From Digital Spy:
Much like its heroine, Outlander is about to materialise in a new time and place – the fantasy historical series, which has already gone down a storm in the US, comes to the UK from tomorrow (Thursday, March 26) courtesy of Amazon Prime Instant Video.
Based on Diana Gabaldon’s novel series, Outlander is the story of Claire (Caitriona Balfe), a World War II nurse who finds herself mysteriously whisked back to 18th century Scotland, where she encounters civil war and the dashing Highland warrior Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan).
Digital Spy spoke to the show’s two leads and its showrunner Ronald D Moore, the man behind the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica television series who was tasked with bringing Gabaldon’s books to the small screen.
Origins
Moore reveals he first stumbled onto Outlander “six… seven years ago – something like that. It was as Battlestar Galactica was winding down and I was thinking about future projects.
“I read the first book and from the beginning I knew this was a TV show – I could see how episodes could be crafted, I was sold – and then it was just a matter of getting the rights.”Moore then engaged in a lengthy waiting game, as the screen rights were held up in aborted movie development deals. He finally had his day – successfully purchasing the rights, taking Outlander to Sony and finally selling the project to US broadcaster Starz.
Then the real hard work began: “It wasn’t too bad of a transition,” he says of adapting Gabaldon’s 1991 novel into a 16-part first season. “The first book had a strong central narrative to it – so the process of adaptation was relatively straightforward.
“There’s changes and modifications along the way, but you’re always trying to get back to where the book takes you. We don’t want to mess up the bigger tapestry of the series.”
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