Outlander fans can't get enough of Claire Fraser's mum as she stuns at Blood of my Blood premiere
The release of Outlander's prequel Blood of My Blood is just a few months away and fans are literally counting down the hours to get their Outlander fix.
The brand new show will delve into the tales of how Jamie's and Claire's parents first crossed paths. The prequel is set to whisk viewers away to the "war-ravaged battlegrounds of World War One to the expansive Highlands of 18th Century Scotland", showcasing "two fresh love stories brimming with loyalty, passion and desire".
The characters of Claire's parents, Julia and Henry, will be brought to life by We Hunt Together star Hermione Corfield and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again actor Jeremy Irvine.
The parents of Jamie Fraser, Brian Fraser and Ellen MacKenzie, will be portrayed by Condor's Nest actor Jamie Roy and Belgravia: The Next Chapter actress Harriet Slater.
And now, the four have reunited for the official premiere of the show in LA. Fans couldn't get enough of Hermione Corfield, who plays Claire's mother Julia Beauchamp, as she shared snaps on her Instagram page.
Sharing a series of snaps of herself in a stunning blue and white floral dress, followed by a snap of the cast in a pink cart, Hermione penned: "Blood of my Blood screening at @sonypictures shot by @cibellelevi."
Many fans flocked to the comments to compliment Hermione. One said: "Oh my! This is next level Hermione."
Another penned: "These are some really stunning shots."
While one commented: "Love the dress girl!" And another said: "You look gorgeous."
Joining the four on the cast list are Your Honor's Tony Curran as Simon Fraser, Rebus' Seamus McLean Ross as Colum MacKenzie, Ackley Bridge's Sam Retford as Dougal MacKenzie, Rory Alexander as Murtagh Fitzgibbons Fraser and BBC Two's Industry actor Conor MacNeill as Ned Gowan.
The prequel, titled Outlander: Blood Of My Blood, is based on both the original TV series and the book series by Diana Gabaldon. It delves into the early 20th Century in England and the 18th Century in Scotland.
Blood Of My Blood will explore the love stories of Jamie's parents Brian and Ellen, who must navigate clan politics, while Claire's parents, Henry and Julia, maintain a long-distance relationship due to the war.
Outlander fans will recall that Claire's parents tragically died in a car crash when she was just five-years-old, adding a layer of tragedy to their story.
Matthew B Roberts, the executive producer and showrunner of the original series, has written and produced Outlander: Blood Of My Blood, with Gabaldon returning as a consulting producer.
Outlander: Blood Of My Blood will debut on Saturday, August 9, on MGM+.
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The Guardian
11 hours ago
- The Guardian
From orgies to marathon sex scenes: how did period drama get so raunchy?
Outlander first sizzled our screens in 2014, with Vulture soon declaring that the period drama had 'the best sex on television'. Its tale of second world war nurse Claire (Caitriona Balfe) time-travelling to 18th-century Scotland and falling in love with clansman Jamie (Sam Heughan) certainly earned the accolade. The wedding night episode features Claire reaching such an explosive orgasm that it requires smelling salts for viewers to get through. There's a knee-trembling 'castle cunnilingus' scene and, at one point, the extraordinary moment when Claire saves Jamie's life by masturbating him. It has proved so popular that in 2026 its eighth (and final) season will air. In the last year we've had shows such as Carême, about a Napoleonic-era celebrity chef who likes foreplay with a dollop of whipped cream, and orgy-filled Mary & George, about the lover of James I of England/James VI of Scotland. Outlander has even spawned a prequel, Blood of My Blood, about the entwining stories of Claire's and Jamie's parents, two couples who also enjoy time travel and sex. Sure enough, there's a romp against a table less than half an hour in, a dizzying amount of hand brushes and a sex scene that clocks up nearly 10 long minutes. How did period dramas get so raunchy? Thirty years ago, things were much more chaste. The iconic moment of Andrew Davies's 1995 BBC adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice that shook up the genre didn't even involve nudity – just Colin Firth's Mr Darcy emerging from a lake in a soaking white shirt. Firth's chemistry with Jennifer Ehle, who played Elizabeth Bennet, was undeniable: the two started dating in real life during filming. No one has sex in the series, but Davies wrote in scenes to show the hormonal young characters' physicality and sexuality, and looked for 'any legitimate excuse to get some of that kit off'. It