The television show Outlander, based on the best-selling novels by Diana Gabaldon, will be shown on UK television next year.

 

The £50 million show was filmed in locations around Scotland and at a studio in Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire and will return again for a long period of shooting next year.

Made for the Starz network in the US, the many fans of the books have long wished to see the television series, which stars Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe in the main roles, on UK television.

The co-producers of the show, Sony Pictures Television, have been in talks with television stations around the world, but have now finally secured a station which broadcasts in the UK.

A Sony source said: "Outlander will definitely be available in the UK next year."

Further details on transmission and which channel will carry the series are to be announced in the near future.

The second season of at least 13 episodes will be shot in Scotland.

It will be based on Dragonfly in Amber, the second book in Gabaldon's best-selling series

The series follows the story of Claire Randall, played by Irish actreess Balfe, who is a married English combat nurse from 1945 who, while on her honeymoon in Scotland, is swept back to the 18th century.

There she meets Jamie, played by Scottish actor Heughan, a young Highland warrior.

The first series was filmed across 16 Scottish locations including Glasgow's George Square and Pollok Park, as well as being shot in the purpose-built studio.

It also stars Tobias Menzies, Gary Lewis, Graham McTavish, Lotte Verbeek and Bill Paterson.

The series of Outlander novels has sold more than 20 million copies and been in the New York Times best-seller list six times.

Outlander made its global debut on the Starz channel in the US in August.

The first episode attracted five million viewers.

Broadcasters in more than 80 territories around the world, including New Zealand, Australia, Japan, China, Brazil, Uruguay, Denmark and Ireland, have bought the rights to the series.

At a sold-out appearance at the Edinburgh International Book Festival last year, Gabaldon also said how delighted she was with the casting of the TV version, but expressed puzzlement at why the show had not yet hit UK television.

Outlander has been used as the basis for a VisitScotland campaign, which has used the books and TV series popularity to promote Scotland as a tourist destination.