestonpans.

Before the Battle of Culloden, Jamie convinces Claire, pregnant again, to return to the 20th century. Jamie decides to die fighting at Culloden with his clan. Back in her own century, Claire tells Frank about her time travel. He asks her to forget Jamie, and let him raise their child as his own. Twenty years later, Frank has died. Claire takes her daughter Brianna to Scotland. Claire discovers that Jamie did not die at Culloden, and vows to return to him.

Jamie kills Randall at Culloden, and is gravely injured, but spared execution. At Ardsmuir prison, he befriends the governor Lord John Grey, who later paroles him to work at an English estate. There Jamie is manipulated into a sexual liaison and fathers an illegitimate son, William. Jamie returns to Scotland and becomes a printer.

In 1948, Claire enrolls in medical school in Boston, Massachusetts. Frank is killed in a car accident while Brianna is in college. With the help of Roger Wakefield, Claire finds clues to Jamie's fate after Culloden. She returns to the 18th century, and discovers Jamie has married a widowed Laoghaire. Claire's return nullifies their union as illegal. They try to retrieve some hidden treasure so that he can placate Laoghaire with a settlement. But his nephew Ian is captured by pirates and taken to the Caribbean. Jamie and Claire follow, and manage to rescue him from Geillis (who had escaped burning at the stake in season one). Claire and Jamie sail for Scotland, but are shipwrecked on the coast of Georgia.

In the British colony of North Carolina, Claire and Jamie seek to return to Scotland with Fergus, Marsali, and Ian. They visit the plantation of Jamie's aunt Jocasta Cameron, where they see conditions of enslaved African Americans. Claire and Jamie decide to leave, and claim land that they name Fraser's Ridge, which is already inhabited by Cherokee. Jamie reunites with Murtagh, now a blacksmith and leader of the Regulator movement. Lord John visits with Jamie's son, Willy.

In the 1970s, Brianna rejects Roger's marriage proposal. After learning her parents will die in a fire, Brianna travels through the stones. Roger follows her. They meet in Wilmington, North Carolina and enter into handfast marriage. Bonnet rapes Brianna. She discovers she is pregnant. Roger goes to Fraser's Ridge where Jamie wrongly assumes that he is the rapist, and beats him. Young Ian sells Roger to the Mohawk. Discovering their mistake, they set off to rescue Roger, and Ian trades his freedom for Roger's. Roger and Brianna are reunited at Jocasta's plantation. Jamie receives instructions to kill Murtagh, who is a fugitive.

Jamie and Claire fight to retain their home at the Ridge as the American Revolutionary War looms on the horizon. Brianna and Roger get married in a big ceremony at Fraser's Ridge. During the reception, Governor Tryon further pushes Jamie to hunt down Murtagh, forcing Jamie to gather up a militia and counteract the Regulators. He struggles to balance keeping his godfather safe and fulfilling his duties to the British, especially under the eye of Lieutenant Knox, who is determined to find and kill Murtagh. Despite Murtagh's pleas for Jocasta to return his love for her, she moves forward with her fourth marriage, choosing the safety and security of her plantation's future over his idealism. Jamie's loyalties are pushed to the breaking point at the Battle of Alamance, when Roger's attempt to warn Murtagh fails and he is shot dead. Roger is captured and hanged by the British, but survives and is left traumatized by the experience. Jamie is left devastated in the months following the Battle.

Meanwhile, Roger and Bree's relationship is put to the test as there are signs of Steven Bonnet's reappearance, forcing Brianna to take matters into her own hands when she is captured by him. Eventually, they decide to go back through the stones as it will be much safer for their son. Young Ian returns from his time with the Mohawk, learning the truth about Claire, Brianna, and Roger's origins when he confronts them with information passed to him by the Mohawk. As Claire settles on Fraser's Ridge, she continues to subvert conventional medical practices by producing penicillin and covertly providing medical advice under a pseudonym; however, she finds that her subversive advice comes to backfire. In the final episode, Claire is abducted and raped by Lionel Brown and his men but is subsequently rescued by Jamie, Roger and the earlier militia. Though Jamie returns Lionel's body to his brother and mayor of Brownsville, Richard Brown subtly threatens Fraser's Ridge and Jamie's family. The season ends with Claire and Jamie looking out from the porch, determined to savor the peace before the trouble ahead.

