Outlander to be broadcast on UK television for first time tomorrow

Fans of Scottish time-travelling fantasy Outlander will be able to watch the show on British television for the first time this summer.

Sam Heughan as Jamie Fraser with his co-star Caitriona Balfe as Claire Randall Fraser. PIC: Starz.

More4 will broadcast series one of the show on June 29, with new episodes airing weekly.

UK viewers of the drama, based on the hugely successful Diana Gabaldon books, have watched the show on Amazon Prime Video since it debuted on US TV network Starz in 2014.

Up until now, Outlander has never been shown on a UK television station with some broadcasters unwilling to show the programme without cutting some scenes, either due to timings or their sexual or violent nature.

Starring Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe, Outlander charts the time travels of lead character Claire Randall who is transported back to the Highlands during the mid 1700s after touching a standing stone while on her honeymoon near Inverness.

The show charts the build up to the Battle of Culloden, the influence of Bonnie Prince Charlie on some Highland clans and the romance between the two main characters.

The first series of the time-travelling drama was one of the most watched TV shows on Amazon Prime Video in the UK in 2015, and is now expected to air on More4 in the coming weeks.

The third Outlander series is due to air in the US on Starz from September 2017.

Outlander author Diana Gabaldon earlier expressed hope that the BBC would show the hit time-travel series - as long as nothing was cut out.

Gabaldon said Outlander’s producers were right to insist cuts are not made to suit the schedules of broadcasters or due to the strong content of the show, which features graphic scenes of sex and violence.

While several offers had been made by UK stations, several had wanted to cut episodes either for time or due to the nature of some of the scenes, she said.