Starz has continued to put all it’s chips on the table when it comes to their small screen adaptation of Diana Gabaldon‘s bestselling series, Outlander. A week ahead of their broadcast release, they’ve put the pilot on their website for free viewing. We had the chance to catch it last week when it premiered at the San Diego Comic-Con and really loved it. It should be noted that we’re already huge fans of the book series and have been following the development of the series in earnest.

Starring Caitriona Balfe as Claire and Sam Heughan as Jamie Fraser, it follows the story admirably faithfully, while making brave use of voiceover to help deal with the fact that the book is written in the first person from the point of view [primarily] of Claire. Rather than having to weight down the flow with inserting exposition scenes to help move things along, they keep it more nimble by letting her narrate for the audience as the need arises. There is the addition of occasional flashbacks to help fill in some of the gaps left by working to move quickly from the present into the 18th century.

Check it out and if you’re a fan of the book series, we’d love to hear your thoughts on the casting, and how they’re doing with the adaptation.

Click here to go to the Starz website to check out episode one: Sassenach.