OUTLANDER
SoHo – Foxtel
Coming soon
Starring: Catriona Balfe and Sam Heughan
IT WAS a best-selling novel and for years fans have been speculating just who would play Claire and Jamie from Cross Stitch and when (never if) it would be made into a television series or movie.
And now the Stars channel in the US has finally produced a 16-episode series from Diana Gabaldon’s international best-selling books and Foxtel has picked it up.
The series will be known by its international name, Outlander, but, of course, most of us know the first book better as Cross Stitch here in Australia (though my personal favourite is the second book Dragonfly in Amber).
The new series, going out in the US in the next few weeks and in Australia some time after that, will follow the story of Claire Randall, a married combat nurse from 1945 who is mysteriously swept back in time to 1743.
Upon her arrival, she is immediately thrown into an unknown world where her life is threatened.
But when she is forced to marry Jamie Fraser, a chivalrous and romantic young Scottish warrior, a passionate relationship is ignited.
Now Claire’s heart is torn between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.
The series is currently filming on location in Scotland and stars Irish actress Caitriona Balfe as Claire and Scottish actor Sam Heughan as Jamie.
Both have had small roles in a lot of productions – most notably for Caitriona is Now You See Me and Super Eight while Sam had a small role in Party Animals (the show that launched the career of Doctor Who’s Matt Smith).
They are a long way from those who have been touted on the net as the possible stars – everyone from Gerard Butler to David Tennant for the role of Jamie.
In fact, some fans have gone as far to make whole YouTube tributes to their casting picks such is the fanaticism.
Will fans be happy with this version? Who knows – but the trailer recently released on YouTube makes it all look pretty exciting so fingers crossed.
– Tania Phillips
