Actor Sam Heughan praised for Outlander season three premier

Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) meets his old foe Black Jack Randall on the battlefield at Culloden in a tense first episode of Outlander season three. PIC: Sony Pictures Television.

US fans of the time travelling fantasy were treated to the first episode of the new season last night with the show to stream for UK fans on Amazon Prime tonight (Monday).

Viewers are taken straight to the aftermath of the Battle of Culloden with a eerily quiet sequence that is broken up with the violent flashbacks of Sam Heughan’s Jamie Fraser, who lies clinging on to life amongst the bodies.

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Few words are uttered by the character - but his pain is immeasurable as he flicks between the carnage on the battle field to a vision of his lost wife, Claire.

Writer and producer Ronald D Moore praised the actor as the show aired last night.

“Sam does a lot of very fine work with very little dialogue and mostly lying down. A strong moving performance,” Moore said on Twitter.

Sam Heughan has been praised for his portrayal of Jamie Fraser in the first episode of the new season of Outlander which begins with the Battle of Culloden. PIC: Sony Pictures Television.

The long-awaited return of the show brings to an end the “droughtlander” experienced by fans.

The tense opening episode is heavy with loss with Fraser hoping for his own end as he struggles to make sense of events.

His wife, Claire, could not be further away and is locked in her own fight for survival some 200 years away from her husband.

After stepping back through the standing stones at the end of season 2, she appears trapped in 1940s Boston in a big house she doesn’t want with a man she doesn’t want.

Claire Randall Fraser faces her own battles after returning to modern life in the time travelling fantasy. PIC: Sony Pictures Television.

As she struggles adjusting to her new life - and who could blame her having travelled through two centuries - things get tense in the family home as she and Frank prepare for the arrival of Jamie Fraser’s baby.

Historian Frank pleads with her to stop living in the past, but life as a modern housewife proves hard to bare in Boston with many of the city scenes shot in the west end of Glasgow.

Moore also praised editor Mike O’Halloran for his “exceptional work through the entire battle sequence” of Culloden which peaks with Fraser meeting his old adversary Black Jack Randall on the field.

Meanwhile, the personal battles are only just beginning in Outlander season three.