'Outlander' First Look Entices With Romance, Adventure, and Time Travel
On this day, May 2, in fictional history, English combat nurse Claire Randall disappeared without a trace. She was visiting the Scottish Highlands on a second honeymoon to reconnect with her MI6 husband Frank after being separated by their World War II duties. While exploring the ancient Craigh na Dun standing stones after witnessing a Druidesque ritual by local women, Claire was mysteriously transported to 1743. It was a particularly volatile time in the region just before the Jacobite risings.
Starz and executive producer Ronald D. Moore ("Battlestar Galactica"), who are bringing the epic adventure and time-traveling romance at the center of the best-selling Diana Gabaldon "Outlander" novels to the small screen, are hoping May 2 will now also be remembered as the day Claire went viral.
Yahoo TV has the exclusive first look at two new photos from the production, and "Outlander" fans just helped unlock a new trailer (above) for the much-anticipated summer series. After Yahoo TV posted the first 40 seconds of the trailer this morning, fans went to Outlandercommunity.com and shared the vintage missing-person poster of Claire (right) to their social media sites using the hashtag #WhereIsClaire. After enough fans shared the poster, voila: Now the full "Outlander" trailer is available.
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"In the 1940s, you see the wonderful relationship Claire has with Frank, [but after] she falls back in time, she is sort of rescued — or taken — by this group of Highlanders, one of whom is young Jamie Fraser. She becomes embroiled in the Jacobite versus the Redcoats rebellion and is forced to marry Jamie in order to protect herself, and slowly they develop this great love affair," Caitriona Balfe (Claire) explained to Yahoo TV during a February visit to the set outside of Glasgow. The two men competing for her heart are pictured in their era-appropriate threads in the two scene grabs. "But it's not really a fluffy romance. Claire's not your typical damsel in distress," Balfe explained. "She's a very modern, feisty, and intelligent woman. It is a very complicated love triangle. It is very gritty."
[Related: Who's Who on 'Outlander'?]
Sam Heughan (Jamie) was quick to assure that this is not "just a romance story. There is the romance element, but there's also a lot of adventure, the historical and political side, the time-traveling, the realities of living in the 1700s, and all the battles that go on. The [era/type of] Scottish culture that is in the show hasn't been done before to such an extent on camera. … There's something in there for everyone."
And that includes anyone who is not familiar with the book series. Like "Game Of Thrones," author Gabaldon believes that even if viewers have not read the books, it will not be an impediment to enjoyment. "It would probably more often work the other way around. A large number of people who have never heard of the books will enjoy the show and therefore go out and read," she said, adding that she has complete faith in Moore. "Ron very wisely came to talk to me with his production partner. They spent a weekend at my house going through characters, storylines, backstory and sharing with me his ideas for adaptation. I felt we were very much on the same wavelength. I felt as comfortable as is possible to be in such a situation with him at the helm."
[Related: Check Out More 'Outlander' Photos]
Moore, who got used to dealing with very vocal followings on "Battlestar Galactica" and "Star Trek: The Next Generation," warned that there will be some tweaks and edits. But he also wanted to assure the hard-core fans that he and the rest of the cast and crew always havethe best intentions to make the "most faithful and most exciting" adaptation possible. "We are fans of the material too. I wanted to realize the book, not change the book," Moore said. "I wanted to get Diana to sign off and feel comfortable with what we were doing with her characters and her story. There was always the questions — Is this 'Outlander?' Is this Claire? Is this still in the spirit of the book? We might change something or vary something, [but] we always get back to where the book is."
"Outlander" will debut on Starz in summer 2014.
