#filming it in the highlands and talking about the clearances !!! they really did that

[cithaerons]

lovinggg this show…… it’s barely even star wars, thus far it’s far more a thoughtful exploration of imperialism and fascism than sci fi. it’s technically all fiction but sometimes barely, you know? i don’t think the veil between our world and the star wars-verse has ever been portrayed as so thin.

[genoacedo]

Diana Gabaldon is backing Outlander star Sam Heughan to become the next James Bond and says it would not mean quitting her hit TV show.

The star writer, famous for bringing her sweeping Highland romance to bookshelves and television, believes the 38-year old Scot would be perfect as suave spy 007.

Diana, 66, says she is neither shaken or stirred by the news that Sam, who plays Jamie Fraser in the small screen adaptations of her novels, has become a favourite to replace Daniel Craig as Bond.

And Diana says Outlander producers could work with Eon Productions, who make the Bond films, to allow him time for both roles.

The international best-selling author who advises on the Amazon Prime blockbuster series said: “I have seen that Sam is being tipped for James Bond and I think it would be great.

“Sam would do a fine job of it. There is always a lot of talk every time James Bond changes so it’s anybody’s guess.

“But I don’t think he would have to leave Outlander to be James Bond because the Bond movies are just that, they’re movies.

“Outlander is a television show so it would just be a matter of scheduling.”

With Daniel Craig expected to hang up his Walther PPK after the upcoming Bond 25 movie, Sam is third-favourite to take up the role behind Tom Hardy and McMafia actor James Norton.

Diana said: “I’m sure that Sam would bring something different to the role. He is a fabulous actor. I have seen him do a number of amazing things as an actor. He would handle that role well.”

Bond producers have plenty of time to decide.

The next film may be delayed after it was announced that Danny Boyle will no longer direct the project.

The Scots director behind Outlaw King and Hell or High Water, David Mackenzie, is among those tipped to replace him.

The next series of Outlander begins filming in 2019.

Diana added: “Sam is doing two movies during this haitus before filming on Outlander resumes next year.

“So things can be arranged. It is not impossible to do movies and television series at the same time.

“I think he could do both.

“It would be a matter of scheduling the show and films for nine months of a year and then their having a much longer haitus between filming to allow the actors to take on other jobs.

“I’ve seen all the Bond movies and I’m a big fan of Daniel Craig. I think he’s great and Sean Connery was fabulous. I actually liked Timothy Dalton a lot.

"I don’t think he’s a fan favourite but I liked him too and you can always rely on Sam to find something new about a character so we’ll see.”

Inspired by Scottish history, Diana began writing the Outlander novels in 1988.

The eight books have sold over 30 million copies worldwide.

Along with the television series, which stars Caitriona Balfe as Claire, the stories about time-travelling nurse Claire Randall have helped boost the country’s tourism trade.

“It is very surprising and I’m happy to be able to give something back to Scotland because it has certainly provided me with a great richness of history and background and national character,” Diana said.

“I hadn’t been to Scotland when I wrote Outlander. I wrote the book for practice and I had decided that the historical novel would be the easiest thing for me to write because I was a research professor and could look things up.

“It was a whim of the moment to set the book in Scotland.

“It was set in Scotland in the 18th century but it was just a practice book. I wasn’t intending to show it to anyone.

“It’s astonishing. It’s a book I wrote almost 30 years ago.

“It has just slowly grown and grown and now Outlander is being credited with lifting the entire Scottish tourism interest which is very gratifying to me.”

The books and television series have developed an international dimension with locations in the US, France and the West Indies.

She also plans to set part of the next saga in Prince Edward Island, Canada, where survivors of the fictional seat of the Clan MacKenzie – Castle Leoch – settle.

But Diana has promised not to turn her back on Scotland completely.

“All of the books have at least one foot in Scotland because you can’t really take Scots permanently out of Scotland,” she said.

“But what I did essentially was follow the tide of history because, you know post-Culloden, there was a considerable diaspora with Scots being forcibly transported, or in some cases just being obliged to move for economic reasons.

“There was no way to make a living in the Highlands and so a great number of them left either voluntarily or not, but where they went was largely to America.

“Some of them ended up in West Indies and those were transported.

“Others went to North Carolina, where a previous Highland clearance had settled a lot of people, or up the coast to Prince Edward Island.

“Most of the books are set between places because people moved around quite a lot in the 18th century.

“It was a time of great upheaval and georgaphical movement as well as war which tends to unsettle people so yes, the characters will return to Scotland periodically and our characters multiply.

“Jamie and Claire do at one point return to Scotland but it won’t be for a couple of books.”