In July 2012, it was reported that Sony Pictures Television had secured the rights to Gabaldon's Outlander series, with Moore attached to develop the project and Jim Kohlberg (Story Mining and Supply Co) producing.[1] Sony completed the deal with Starz in November 2012,[2] and Moore hired a writing team in April 2013.[3] That June, Starz picked up the Outlander project for a sixteen-episode order,[4] and in August it was announced that John Dahl would be directing the first two episodes.[5] Starz CEO Chris Albrecht later said that he had green-lit several genre projects, including Outlander, to shift the network's series development toward "audiences that were being underserved" to "drive a real fervent fan base that then becomes the kind of advocacy group for the shows themselves".[6]

Calling it "a different kind of show than has ever been on, in my memory", Albrecht believed that Outlander's combination of fantasy, action, a strong central romance and a feminist focus would set it apart.[6] Another distinguishing feature of the show is its use of Scottish Gaelic. Àdhamh Ó Broin is the language consultant[7] and Griogair Labhruidh sang in Gaelic on the second season's soundtrack.[8]

On August 15, 2014, after only the pilot episode had aired, the network renewed the series for a second season of at least thirteen episodes, based on the second book in Gabaldon's series, Dragonfly in Amber.[9] On June 1, 2016, Starz renewed the series for a third and fourth season, which adapt the third and fourth Outlander novels, Voyager and Drums of Autumn.[10]

On May 9, 2018, Starz renewed the series for a fifth and sixth season, which adapt The Fiery Cross and A Breath of Snow and Ashes, respectively, and each season will consist of twelve episodes.[11]

Moore said of the pilot: "There's a lot of things we did in the first thirty to forty minutes that aren't in the book or are compilations of things that happened in the book". He emphasised that he did not want to present the time-travel dimension in a traditional special effects-laden science fiction manner.[12] Describing the adaptation of the first season as "straightforward", he explained: "it was always kind of clear what the basic structure was: Claire’s trying to get home, then she meets this guy, now she’s falling in love, now she has a conflict, will she go home. You lay it out in a very linear fashion".[13] Regarding the darker tone of the season's second half, he said: "the show becomes more complicated and the emotional journey more wrenching".[14]

Regarding the second season and the source novel Dragonfly in Amber, Moore said:

The book is a more complicated structure in terms of how Diana [Gabaldon] wrote it ... So it was not as easy an adaptation as the first season was ... Book 2 is just a more complex book. It’s laid out very differently, as a result it took more wrangling to try to figure out how to translate this particular story into our season. There were more complications, there were more characters ... It was a bigger task. The thing that gives me the most comfort is that Diana likes it a lot. She had said, 'Oh, I really liked the way you did it. it was a difficult plot, I know, but I think you really found the essence of it. You really found the through line that really defines what this part of the journey is.' ... It’s not going to be a literal adaptation because I don’t think that’s possible with the second book ... But I think it’s very much the same story, the major characters are all represented, the major scenes are all represented, and it still gets you to all the same places you want to go.[13]

Gabaldon was employed as consultant to the TV production.[15] When asked in June 2015 about the adaptation of the first season, she said: "I think they did condense it very effectively ... I ended up getting most of the things that I felt strongly about in there. There were only a few instances where the most important stuff in my opinion didn't get in".[16] In March 2015, she said of the scripts for season two: "The Parisian stuff is very good, and in fact I'm deeply impressed by the outlines I've seen ... I think they've done a wonderful job of pulling out the most important plot elements and arranging them in a convincing way".[17] Gabaldon wrote the screenplay for the episode "Vengeance is Mine".[18]

According to Moore, the writing and pre-production for season four began while season three was still in active production.[19] Gabaldon wrote an episode for the fifth season.[20]

Promotional poster for season one, featuring Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan

On July 9, 2013, it was announced that Sam Heughan had been cast as Jamie Fraser, the male lead.[21] Tobias Menzies was the second actor cast, on August 8, in dual roles of Frank and Jonathan Randall.[22] Stephen Walters and Annette Badland were announced in the recurring roles of Angus Mhor and Mrs. Fitzgibbons on August 29, 2013, with Graham McTavish and Gary Lewis announced as the MacKenzie brothers on the September 4.[23][24] Series female lead Claire Beauchamp Randall was to be portrayed by Caitriona Balfe as announced on September 11, 2013.[25] The series later added Lotte Verbeek as Geillis Duncan and Laura Donnelly as Jamie's sister Jenny in October 2013.[26]

In December 2013, Simon Callow was cast in the supporting role of Duke of Sandringham,[27][28] and Entertainment Weekly reported in April 2014 that Steven Cree would portray Ian Murray.[29] Bill Paterson was cast as lawyer Ned Gowan in June 2014.[30][31] Author Gabaldon has a cameo as Iona MacTavish in the August 2014 episode "The Gathering".[32] In August 2014 it was announced that Frazer Hines had been cast in the role of a prison warden in an episode to air in 2015. From 1966 to 1969, Hines had portrayed the Doctor Who character Jamie McCrimmon, who Gabaldon said had inspired the setting of the Outlander series and the character of Jamie Fraser.[33] Hines plays Sir Fletcher Gordon, an English prison warden, in the May 2015 episode "Wentworth Prison".[34]