certainly won over fans: last year, the shirt Firth wore sold at auction for £25,000. One professor even told the BBC that the series has 'almost usurped the original novel in the minds of the public'. Seven years later, Davies shocked the nation by writing a drama that makes Pride and Prejudice look like CBeebies: an adaptation of Sarah Waters' Victorian-set lesbian novel Tipping the Velvet. Nan (Rachael Stirling) is an oyster girl who is enchanted by androgynous stage performer Kitty (Keeley Hawes). She joins her act in bohemian London and they start a sexual relationship. It divided critics, with one calling the first sex scenes 'dull'. He should have stuck around for episode two. Anna Chancellor enters as dominatrix aristocrat Lady Diana – the proud owner of a massive dildo. 'It was leather, wasn't it?' asks Chancellor when I remind her of it over video call. 'Was [its size] believable?' She has never seen the series and says she would have to be 'really old' to stomach watching herself in it. Filming was physically difficult as the camera went round and round while she rocked on Nan's lap. That said, she would 'quite like to play [Diana] again', and adds: 'It gave me a big lesbian following, which I was thrilled with. It's a privilege.' The show was groundbreaking for queer sex on screen, but Chancellor makes the point that it was directed by a straight man (Geoffrey Sax). 'I think they wouldn't do that now,' she ponders. Intimacy coordinators weren't a thing back then either. Even though she admits to some of their tasks being more cringey than actually shooting sex scenes (like softly touching each other's face and hair), she says a great one can help map out the characters' physical relationships more convincingly: 'It's how you get there.' Bodice-and-breeches rippers soon took off. In 2007, all historical fact went out of the window when Jonathan Rhys Meyers played Henry VIII as a hunky, brunette sex god in The Tudors. Within four minutes of the opening episode, Henry and Catherine of Aragon (Maria Doyle Kennedy) were bonking. Hundreds of outraged fans complained it was too Americanised, dumbed down and hypersexual. 'These people didn't have TVs, they didn't have cars, they didn't have iPods. They had sex. What else do you think they did?' Meyers once said, clearly fed up of defending it on press tours. Anyway, Henry was left in the dust in 2015, when a topless Aidan Turner scythed his way on to prime time in Poldark. It set pulses racing to such an extent that Turner came to resent it: 'It began to overshadow the show and that frustrated me. It just got boring,' he admitted of a scene that would go on to be voted TV moment of the year. But it wasn't the only scene to trigger debate. A scene in which Poldark forcefully kisses ex-lover Elizabeth (Heida Reed), who pushes him away and says 'no' until finally conceding to sex was criticised as a 'rape fantasy'. Poldark isn't the only period drama to feature problematic sex scenes. Outlander is continually pressed on its repeated use of brutal rape as a narrative tool – which they put down to this being a reality that can't be totally ignored: rape only became a statutory offence in England and Wales in 1956 (and marital rape wasn't included until 1991). In Scotland, rape was an offence in common law only until 2009. Catriona Balfe also justifies it by saying: 'We have a problem in our society with sexual assault, and it's reflected in our storytelling.' With TV audiences becoming less conservative and streaming networks offering new freedoms, period bonkbusters went wild in the early 2010s, from The Borgias (which featured an incest scene) to Versailles ('four racy scenes in just 17 minutes!' cried the Daily Mail). Like most of the shows before them, they were largely written and directed by men. They also nearly always featured white leads; period drama has always had a problem with diversity. However, coinciding with the #MeToo movement, a spate of brilliant female storytellers were about to bring nuance and raise the bar once more. In 2017, Alison Newman and Moira Buffini co-created Harlots, a Georgian-set drama with a diverse cast, starring Lesley Manville and Samantha Morton as warring brothel owners (it has recently enjoyed a new lease of life in Netflix's Top 10 chart). Set in a time when sex work was incredibly valuable to the economy, it is, of course, stuffed with graphic scenes. But don't conflate sex with 'sexy'; Newman even bristles at the word when I mention it to her over the phone. It was unofficially banned from the writing room, and that wasn't all: 'We never said titillating.' The show was made entirely by women from what Newman calls 'the whore's eye view', following 'a sort of reverse Bechdel test' with no more than two men in a room. Sex was a job for these women and it needed to feel real: it's often boring or humiliating, sometimes enjoyable and at times dangerous. There's also barely any nudity because undressing took too long. Still, there are rare moments when sex is an act of love or passion, such as when Charlotte (Jessica Brown Findlay) sleeps with male sex worker Daniel Marney (Rory Fleck Byrne) after a season spent building a friendship. 