Strathearn could benefit from ‘Outlander effect’
A smash hit time-travel drama, which features Strath locations, has been given a slot on UK television for the first time.
Outlander has garnered fans worldwide, as well as Bafta Scotland and Critics Choice awards. It has also been nominated for a Golden Globe.
The first series was one of the mostwatched TV shows on Amazon Prime Video in the UK, but has never been shown on UK television.
However, it has now been bought with a view to being shown on More4 and will air later this month in what is being dubbed as “one of the most hotly-anticipated television events of the year”.
The fantasy series - which has achieved cult status in the US and Australia - is based on the novels of Diana Gabaldon.
The tale sees Second World War nurse Claire Randall (Caitriona Balfe) transported back in time from 1945 to 18th Century Scotland after touching a set of mystical standing stones while on a trip to the Highlands to rekindle her romance with husband, Frank (Tobias Menzies).
Stranded centuries in the past before the Battle of Culloden, she soon finds herself cornered by the fiendish Captain ‘Black Jack’ Randall, her husband’s ancestor.
Adventures ensue when help arrives in the form of charming Scots warrior Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan).
But Claire realises that despite wanting to return home, only her knowledge of the impending bloodbath can help save the Jacobite army.
The US show has built its own private film studio in Cumbernauld but does much of its filming out and about in the Scottish countryside with Strathearn locations, including Drummond Castle Gardens and Tibbermore Church, featured.
The show has already delivered a multimillion-pound boost for Scottish tourism, with fans flocking to Scotland to visit the characters’ mystical world.
In 2015, around 200 devotees of the drama descended on Crieff to celebrate the hit series, using the Strath capital as their base to explore some of the filmed locations.
VisitScotland chief executive Malcolm Roughead said: “The phenomenal success of Outlander has provided a fantastic boost to tourism.
“It has captured the imagination of fans all over the world, inspiring many of them to come to Scotland and follow in the characters’ footsteps.” Doune Castle, which stands in for Castle Leoch in the series, had a 44 per cent increase in visitors last year, while Blackness Castle on the south shore of the Firth of Forth - which doubles as Fort William - has had 28 per cent more people through its gates.”
Outlander will be broadcast on More4 from June 29.
Mr Roughead added: “It’s likely the ‘Outlander effect’ will continue for some time.”