Waiting for Roger MacKenzie?

When it was first announced that Outlander was going to finally become a TV series we were all waiting in anticipation for the announcement of who would play Jamie and the vast majority of us were highly delighted when the little known Sam Heughan was given the role.  There were the expected moans and groans from some people but it appears that when picking male actors they really know what they are doing!

However, filming for the second series is well under way and there is still no real mention of the casting of my second favourite male, Roger Wakefield MacKenzie!  I'll be honest and say that I'm getting worried! Have they found someone and are keeping him a secret or are they struggling to find someone who is suitable? 

Looking at some old posts in this blog I found this post called Roger MacKenzie in the Flesh where I picked a few actors who I thought would be good for the role.  Well I haven't changed my mind but logistically some of them are tied up for a while with other projects. Aiden Turner would be a wonderful choice but he's playing dashing Ross Poldark for the next couple of years and Christian Bale is far too important now to do a lowly TV show! 

Diana Gabaldon Mini Book Store

Looking forward to Ross Poldark!

Something to feast your eyes on until you wait for the next episode of Outlander on April 4th! 

The Outlander books are without a doubt my favourite but the Poldark books are a close second and coming soon to UK TV is the new Poldark TV series!  They are an adaptation from the books by Winston Graham and are about a minor landowner returning to Cornwall from the Revolutionary War in America! The books were made into a TV series in the 70's and it was a resounding success but the new TV series looks far more in depth and hopefully will do justice to the original story.  The main character in the story is Ross Poldark who was originally played by Robin Ellis but will now be played by Aiden Turner who I'm sure you'll agree is very easy on the eye! 

Here is the trailer ...

Now you may be wondering what this has to do with Outlander

At the end of the trailer you see Ross Poldark/Aidan Turner standing at the harbour at Charleston in Cornwall.  The boat you see in the harbour is called the Phoenix and it is the same one which was used for the boat which takes Jamie and Claire to France! The reason I know this is because I was there last summer not long after they finished filming Poldark and they were in the process refitting the ship for a "new TV show" ... which I now know to be Outlander!  Normally the ship is available for the public to go on and have a look around (or in my case play pirates on!) but it was closed when I was there as they didn't want the public to make a mess of the new shiny paint job! 

Outlander: Amazon Prime Is NOT A Valid Option!

In the UK we have been waiting for well over a year to hear news of not only when we get to see Outlander but the station it will be shown on. It's with a lot of disappointment that I found out yesterday that rather than making it available to the general public Outlander is only going to be shown on Amazon Prime!

THAT IS NOT A VALID OPTION! 

I know of several long time fans of Outlander who aren't very internet savvy and will have no chance of getting access to Amazon prime. The elderly lady down the road has been asking me on a regular basis if I've heard any news and now I'm going to have to tell her that she won't be able to watch it until it comes out on DVD? She, along with many other fans, are going to feel let down by this choice. 

Basically my own experience of Amazon Prime is as follows: I took out a trial package before Christmas and out of all the movies and TV shows on there I could find only one movie to watch which hadn't already been on the TV. Once I'd got free postage on my Christmas presents I decided to cancel the subscription.  Amazon Prime isn't overly expensive but an additional £5.99 per month alongside the TV License and for some people a Sky subscription all adds up! 
 
The show is set in the UK and filmed in the UK using mainly UK actors and yet we are not going to be able to watch it unless we have internet access and take out an Amazon Prime subscription. 

When will Outlander be shown in the UK?

In December it was announced that Outlander would be shown in the UK "next year"! This is particularly vague as it not only doesn't give any indication of when in 2015 nor does it give any indication of which station it will be shown on.  Luckily I have ... ehem ... already seen it ... but there are thousands of other fans who are patiently waiting and are being very patient and understanding.  There is an elderly fan down my street who asks me for news every time I see her and I'm sure she thinks I'm lying about the TV series actually existing. I'm also getting fed up of telling friends, family and random people in the street (OK so I lied about the last part) how great the TV show is and then having to tell them that I have no idea when it's actually on  ... or which station! 

I know there are procedures which are put into place to make these announcement timely and well orchestrated but PLEASE LET US KNOW SOMETHING SOON! 

 

Pre-Order the Outlander DVD!

Outlander TV series has without a doubt been very very popular (even if it hasn't been shown in the UK yet!) and it comes as little surprise that it is already winning awards despite the first season only being half way through! I was however a little surprised that it's already time for a DVD release as it only seems such a short time since it was first shown on TV (not in the UK ... I'm not at all bitter!).

The Outlander DVD is available to pre-order from Amazon and will be  released on 3rd March. Looking at the subtitle it's season one volume one and includes the first eight episodes as well as additional extras!