Outlander (series)

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Outlander was a series of historical fantasy novels by Diana Gabaldon which were adapted into a drama TV series by Starz. The series followed Claire Randall, a World War II-era British nurse who found herself transported back in time to mid-18th century Scotland, where she fell in love with Jamie Fraser, a Highland warrior.

The character of Jamie Fraser was inspired by Jamie McCrimmon, a Second Doctor companion played by Frazer Hines from 1966 to 1969.[1] Gabaldon first concieved of the novel after watching a re-run of The War Games on PBS in the late 1980s,[2] particularly the scene of Jamie's "pig-headed gallantry" towards Jennifer Buckingham, a World War I-era British nurse.[3] The resemblance of her character's last name to Hines's first name was a coincidence.[4]

The first book was released in 1991 and followed by nine further novels in the Outlander series, as well as a number of short stories and novellas, a graphic novel and a spinoff novel series called Lord John.

The television adaptation of Outlander began airing on Starz in 2014, three years after Starz aired series 4 of Torchwood. The show shared a large number of cast and crew with Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures,[5] including Frazer Hines, who played Sir Fletcher Gordon in the first season.[6]

Outlander also featured an adaption of The Skye Boat Song by Bear McCreary, which featured lyrics adapted from Robert Louis Stevenson's poem Sing Me a Song of a Lad That Is Gone.

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  1. Tim Knox (July 2014). Diana Gabaldon: Bringing Outlander To Life In Books and On TV for Millions of Fans. Interviewing Authors. Archived from the original on 11 March 2015.
  2. Diana Gabaldon (11 May 2010). The "Dr. Who" Connection. DianaGabaldon.com.
  3. Diana Gabaldon (27 July 2016). The Doctor's Balls. Facebook.
  4. Diana Gabaldon. FAQ About the Books. DianaGabaldon.com. “Owing to the local PBS station cutting off the Dr. Who credits in order to run pledge appeals, I didn't know the actor's name until some years later, after the first book had been written.”
  5. DJ Forrest (7 February 2021). Connections Outlander. Project Torchwood.
  6. Megan Elliott (2 January 2021). The Original Jamie Fraser?. Showbiz CheatSheet.