'˜Outlander Effect' invades Westminster

The hugely popular fantasy-history series Outlander has inspired a major surge of visitors to sites including Linlithgow Palace and Blackness Castle.

And this week Linlithgow and Falkirk East MP Martyn Day was delighted to host a special Westminster event to celebrate both the tourism success and to showcase “an abundance of luxury Scottish produce”.

Some local historic sites have seen tourism rocket by up to 85 per cent because of the series, and there’s no sign of any let-up.

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With Season 4 in production - and every chance the series could run till Season 9 - diehard fans are nevertheless worried the show could suddenly end.

A scene from Outlander's Series 3, in which - out of all the people on Drumossie Moor on the fateful day of the Battle of Culloden - hero Jamie Fraser bumps into old sparring partner 'Black Jack' Randall.A scene from Outlander's Series 3, in which - out of all the people on Drumossie Moor on the fateful day of the Battle of Culloden - hero Jamie Fraser bumps into old sparring partner 'Black Jack' Randall.
A scene from Outlander's Series 3, in which - out of all the people on Drumossie Moor on the fateful day of the Battle of Culloden - hero Jamie Fraser bumps into old sparring partner 'Black Jack' Randall.

However showbiz gossip columns agree there’s little chance of a series which has been such a runaway success being wound up any time soon (the next showing will probably be autumn this year).

A lot may depend on the producers’ ability to keep the main characters alive, but American author Diana Gabaldon, with a gold-plated moneyspinner to look forward to for years to come, is reckoned likely to keep characters Jamie Fraser and Catriona in rude good health for the forseeable future.

Meanwhile work continues on biopic series The Outlaw King, which unlike Outlander (or the widely derided Braveheart) aims to be a story firmly founded onknown historical facts.

Starring Chris Pine, it tells the story of King Robert I, and how his struggle against seemingly impossible odds led to total victory over enemies both at home and south of the border.

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