New Outlander Photo, Ronald Moore Talks Sex And Violence, Rough And Gritty Tone

Just days ahead of the planned Outlander fan event in Los Angeles, a new still from Starz’s adaptation of Diana Gabaldon’s novel has made its way online, showing us a glimpse of the picturesque 1940s-era portion of the story. Series developer Ronald D. Moore also answered some questions about what’s in store for this drama, including how much sex and violence fans should expect, and the pacing of the story as it relates to the books.

Outlander centers on a 1940s combat nurse who finds herself whisked back through time to 18th century Scotland. She’s eventually forced to marry the gallant young warrior Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan). Complicating matters further — as though that’s necessary — Claire’s already married to a man in her time. EW shared the photo above, which shows lead character Claire (Caitriona Balfe) having what looks like a fun picnic in the grass outside of a large stone building with her husband — presumably, the photo’s not labeled — Frank (Tobias Menzies). You can actually see an alternate view of this scene with an even better look at that incredible castle over at Starz’s Outlander website. It’s the fourth slide currently included in the top slide show…

Ronald D. Moore checked in with EW to talk about the series. According to what he told the site, the first season, which is set for 16 episodes, will cover the length of the first book. “The general scheme is one season, one book,” he says. But who knows if they’ll be able to stick to that beyond the first season? Assuming there is a second season, of course.

As for the sex, of which there are plenty in Gabaldon’s novel, Moore says, “It’s an intimate show in an epic setting. There is a fair amount. We don’t really have to add very much; there’s a lot of sex in the book. There’s a fair amount of violence, too, but it’s not a battle show — we’re not getting into the big slo-mo spurts of blood.”

And don’t expecta shiny, modernized view of 18th century Scotland either, Moore says they’re trying to deliver an authentic period piece. “We’re not trying to reinvent the 18th century and make it cool for modern audiences,” he told EW. “There’s a temptation to make period pieces look like a costume drama, where everything is very clean and beautiful. We’re going for a rougher, grittier feeling to what life was like back then.”

Rough and gritty seems like the right approach, considering the tough and brave Scottish warriors involved in this story.

This new photo and Moore’s comments may not be the only updates we see from Outlander in the coming days. There’s an Outlander fan event set up for this Saturday (January 11) in Los Angeles at the Orpheum Theater. Hopefully that event yields some new details and updates on the series, which has been filming in Scotland since last fall. As for the when the series will premiere on Starz, still no word but I doubt I’m alone in saying I canna wait to find out!

Check out our other Outlander coverage here, including a language lesson from Heughan on how to say "Sassenach" properly, and the the previously released photo of Claire and Jamie together: