It’s been a while since the STARZ network announced the name of the actor (Sam Heughan) hired to play Jamie Fraser in next spring’s production of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander, and about a week since one other actor (Tobias Menzies) was announced for the series. Outlander fans have been holding their collective breath awaiting information on who will play Claire, the time-traveling heroine of the series, and Facebook and Twitter followers have been speculating (half-jokingly) that because nobody could possibly embody all of Claire’s attributes, the character would be done via CGI.
Today, STARZ announced that John Dahl will direct the first two episodes of the 16-episode “highly anticipated” first season. Dahl, who has directed episodes of Dexter, Breaking Bad and Justified, was warmly welcomed to the Outlander family by Heughan and Gabaldon, as well as many fans familiar with his work.
The Outlander writer’s room has also been putting out little bits of info, with photos and teasers. A recent photo of a writers room desk caused fans to notice that there was no copy of an Outlander graphic novel, The Exile, on the desk, and Gabaldon quickly said she’d send one to fill that void.
Outlander is the first book in a currently 7-book series (the 8th book, Written in My Own Heart’s Blood, will be published in March). STARZ described the series: “The ‘Outlander‘ series spans the genres of romance, science fiction, history, and adventure in one epic tale. It follows the story of Claire Randall, a married British combat nurse from 1945 who is mysteriously swept back in time to 1743, where she is immediately thrown into an unknown world where her life is threatened. When she is forced to marry Jamie Fraser, a chivalrous and romantic young Scottish warrior, a passionate affair is ignited that tears Claire’s heart between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.”