'Charlotte obviously had a very complicated relationship with sex, so for her to let go like that or make herself vulnerable – it was a big moment.' That is indeed what makes sex, well, sexy (sorry Newman!). 'The drama is in the desire – and what happens before and after the act is most interesting … If it's just a couple of people shagging, then what's the point?' Around the same time, Sally Wainwright was working on Gentleman Jack, a drama about 19th-century Yorkshire landowner Anne Lister (Suranne Jones) who is widely considered the first modern lesbian, and her relationship with Ann Walker (Sophie Rundle). Tabloids called the same-sex scenes 'steamy' and 'shocking', but a lot of care was taken with them. 'We used the camera to come in on us and find intimate moments,' Jones said. 'By the end, me and Sophie were like two nans with a cup of tea. Like, covers off, hanging out. And it was great.' Andrew Davies also created another barrier-breaking adaptation of Austen – her unfinished novel Sanditon. This time, he went as far as adding in sex scenes. 'I write something that I would like to watch,' he said. 'And I suppose the sexing it up thing comes in fairly naturally.' Not only that, a scene showing the bums of two nude male characters going for a swim – which they would have done in those days – raised the issue of objectification. 'Are there different standards? So what if there are,' star Kris Marshall said. 'Is it the objectification of men when we've had the objectification of women for so long?' (A 2016 report found that female nudity was almost three times as likely as male in Hollywood films.) But raunch comes in all forms. For many viewers, one of the most erotic scenes on television in recent years was Andrew Scott in silk pyjamas dancing to T Rex's Dandy in the Underworld. He played Lord Merlin in Emily Mortimer's adaptation of Nancy Mitford's 1930s coming-of-age story The Pursuit of Love. It was a casting masterstroke. Merlin sticks his middle finger up, slinks around and – in a flooring moment – abruptly kisses one of the beautiful young things, wipes his mouth and spins her away. 'That was all him, he just delivered,' Mortimer tells me over a call. 'It just came so easily, and he went for it. He has exactly the right amount of charm, fearlessness and a kind of twinkle.' It was shot during lockdown and the first thing Scott said to her after filming that scene was: 'I just feel so lucky to be at a party!' The reaction of Lily James's teenage character Linda, who is watching from the sidelines in a ballroom, mirrors our blushing at home: she is full of lust and longing for life to start, and finds Merlin's sexual liberation almost too painfully sexy to watch. 'Lily did it so well,' says Mortimer. 'It's hilarious but also kind of heartbreaking and very recognisable.' Smaller moments really do have the power to fluster a nation. Regency-era Bridgerton is one of the biggest and raciest shows today – and a celebration of how far we have come regarding sex in period drama, with diverse characters having lots of sex that is both a hoot to watch and always female focused. It also gave life to the more X-rated spin-off Queen Charlotte (she did have 15 babies, after all). But, arguably, it is Regé-Jean Page's Duke of Hastings simply licking a spoon that went viral and became Bridgerton's most definitive scene. For now, though, it's full steam ahead in Blood of My Blood. Harriet Slater, who plays Jamie's mother Ellen, tells me the chemistry read with Jamie Roy (her onscreen forbidden lover Brian) was 'unlike any other'. Roy says: 'The sparks do fly.' And there's that epic sex scene, whose shooting involved turning raunchiness into something as highly choreographed and rehearsed as a stunt or dance. Sometimes, though, you can have too much sexual tension. 'On the very first take I burst out laughing! I got told off very swiftly,' smiles Roy. 'If you take it too seriously, you get too tired!' adds Slater. But did they pull it off? 'Smashed it.' Outlander: Blood of My Blood is on MGM+ via Prime Video on 9 August. This article was amended on 1 August 2025. An earlier version said that rape only became illegal in the UK in 1956. This is when it became a statutory offence in English and Welsh criminal law; it had long been a criminal offence in common law.
