Canadians will finally get to check out Starz’ Outlander series when it premieres tonight on Showcase.
The series is a Cable adaptation of Diana Gabaldon’s international best-selling books which spans multiple genres, including (first and foremost) romance, time travel and history. Claire Randall (Super 8’s Caitriona Balfe) is a married combat nurse from 1945 who is mysteriously taken back in time, to 1743, where her life is threatened. She comes across a young Scottish warrior, Jamie Fraser (played by Sam Heughan – familiar to British soap audiences for his role on Doctors), which leaves her heart to be torn between two vastly different men, the warrior in 1743 and her husband, Frank (Game of Thrones’ Tobias Menzies) – who also bares a striking resemblance to Jonathan Randall from the past.
Outlander is being compared to Game of Thrones in many ways (albeit a feminist version): sex scenes, swordplay but most importantly character-driven stories. The series is developed by Ronald D. Moore,who has written for the Star Trek franchise and was the showrunner for Battlestar Galactica. I was lucky enough to be one of the TV critics who got to check out the premiere earlier this week at an event organized by Showcase and Sony Pictures Television. It got a strong reaction from the ladies and I’ve been told that the second episode is even better than the pilot, so guys may want to continue past tonight’s sex scene.
Outlander has already been picked up for a second season, so it’s definitely worth the quick investment head on the heels of countless new shows that will be premiere in the next couple of months. The series premiere of Outlander airs Sunday, August 24, 2014 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Showcase.
