Starz is looking over their shoulder at the unbelievable success of Game of Thrones, feeling just a little bit jealous and unloved. They're looking to branch out into producing original materials, but most of their attempts thus far haven't reached the heights of their pay cable brethren, HBO and Showtime. I think they want to create a hit with another popular fantasy book series, so it's unsurprising that they recently put in a 16-episode order for Diana Gabaldon's Outlander (or Cross-Stitch in the UK), a romantic fantasy novel from the early 90s. Essentially, the book series revolves around a 20th century nurse who time travels back to 18th century Scotland, and carries on with a dashing local named James Fraser. They have a series of adventures as their romance progresses and spans the length of seven books. And hey, why not? Fantasy is in right now, as you can tell from Game of Thrones, and time travel has never been bigger, with Doctor Who celebrating its fiftieth anniversary in 2013. I was a wee bit too young for these books when they came out, but I remember my mother had a copy of Outlander, so I'm curious to see what they do with the popular romance series.
Audrey Fox is an ex-film student, which means that she prefers to spend her days in the dark, watching movies and pondering the director's use of diegetic sound. She currently works as an entertainment writer, joyfully rambling about all things film and television related. Add her on Twitter at @audonamission and check out her film blog at 1001moviesandbeyond.com.