The National
a day ago
- The National
Scottish crew 'excluded from Spider Man 4 filming in Glasgow'
Filming for Marvel's upcoming blockbuster is set to begin this month as fake construction sites, prop vehicles and American flags have appeared in the city centre. Despite Scotland being chosen as the preferred filming location by Hollywood, with actors Tom Holland and Zendaya featuring in the film, the head of one of the largest talent agencies in the country has claimed that Scottish workers have been shut out from working on the production. Iain Wilkie, owner of BBB Talent Agency – which represents more than 10,500 actors, extras and stunt specialists – has claimed that a London-based talent firm has been chosen to provide talent and that no Scottish crew is working on the film. READ MORE: James McAvoy does the most Scottish thing in London – and Martin Compston loves it Wilkie, who is a veteran actor and body double for Sam Heughan in Outlander, told The National that very few Scottish facilities had also been chosen while the film is shot in Glasgow. He also claimed that it was the same story with the last four Hollywood blockbusters which were filmed in the country. He said while the film industry looks like it is thriving on the surface, few in Scotland is benefiting from these large-scale filming activities. 'You see these Hollywood red carpets, and it's all glitz and pure glamor, and you see these ordinary-looking actors with supermodels. Well, that's Scotland right now,' he explained. 'We're turning up at these events and hiring a supermodel. It looks glamorous but there's just no substance to it. 'On the surface, we look absolutely amazing. We look like we're booming with these major Hollywood productions all over Scotland, but there's no benefit to us. 'There's absolutely no benefit. Nobody in Scotland benefited from this. 'When these production companies are coming to Scotland, they are wiping their feet on their way out.' (Image: Supplied) Wilkie (middle) said that the London-based firm Entertainment Partners was chosen to provide talent for Spider-Man: Brand New Day. He also claimed that Scottish firms weren't even given the opportunity to speak with either Sony or Marvel, who are the main forces behind the film, about working on it. 'The state of Scotland's creative industries is that unless you have a London-based agent, you're not going to get it if you're an actor,' he said. 'Unless you've got a London-based agent, you're not going to get any work in Scotland.' Wilkie said he has decided to speak out about Scottish firms being overlooked by film projects, as he said after eight years of the 'biggest talent platform' in the country, he has seen his opportunities, along with his colleagues from other agencies, become fewer. He said: 'We never moaned. We just got on. But now we were not even given the opportunity.' Wilkie has now called on Screen Scotland, a national body set up to support Scotland's film and TV industry, to do more to champion the industry. Screen Scotland says its purpose is to drive development of all aspects of Scotland's film and TV industry, through funding and strategic support, which includes improving employment opportunities in the sector. However, Wilkie argues that the government agency has lost sight of one of its core commitments to help improve employment opportunities for Scots in favour of over-focusing on promoting the country to the world. He said: 'Their function, they believe, is to promote Scotland. And I'll tell you what, I'll give them ten out of ten for it, because they are seriously promoting Scotland. 'There's some great productions coming to Scotland, but there's nobody in Scotland benefiting from that.' Wilkie added: 'They are bringing work to Scotland, but for who?' The agency boss said he would like Screen Scotland to understand what it's like working in the industry and how it is 'impossible' for Scots to reach all the 'amazing productions' that are coming to the country to film. He added: 'I would love there to be a facility in Scotland for people that work in TV and film in Scotland to access these productions. 'Right now, it's a closed shop, and Screen Scotland are helping keep it closed' Wilkie said that Screen Scotland is good at supporting Scots if they 'tick the right boxes' but there is no follow-up. He said that young first-time writers or directors who are given some money to make the content they want are left with no support or help from the government agency. He added that Screen Scotland should be trying to get Scots practical experience on the big productions that are coming to Scotland in a bid to help cultivate the country's own talent pool, and has called for them to create a branch to develop the industry's opportunities. (Image: Supplied) 'The key to Screen Scotland is to get back to basics. Remember why they're here,' Wilkie (above) said. 'They've done a phenomenal job of promoting Scotland. If they were to put the same energy into the people in Scotland working within TV and film, that's where the success will lie. 