to say that Outlander is just

[BunnyLebowski]

Goodnight Sweetheart mashed up with Braveheart and Quantum Leap? With a soupcon of Mills & Boon.

I've only watched the first episode. Maybe it gets better. But holy shit it was so unoriginal and lame.

Is it worth persevering??

Not really! I watched the first 8 episodes hoping I would stop hating the 'heroine' I did not. She moans and snaps at everyone, all men want to rape her and she has to be rescued all the time by men ugh.

There are some ok supporting cast but really it pisses me off. I like a good timey wimey romp but this gives bodice rippers a bad name

Plenty disagree with me though I am sure

DH has been suggesting this as our next series...I'm glad I saw this as I wasn't keen anyway.

I quite enjoyed the books. I only watched half of the first episode of the TV adaptation though.

Claire is actually quite capable and feisty. You have to give her time to adjust to the period she's thrust into. You get all of this a lot more readily if you've read the books. You know who she is under all the bodice ripping and attempted rapes and know what's to come.

I read the books as light reading whilst on a break from uni. They're not highbrow literature by any stretch but they're good fun and actually Claire's a far more interesting heroine than a snapshot of the series conveys. It does get better.

It's your choice though. If it didn't grab you, maybe it's not for you.

Claire doesn't moan either. She might be outspoken and ill mannered at times but she doesn't moan. She's eminently reasonable tbh.

The accents got me! Either strong scottish, mild scottish (often from English actors) and the cut glass English from the leading lady (who is Irish).

There is a lot of mud - was it really that muddy in the 1700s?

The accents are pretty good actually. You can tell which ones are Highlanders or from Edinburgh for example in Ned's case, who is educated, who isn't. The accents, for once, are pretty spot on and fit the characters well. The cut glass English accent is right too. Not only is this a woman born in 1920, she's from a wealthy, privileged background and has spent her childhood on archaeological digs with her v learned uncle.

And yes, the Scottish highlands were probably quite muddy in the 1700s.

I'm ten episodes in and liking it.

"There is a lot of mud - was it really that muddy in the 1700s?"

I still haven't seen it (I've read the books) but I live in Scotland... It's really muddy now, lol

You HAVE to read the books! (And I have to get over my hatred of the name Outlander - since I've been reading these books for probably 20 years, it will always be across Stitch to me!)

I've not watched the programme yet, am putting it off as I adore every book in the series and am nervous of having it spoiled by a bad show! But read the books and you won't be disappointed

CROSS Stitch!

Oh, Outlander is on my To Watch list, I might not bother.

Is anyone else watching Tatau on BBC3? It's brilliant.

Privatepike - I'll join you

Have lusted after Jamie since about 1995. Always had a bit of a thing for Roger too and wanted a little brother like Young Ian - waaaay too much of my life has been invested in these damn books!

Gave up after 3. Never wanted a lead to be murdered before!

I've found the first two episodes flat and pretty boring when I was expecting something quite extraordinary after all the hype and advertising I've seen. I feel that I ought to finish watching it but then life's too short to keep on with such a tedious woman - who never seems to get dirt even a quarter way up her tartan skirts by the way. (And Yes that part of the Highlands would have been that muddy back then - much more so, probably.)

I love it. Totally addicted. Am now stuck into the books.

Really, not get dirty? She's filthy by the end of episode 1!

It really is a good adaptation of the books but I don't think I'd enjoy it so much without the background knowledge iyswim. I do have to keep padding things out for DH. It's a faithful adaptation in many ways but there's way too much in there to get it all in.

Claire is not awful either. Book Claire is ruddy great. Capable, sexual, feisty, honest, brave, strong and really clever.

There is a thread. Come and talk to us.

I re-read the first three books in 4 days just to remind myself of stuff. I was only going to re-read the first but, well, you know...

Clare is an excellent lead female.

...She's filthy by the end of episode 1!...

I recall reading once about a person who was 'looking like a woman who had just been in a bar brawl rather than the Director's idea of someone who had just been in a bar brawl.' The Outlander heroine may get dirty but it's ....tasteful smudges rather than someone who has really been pulled through a hedge backwards.

The first two episodes seem to always be the Director's idea of how something would have been. You know how when you're watching something and you can just hear or see the Director sitting in the background going 'Let's try that again but this time with.....' ?

That's how it came across to me. I spent the first two episodes musing about the practicalities of scene finding and actor identification rather than being engaged as a good movie always should.

Perhaps I'm being unfair. Perhaps it's a slow burner and might improve in the next episode. I just think that there are so many alternatives to see out there now that this isn't worth keeping on with in comparison. As I said, life's short - and I doubt this will add to it for me.