In June 2015, the series cast Andrew Gower as the Jacobite pretender Prince Charles Edward Stuart;[35] Robert Cavanah as Jamie's Scottish cousin Jared, a wine merchant and Jacobite living in Paris;[36] Margaux Châtelier as Annalise de Marillac, Jamie's French ex-lover;[37] and Laurence Dobiesz as Alex Randall, Black Jack's younger–and gentler–brother.[38] Other cast added for season 2 include Romann Berrux as the French pickpocket Fergus,[35] Rosie Day as the baronet's daughter Mary Hawkins,[39] Stanley Weber as Le Comte St. Germain,[40] Dominique Pinon as healer Master Raymond,[35] Marc Duret as French Minister of Finance Joseph Duverney,[37] Frances de la Tour as Mother Hildegarde,[41] and Audrey Brisson as Sister Angelique.[42] In July 2015, Lionel Lingelser was cast as King Louis XV of France.[43] Moore revealed in June 2015 that Verbeek would be returning in the role of Geillis.[44] Richard Rankin was cast as Roger Wakefield in December 2015,[45] while Sophie Skelton was chosen to portray Brianna Randall, Claire and Jamie's daughter, in January 2016.[46]

In August 2016, Starz announced that David Berry had been cast as Lord John William Grey for season three.[47][48][49] In September, Wil Johnson was cast as Joe Abernathy, and John Bell as "Young Ian" Fraser Murray.[50] In October, César Domboy was cast as an adult Fergus, and Lauren Lyle as Laoghaire's daughter Marsali MacKimmie.[51] Hannah James and Tanya Reynolds were cast as sisters Geneva and Isobel Dunsany in November 2016.[52]

In October 2017, two season four roles were announced. Maria Doyle Kennedy was cast as Jamie's aunt, Jocasta, and Ed Speleers as Stephen Bonnet, an Irish pirate and smuggler.[53] The casting of Colin McFarlane as Jocasta's slave butler Ulysses was announced in January 2018.[54] The Cherokee and Mohawk people in seasons four and five were portrayed by members of First Nations from Canada who traveled to Scotland for the filming.[55]

In May 2020, Berry announced that he would not be returning to Outlander for the sixth season.[56]

In July 2013, British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne confirmed that the production would benefit from the Creative Sector Tax Relief programme implemented in the UK in 2012, which extends film tax reliefs to high-end television productions.[57] The Scottish government also agreed to help pay for the conversion of a warehouse complex on the outskirts of Cumbernauld in North Lanarkshire into a film studio.[58] Principal photography began on location in Scotland in September 2013.[59] The Cumbernauld studios were used for on set filming, with location shoots taking place at Doune Castle, Stirling; mills in East Linton, East Lothian; Newtonmore in the Scottish Highlands; Rothiemurchus Forest, Aviemore; quarries near Bathgate, West Lothian and Aberfoyle, Stirling,[30] as well as Linlithgow Palace,[60] Loch Rannoch in the Highlands, and Falkland and Culross in Fife.[59] Such settings have attracted substantial numbers of international tourists.[60]

Filming for season two began in April 2015, to air in spring 2016.[61] The primary setting for the season is Paris, which Moore explained is being recreated using other locations. Some interiors were filmed on the show's Scotland soundstages, while Prague was used for the exterior street scenes and the Palace of Versailles. In addition some palaces in the south of England which have French rooms and architecture were used as Parisian interiors and part of Versailles.[13][62] Moore noted that season two of Outlander "will look completely different than season one" with a "richer, more dynamic kind of visual palette".[13] With the change of setting from Scotland to France, he said that "visually you’ve moved from the heavy woods and stone of season 1 into the finery of the Parisian apartments".[13] He explained:

Everything about Paris is so completely different, especially the costumes ... It’s the most stylish city in the world during this time. A lot more money. A lot of finery. Scotland is featuring a lot of heavy wools and more organic colors. In Paris everyone wants to be a peacock. You’ve got a much wider palette of textiles and colors and styles than you did in Scotland. It’s a completely different world. And that kind of goes across the board for all the departments ... There were really no sets or pieces of sets that we could use for Paris that we’d used for Scotland ... There are carriages, there are servants with livery, there are props and furniture. It’s completely different. It’s a whole new show.[13]

Production on season three began in September 2016 in Scotland, and filming took place in Cape Town from March to June 2017.[63] Filming completed on June 16, 2017.[64]

In August 2017, Moore said that for season four, locations in Scotland would double as 18th century America, and some of the mountains and rivers of North Carolina would be recreated using locations in Eastern Europe.[19] Production for season four was completed in Scotland by July 5, 2018.[65]

Production on season five, set primarily in North Carolina, began in Scotland in April 2019.[66] Locations included Kinloch Rannoch (for Craigh na Dun), the Thomas Coats Memorial Baptist Church in Paisley, The Hermitage, Dunkeld in Perthshire and Milne Woods in Bridge of Allan. Much of the filming was completed at Wardpark Studios in Glasgow.[67]

Production on season six was scheduled to begin in May 2020 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Asked about rumors that this would be the final season, executive producer Maril Davis stated that: "We are not aware that this is the last season. ... But we don't have any additional seasons picked up yet".[68]

The music is composed by Bear McCreary. The title song is an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's poem Sing me a Song of a Lad that is Gone, set to the tune of the Scottish folk song "The Skye Boat Song".[69] For the first half of season two, the second verse of the opening theme is sung in French to reflect the season's French setting.[70] For the second half of season three, the second verse of the opening theme has Caribbean music to reflect the season's Jamaican setting.[71] The fourth season opening theme has a colonial American sound.[72]

On Metacritic, the first season has a rating of 73 out of 100, based on 34 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[89] On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a 91% rating with an average rating of 7.95/10 based on 52 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads: "Outlander is a unique, satisfying adaptation of its source material, brought to life by lush scenery and potent chemistry between its leads".[90]

The Huffington Post called the first episode "... A masterpiece of impressive depth ... It is amazing!"[91] Entertainment Weekly gave the premiere an "A-" rating, writing that it was "sexy and smart and stirring".[74] Matt Zoller Seitz of New York magazine also praised the series, calling it "defiantly its own thing: part romance-novel fantasy, part-time-travel story, and part wartime drama (set across two time periods)".[92] Sonia Saraiya of The A.V. Club gave the first six episodes an A, writing that it "does for 1743 Scotland what Downton Abbey does for 1912 England", and adding that "Outlander succeeds admirably ... it refuses to sit comfortably in any genre."[93]

British reception was more mixed. In the first UK review, Siobhan Synnot of The Scotsman said "There has not been such a proud display of tartanalia[94] since the opening of the 2014 Commonwealth Games".[95] Alastair McKay of The Evening Standard quoted Saraiya's comparison with Downton Abbey, adding "[The comparison] is entirely correct. It is magical-mystical heuchter-teuchter cobblers."[96] Euan Ferguson of The Observer called it "gorgeous drivel"[97] and Thomas Batten of The Guardian stated "If you love the scenery, shifting allegiances, and palace intrigue of [Game of Thrones] but find yourself wishing the pace were a little slower and that the sex scenes were filmed in a more pretentious manner with lots of slow pans and softer lighting, here’s your show."[98] Graeme Virtue noted "the rather languid pace of the opening episodes" but praised the show's "rare acknowledgment of the female gaze" in its treatment of sex scenes.[99] The Daily Telegraph also made the Game of Thrones comparison,[100] while The Independent stated "...yes, it's a time-travelling, wish-fulfilment fantasy but it's done with such flair and attention to detail that it's impossible not to hop on board for the ride."[101]

On Metacritic, the second season has a score of 85 out of 100 based on 11 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[102] On Rotten Tomatoes, it reports a 92% rating with an average rating of 7.97/10 based on 25 reviews. The website consensus reads: "Outlander returns for a second addictive season of mystery and sweeping romance as Claire and Jamie take on Paris."[103] Based on five episodes for review, Marah Eakin of The A.V. Club gave it a perfect "A" grade and wrote, "It's not just well-written and lovely to look at. It's downright immersive. ... Outlander feels important–even moreso in its second season."[104]

The third season has a Metacritic score of 87 out of 100 based on 6 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[105] Rotten Tomatoes reports a 93% rating with an average rating of 7.95/10 based on 15 reviews. The website consensus reads: "Outlander's epic love story returns with the same strong storytelling and an added layer of maturity."[106] Based on six episodes for review, Liz Shannon Miller of IndieWire gave it an "A"-grade review and wrote, "This is a show that's grown and matured since its initial premiere in ways that defied our initial expectations."[107]

The fourth season has Metacritic a score of 71 out of 100 based on 6 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[108] Rotten Tomatoes reports an 88% rating with an average rating of 7.01/10 based on 11 reviews. The website consensus reads: "Outlander's epic romance settles into a violent fourth season, planting its flag on the American frontier while treading on darker themes."[109]

The fifth season has a Metacritic score of 73 out of 100 based on 4 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[110] Rotten Tomatoes reports an 95% rating with an average rating of 7.53/10 based on 5 reviews.[111]

The first eight episodes averaged more than 5.1 million multiplatform viewers.[112] In July 2015, noting Outlander's strong ratings, its "vocal online fandom and a slew of think pieces tied to its feminist twists on the action genre", Josef Adalian of Vulture credited Outlander as one of the series responsible for Starz's increased success against competitors like Showtime.[6] On February 11, 2020, cable provider Comcast moved the Starz Network from its base cable packages to an a la carte option. This occurred five days before the premiere of season five.[113]