'What they need to do is create a branch within Creative Scotland that is only there to promote us.' Wilkie said along with establishing a branch in Screen Scotland to promote Scottish workers, there should also be a legislative change in how production companies can recruit. He said that there should be an introduction of some form of quota of Scottish people to work on productions shot in Scotland, or that people with Scottish postcodes should take priority over those outside the country. 'I'm not saying every job should be filled with people from Scotland on average,' Wilkie said. 'I'm just saying I think we should be scooping up the talent in Scotland first and then when that talent runs out, look to the bigger pools that are in England.' Wilkie also said the Scottish Government should take note of how Wales and Northern Ireland prioritise homegrown talent and incentivise productions to hire from inside the country instead of looking to London. One example is the Foot in the Door initiative by Ffilm Cymru, which aims to connect people with opportunities in the creative sector, regardless of their background. Wilkie added: 'There's just no support for us out here. There's just no support from Screen Scotland at all.' Earlier this week, John Swinney said more needs to be done to increase the number of Scots benefitting from Scotland's screen industry. The First Minister said that the [[Scottish Government]] needs to 'make sure' that there is better access to screen infrastructure for Scots, adding that there needs to be more recognition of the 'economic benefits' the sector brings. A Screen Scotland spokesperson said: 'Screen Scotland is committed to supporting Scotland-based film and TV talent as well as maximising the benefits that filming creates across the wider Scottish economy. We encourage incoming productions to utilise local crews and services. 'That said, the majority of our production funding remains focused on films and [[TV]] programmes from Scotland, which regularly hire local crew and facilities. Recent projects from Scotland developed and produced with Screen Scotland's support include Only Child, Mayflies and Dinosaur for BBC Scotland, An t Eilean (The Island) for BBC Alba, Summerwater for Channel 4, The Rig for Amazon Prime, and the feature films The Outrun, Aftersun, My Old School, Janey, On Falling, California Schemin' and Tornado.' Entertainment Partners and Sony have been approached for comment.
The National
a day ago
- The National
Spider-Man 4 uses no Scottish crew during Glasgow filming
Filming for Marvel's upcoming blockbuster is set to begin this month as fake construction sites, prop vehicles and American flags have appeared in the city centre. Despite Scotland being chosen as the preferred filming location by Hollywood, with actors Tom Holland and Zendaya featuring in the film, the head of one of the largest talent agencies in the country has claimed that Scottish workers have been shut out from working on the production. Iain Wilkie, owner of BBB Talent Agency, which represents more than 10,500 actors, extras and stunt specialists, has claimed that a London-based talent firm has been chosen to provide talent and that no Scottish crew is working on the film. READ MORE: James McAvoy does the most Scottish thing in London – and Martin Compston loves it Wilkie, who is a veteran actor and body double for Sam Heughan in Outlander, told The National that very few Scottish facilities had also been chosen while the film is shot in Glasgow. He also claimed that it was the same story with the last four Hollywood blockbusters, which were filmed in the country, claiming that despite the film industry looking like it is thriving on the surface, nobody in Scotland is benefiting from them. 'You see these Hollywood red carpets, and it's all glitz and pure glamor, and you see these ordinary-looking actors with supermodels. Well, that's Scotland right now,' he explained. 'We're turning up at these events and hiring a supermodel. It looks glamorous but there's just no substance to it. 'On the surface, we look absolutely amazing. We look like we're booming with these major Hollywood productions all over Scotland, but there's no benefit to us. 'There's absolutely no benefit. Nobody in Scotland benefited from this. 'When these production companies are coming to Scotland, they are wiping their feet on their way out.' (Image: Supplied) Wilkie (middle) has claimed that the London-based firm Entertainment Partners was chosen to provide talent for Spider-Man: Brand New Day. He also claimed that Scottish firms weren't even given the opportunity to speak with either Sony or Marvel, who are the main forces behind the film, about working on it. 'The state of Scotland's Creative Industries is that unless you have a London-based agent, you're not going to get it if you're an actor,' he said. 