Outlander executive producer Maril Davis did an in-depth interview with Glamour about the major book changes in adapted television series and why they happened. The article highlighted seven changes from the book; they are as follows (to read more about each change, head over to Glamour):
- Murtagh lives
- “As soon as we cast Duncan and saw how great that bond onscreen was with not only Jamie but also Claire, that became very special,” she tells Glamour. “I think we always knew in the back of our minds that we would probably keep Murtagh alive. It just seemed like such a waste of the character [to kill him off].”
- Switching to Jamie’s point of view in season one
- “We felt a duty to Jamie. We felt that it was just so important to be there with him and experience [his sexual assault] through his eyes, because it was so brutal. And certainly people thought, ‘Well, why did you have to show so much?’ But rape isn’t pretty; and unfortunately, there is so much rape in Diana’s books. You have to deal with each situation differently—we’re not always going to show that experience the same way—but in that one we felt it was so important to see it from his point of view.”
- Seeing Frank searching for Claire in season one
- “But the reason we did is because if he was just a horrible person, and Claire went back to him and lived with him and he was racist or misogynistic, you don’t question at all that she goes back to Jamie. But the fact that he is a good guy and she still goes back to Jamie, that to me says more about the love of Claire and Jamie and how powerful that is than anything else.”
- Opening season two with Claire returning to her time
- “We loved seeing that whole season colored with the idea that we already knew Claire was going back. And also, I think we wanted to see a little of Claire’s life and struggle with what she was going to do when she came back [to 1948]. So the more we talked about it, I think the more we realized that it would be a great way to open the season; it would shake things up by already knowing that she goes back.”
- Laoghaire showing up in season two in “The Fox’s Lair”
- “We wanted to know what would happen if she and Claire met again after everything that Laoghaire had done to her.”
- Claire goes back in time in a dress she made herself in season three
- “The bat suit was [costume designer] Terry Dresbach’s idea. I think her fear was Claire was too smart to actually go out and buy a, I hesitate to say, cheesy outfit.”
- Frank only had one affair in season three
- “Claire is amazing, but, one could argue—and that’s what we liked about that story line—that she was very selfish in keeping Frank. They made this decision very early on, that they were going to stay together for Brianna, but really, was that fair? Claire obviously wasn’t going to start dating again, but for someone like Frank it really hampered his ability to love.”‘
Source: Glamour
