Based on the Best-Selling Books, Outlander to Air on Showcase in 2014

Shaw Media picks up time travel series Outlander, slated to air in 2014 on Showcase. Sam Heughan (Batman Live) will star in the lead role of Jamie Fraser in the series adapted from Diana Gabaldon’s international best-selling books. Executive-produced by Emmy® Award-winner Ronald D. Moore, the 16-episode series begins filming in Scotland this fall.

 

In Outlander, Jamie Fraser strikes up a passionate affair with Claire Randall, a married combat nurse from 1945 who is mysteriously swept back in time to 1743. Armed with sheer grit and enduring strength, he is a strapping young Scottish clan lord with a complicated past and a disarming sense of humor.  He is intelligent, principled, and, by 18th century standards, educated and worldly, with a tenderness and compassion that stands out in contrast to his contemporaries. A natural leader of men, he has no political ambitions or desire for battlefield glories. Instead, he wishes to remove the price on his head and return to his family’s ancestral farm.

 

“Outlander has all the markings of a perfect dramatic series and we’re thrilled to be bringing the phenomenon to Showcase. The series will captivate television audiences as it has done with its series of novels,” said Barbara Williams, Senior Vice President, Content, Shaw Media.

 

The chivalrous young Scottish warrior, Jamie Fraser being played by Heughan, has been adored worldwide by fans of the seven-book series that has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide and has graced the New York Times best-sellers list six times.

 

"From the very beginning, I knew the part of Jamie Fraser would be difficult to cast,” said Executive Producer Ronald D. Moore.  “I had no one in mind for the part.  I knew that someone would just come into the audition and be Jamie Fraser. And that's what Sam did."

 

Tobias Menzies (Game of Thrones, Casino Royale) will play the roles of both Frank Randall and Jonathan "Black Jack" Randall in the series. Frank Randall is Claire's 20th century husband and Jonathan "Black Jack" Randall is Frank's ancestor from the 18th century. While Black Jack Randall may look strikingly similar, he is nothing like the gentle, bookish Frank; he is a violent man who will take what he wants at any cost.

 

The series adaptation for Outlander will be written by Ronald D. Moore (Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Next Generation). Ronald D. Moore and Jim Kohlberg are executive producers of Outlander, which is produced by Tall Ship Productions, Story Mining & Supply Company and Left Bank Pictures in association with Sony Pictures Television.

 

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