'Unless you've got a London-based agent, you're not going to get any work in Scotland.' Wilkie said he has decided to speak out about Scottish firms being overlooked by film projects, as he said after eight years of the 'biggest talent platform' in the country, he has seen his opportunities, along with his colleagues from other agencies, become fewer. He said: 'We never moaned. We just got on. But now we were not even given the opportunity.' Wilkie has now called on Screen Scotland, a national body set up to support Scotland's film and TV industry, to do more to champion the industry. Screen Scotland says its purpose is to drive development of all aspects of Scotland's film and tv industry, through funding and strategic support, which includes improving employment opportunities in the sector. However, Wilkie argues that the government agency has lost sight of one of its core commitments to help improve employment opportunities for Scots in favour of over-focusing on promoting the country to the world. He said: 'Their function, they believe, is to promote Scotland. And I'll tell you what, I'll give them ten out of ten for it, because they are seriously promoting Scotland. 'There's some great productions coming to Scotland, but there's nobody in Scotland benefiting from that.' Wilkie added: 'They are bringing work to Scotland, but for who?' The agency boss said he would like Screen Scotland to understand what it's like working in the industry and how it is 'impossible' for Scots to reach all the 'amazing productions' that are coming to the country to film. He added: 'I would love there to be a facility in Scotland for people that work in TV and film in Scotland to access these productions. 'Right now, it's a closed shop, and Screen Scotland are helping keep it closed' Wilkie said that Screen Scotland is good at supporting Scots if they 'tick the right boxes' but there is no follow-up. He said that young first-time writers or directors who are given some money to make the content they want are left with no support or help from the government agency. He added that Screen Scotland should be trying to get Scots practical experience on the big productions that are coming to Scotland in a bid to help cultivate the country's own talent pool and has called for them to create a branch to develop the industry's opportunities. (Image: Supplied) 'The key to Screen Scotland is to get back to basics. Remember why they're here,' Wilkie (above) said. 'They've done a phenomenal job of promoting Scotland. If they were to put the same energy into the people in Scotland working within TV and film, that's where the success will lie. 'What they need to do is create a branch within creative Scotland that is only there to promote us.' Wilkie said along with establishing a branch in Screen Scotland to promote Scottish workers, there should also be a legislative change in how production companies can recruit. He said that there should be an introduction of some form of quota of Scottish people to work on productions shot in Scotland, or that people with Scottish postcodes should take priority over those outside the country. 'I'm not saying every job should be filled with people from Scotland on average,' Wilkie said. 'I'm just saying I think we should be scooping up the talent in Scotland first and then when that talent runs out, look to the bigger pools that are in England.' Wilkie also said the Scottish Government should take note of how Wales and Northern Ireland prioritise homegrown talent and incentivise productions to hire from inside the country instead of looking to London. One example is the Foot in the Door initiative by Ffilm Cymru, which aims to connect people with opportunities in the creative sector, regardless of their background. Wilkie added: 'There's just no support for us out here. There's just no support from Screen Scotland at all.' Earlier this week, John Swinney said more needs to be done to increase the number of Scots benefitting from Scotland's screen industry. The First Minister said that the [[Scottish Government]] needs to 'make sure' that there is better access to screen infrastructure for Scots, adding that there needs to be more recognition of the 'economic benefits' the sector brings. A Screen Scotland spokesperson said: 'Screen Scotland is committed to supporting Scotland-based film and TV talent as well as maximising the benefits that filming creates across the wider Scottish economy. We encourage incoming productions to utilise local crews and services. 'That said, the majority of our production funding remains focused on films and [[TV]] programmes from Scotland, which regularly hire local crew and facilities. Recent projects from Scotland developed and produced with Screen Scotland's support include Only Child, Mayflies and Dinosaur for BBC Scotland, An t Eilean (The Island) for BBC Alba, Summerwater for Channel 4, The Rig for Amazon Prime, and the feature films The Outrun, Aftersun, My Old School, Janey, On Falling, California Schemin' and Tornado.' Entertainment Partners and Sony have been approached for comment.
