That all being said this TV series did inspire me to write a novel/series of short stories, set in 17th century Scotland rather than Jacobite time. Actually my novella The Lady of Blacktower is set in a pseudo-Scottish land with warring Clanns and the like. I sometimes feel when I get inspired by someone else's story I have to justify why mine is different, even though most of the recommended reading after Outlander are stories of the exact same thing: someone getting stuck in 18th century Scotland and being swept off their feet by fearsome, rugged Scotsman. Worry not, if I do decide to stick with this one over my other two current tales it won't be like that (-ish). Seeing as my current A4 page count on it is about 7 I won't even bother going into details of the story (seeing as I haven't really solidified it yet).
It may surprise you to know this post is actually a brief review of the series. It really is good and I would recommend it. I've actually been putting this drama off, thinking that it was a summer drama and that meant it would be finished by now; it is not. There are 8 episodes currently aired, and we have to wait until April for the rest of season 1! Boooo!
If you've been reading my previous blogposts, and have seen the awful attempt at a blurb I have on Amazon, you'll notice I'm not really the best at summarising tales (strange when I'm really good at writing abstracts for my reports). In short, with no spoilers, is War-nurse Claire Randall travels to Scotland for a second honeymoon with her husband Frank after WWII is over. Once there she is catapulted back to 1743 Scotland, has many, many confrontational run-ins with both English red-coats and Scottish clan members alike, due to either wrong place wrong time, or her sheer willfulness.
Let's have a look at the heroine first; Claire Randall/Beauchamp. The first thing I thought when I read the series was that her surname was Beecham, literally that surname. I didn't know that Beecham was the anglicized version of the much prettier Beauchamp, which after "Witches of East End" I pronounce in French (Bow-shomp). Minor detail. Claire is much funnier in the books, there seems to be no humour in the series for me, or if there is it's minimal. She has a very dry personality, quite cynical, and that makes her dialogue and thoughts just jump right off the page. Unfortunately it's her wilfullness that I find annoying. I have a different definition of "strong" women apparently, because I think being pig-headedly stubborn is irritating and doesn't translate into strength of character. She has a good heart, as all protagonists must, but at times during the series I found myself being annoyed by her.
I really liked her costumes, although the dress she wears in "Wedding" fell so irritatingly short of perfect. It is a stunning gown, seriously, so simple and elegant, but it's too low!! I know in the 18th century they did have their ladies popping out like that, but for me this dress would have been so much better if it hadn't looked as though it was stuck on with removable glue at the top.Update: after reading the blog of the costume designer I have now learned that there was a top to this dress made of silver material, unfortunately it was damaged when wool cloaks were being taken on and off during filming and so had to be scrapped. Such a shame!
The costume on the left I really liked, the jacket was amazing and looked so cozy and warm. All of the other costumes were suitably similar to one another. I've been researching 17th century highland wear and have learned that everyone, save the very rich, wore quite muted colours, which Claire does throughout.
She is a good character, don't get me wrong, just during the times she's pig-headed I get annoyed. It struck me that Claire spent the entire series, and so far in the book, endeavoring to find her way back to the 20th century, most of the books I've read on this topic just has the protagonist resigned to stay there until fate decided to return them.
Congratulations, Ms Gabaldon, on a well-rounded heroine.
Jamie MacTavish/Fraser. I must admit I don't seem to have become as obsessed with him as I have with other fictional characters. The Outlander fandom love this man; I love the colour of his hair. He is a good character, very saintly and noble, and surprisingly shy. When I was watching the series I couldn't believe that he was a virgin, in the books I didn't believe it either, in reality it would be highly unlikely, especially in that time.Sam Heughan, on the other hand, I could spread on a cracker. Dear me is this man attractive; and that's how I understand why fans love both novel Jamie, and the TV Jamie. He really brings the character to life and for me it helps that he's Scottish as well.
Dougal and Callum MacKenzie are very good, all the characters are interesting in this.
What I really wanted to speak about was the accents. As a Scottish person, albeit a Glaswegian one, I cringed when I heard some of the accents in this series. Especially poor Lotte Verbeek's. Glaswegians have their own accent, which I speak, and Highlanders have their own too, but I swear that half of the cast just did your typical Highland accent that sounds fake. Lotte Verbeek and Annette Badland were the worst offenders, everyone else sounded genuine. Sam Heughan's was strange as well, so much so I thought he wasn't Scottish! He's from Galloway in Dumfries near the border, and his natural accent is quite a gentle Scottish, but his highland accent was weird.
I also really liked the fact that they filmed in Scotland, some productions based here are rarely filmed here, and I salute the production team for their decision.
A part from the weird, fake accents I really enjoyed this series, it made me sorry I don't know Gaelic. I look forward to seeing this in April when it returns for the second half of the series, and I would recommend anyone into historical dramas to watch it, if you haven't already.
