1{2 "document_id": "lb_hotpotqa_4cdf613f05eaa834f5867ee486ec94d47587f09b5a7bb6db",3 "family": "public_hotpotqa",4 "split": "dev",5 "text": "Passage 1:\nSimon Woods\nSimon Woods (born 7 January 1980) is an English actor and playwright best known for his role as Octavian in Season 2 of the British-American television series Rome and the 2005 Pride & Prejudice as Charles Bingley.\n\nPersonal life\nWoods attended Eton College, then read English at Magdalen College, Oxford. While at Oxford, he became friends with Chelsea Clinton. After graduating from Oxford, Woods worked briefly at The Guardian before becoming an actor.While at Oxford in 2000, he was in a relationship with Rosamund Pike that lasted two years. The two later played lovers Jane Bennet and Charles Bingley in Pride & Prejudice.\nSince 2009, Woods has been in a relationship with Christopher Bailey, the former chief executive of the British fashion house, Burberry. They married in 2012. They have two daughters, Iris and Nell.\n\nFilmography\nPlaywright\nWoods's stage play Hansard was presented at the Lyttelton Theatre, London, in September 2019. The work, named after the official record of proceedings in the British parliament, was directed by Simon Godwin.\nPassage 2:\nClaire Fraser (character)\nClaire Beauchamp (who adopts the surnames Randall, Fraser, and Grey at various times) is a fictional character in the Outlander series of multi-genre novels by American author Diana Gabaldon, and its television adaptation. In the series, Claire is a married World War II nurse visiting Scotland who finds herself transported from 1945 back to 1743. There she finds adventure, war and romance with the dashing Highland warrior Jamie Fraser. Smart, stubborn and willful, Claire uses her wits, practical medical skills and knowledge of the future to survive in the 18th century.\nClaire is portrayed by Irish actress Caitríona Balfe in the Starz television series Outlander. Balfe won a Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television in 2015 and 2016, and a People's Choice Award for Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actress in 2016. She also received nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.\n\nCharacter\nWhen visiting Scotland, married World War II nurse Claire Randall is transported through time from 1945 back to 1743. There she finds adventure, war and romance with the dashing Highland warrior Jamie Fraser. In the following novels, after the Jacobite defeat at the Battle of Culloden, Claire travels back to her time where she spends 20 years with her former husband Frank Randall, becoming a medical doctor and a surgeon, and raising her and Jamie's daughter Brianna. Finally, having discovered that Jamie survived the Battle of Culloden, she returns to 18th century Scotland and reunites with Jamie. The couple settles in North Carolina, and is soon joined by their daughter Brianna as well as many Scottish settlers.\nGabaldon originally intended Outlander to be straight historical fiction, but after a few days of writing Claire she realized that the character did not behave like an 18th century woman. Gabaldon eventually leaned into the modern approach to Claire, which prompted the introduction of time travel. Claire is often described as stubborn and impatient, and she refuses to conform to the 18th century societal expectations of women. Practicing medicine and putting to use her 20th century medical knowledge leads to numerous accusations of witchcraft, including a witch trial.\n\nOutlander novels\nOutlander (1991)\nDragonfly in Amber (1992)\nVoyager (1994)\nDrums of Autumn (1997)\nThe Fiery Cross (2001)\nA Breath of Snow and Ashes (2005)\nAn Echo in the Bone (2009)\nWritten in My Own Heart's Blood (2014)\nGo Tell the Bees That I Am Gone (2021)\n\nTelevision series\nClaire is portrayed by Irish actress Caitríona Balfe in the Starz television series Outlander.\n\nAwards and nominations\nBalfe won a Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television in 2015 and 2016, and a People's Choice Award for Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actress in 2016. She also received nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.\nPassage 3:\nThe Flashman Papers\nThe Flashman Papers is a series of novels and short stories written by George MacDonald Fraser, the first of which was published in 1969. The books centre on the exploits of the fictional protagonist Harry Flashman. He is a cowardly British soldier, rake and cad who is placed in a series of real historical incidents between 1839 and 1894. While the incidents and much of the detail in the novels have a factual background, Flashman's actions in the stories are either fictional, or Fraser uses the actions of unidentified individuals and assigns them to Flashman. Flashman is a character in the 1857 novel by Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown's School Days; Hughes' version of the character is a bully at Rugby School who is expelled for drunkenness. The character was then developed by Fraser, and appeared in the 1969 novel Flashman. Fraser went on to write a total of eleven novels and one collection of short stories featuring the character.\nDuring the course of Fraser's novels, Flashman goes from his expulsion from school into the army. Although he is a coward who tries to run away from any danger, he is involved in many famous military episodes from the 19th century, often taking actions that cause or affect subsequent events, such as his flatulence affecting the Charge of the Light Brigade, or being the person who probably shot George Armstrong Custer. When circumstances run against him and he is forced to fight, he often does so relatively capably. Despite his cowardice and his attempts to flee, he becomes a decorated war hero and rises to the rank of brigadier-general. He also meets people who either were notable at the time—such as Benjamin Disraeli and the Duke of Wellington—or who became well known after Flashman met them—such as Abraham Lincoln. Flashman either has, or tries to have, sex with most of the female characters: by the end of the ninth book he estimates that he has had sex with 480 women.\nThe publication sequence of the books differs from the fictional chronology, with the time frame of some books overlapping. One of the novels, Flashman and the Redskins, is in two parts: part one takes place in 1849–50, while the second covers 1875–76. Although the main series of stories finishes in 1894, Flashman lives on until 1915 and appears in his late 80s in another Fraser novel, Mr American.\n\nContext\nThe series consists of twelve historical fiction books written by the journalist, author and screenwriter George MacDonald Fraser, that were published between 1969 and 2005. The series consists of eleven novels and one collection of short stories, spanning from 1839 to 1894; they are the memoirs of the fictional character General Sir Harry Paget Flashman, VC, KCB, KCIE. Although Flashman is fictional, the settings and history of the events, and the people with whom he interacts are all largely based around historical events and individuals, although three contain elements of other novels. Flashman first appeared in the 1857 semi-autobiographical novel Tom Brown's School Days by Thomas Hughes as a bully at Rugby School, who persecutes Tom Brown, and who is expelled for drunkenness: Fraser's series of novels starts with Flashman's expulsion from school. Based on a literary conceit, an explanatory note—itself also fictional—at the start of Flashman sets the context and explains that the memoirs had been found in an auction house in Ashby, Leicestershire, and had subsequently come into the possession of Fraser, who has acted in the role of editor. Fraser also included pages of notes and appendices at the end of each volume, providing the factual background for Flashman's endeavours.Fraser was working as a journalist on The Glasgow Herald when he wrote the first novel, Flashman; writing in the evenings, after work, he took 90 hours in total to write the story. After the book was published, he left journalism and took up writing novels. When a break from writing was forced upon him by a broken arm, he abandoned the book until his wife read the manuscript and urged him to finish. He did not find a publisher for the novel for two years, until Barrie & Jenkins published it in 1969. When the novel was published in the US the same year, of the 34 reviews read by Alden Whitman of The New York Times, ten of them considered the book to be a genuine autobiography. Fraser researched each novel at Trinity College Dublin. From their first publication, the books were a commercial success, and new editions appeared on the best-sellers' lists.\n\nFlashman\nFlashman is from a semi-aristocratic background; he recounted that his great-grandfather \"made a fortune in America out of slaves and rum, and piracy, too, I shouldn't wonder\". His father was \"a dissolute former MP, living beyond the bounds of respectable society, and ... his mother [was] born of the self-promoting Paget family\". Despite joining the army after expulsion from school, Flashman is a self-confessed coward with a false reputation for bravery, earned at the expense of others, and despite him trying to avoid danger at all costs. He is also \"a scoundrel, a drunk, a liar, a cheat [and] a braggart\", who was described by Fraser as \"an unrepentant old cad\" whose only positive features are \"humour and shameless honesty as a memorialist\".Flashman is 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) tall, weighs 13 stone (180 lb; 83 kg) (12½ stone in the first book, fourteen stone in the last), has broad shoulders and is attractive to women. He was forced into marriage in the first book, after he \"caddishly deflowered\" Elspeth Morrison, the daughter of a wealthy Scottish textile manufacturer with whom he had been billeted. Despite being married—and the fact he deeply loves his wife—Flashman is \"a compulsive womaniser\" who has bedded 480 women by the tenth book in the series, which was set in 1859. Elspeth is also probably unfaithful to him on several occasions. Flashman notes that he has three \"prime talents, for horses, languages, and fornication\"; he was also described by the master-at-arms of the 11th Hussars as a strong swordsman and was skilled with a lance, particularly at tent pegging. When it is necessary for him to control his fear, he will perform bravely, although is more adept at saving his own skin at the expense of others.In the course of the series, Flashman is promoted to the rank of brigadier-general, and decorated numerous times by different countries. While the books cover some of the awards—such as being given the Victoria Cross for his actions during the sieges of Cawnpore and Lucknow—some stories are not known, such as how and why he served on both sides of the American Civil War and how he won the Medal of Honor.During his travels Flashman meets people who took part in 19th-century events, including Queen Victoria, Abraham Lincoln, Otto von Bismarck, Oscar Wilde and Florence Nightingale, and he is involved as a participant in some of the century's most notable events, including the Indian Rebellion, the Taiping Rebellion, the charge of the Light Brigade, the Siege of Khartoum, John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry and the Battle of the Little Bighorn.Flashman died in 1915, although the details are unknown.\n\nPublication sequence\nFictional chronology\nOther references\nFlashman also appears in another book by Fraser, Mr American, age 88, while his father was one of the financial backers of the bare-knuckle boxer Tom Molineaux in Black Ajax.\n\nNotes and references\nNotes\nPassage 4:\nClaire Bennet\nClaire Bennet is a fictional character in the NBC psychological thriller superhero drama series Heroes. She is portrayed by Hayden Panettiere and first appeared on television in the pilot episode of the series, \"Genesis\", on September 25, 2006. She is a high school cheerleader with the power of rapid cellular regeneration. Claire appears in more episodes than any other character (72, plus a 73rd through stock footage). In Heroes Reborn, she dies while giving birth to Malina and Tommy.\nThanks to her power, she has an incredibly high pain tolerance; Claire states in \"The Butterfly Effect\" that, when injured, she feels pain just as severe as anyone else who was injured in such a way, but her power quickly deadens pain. When asked about this, series writers Joe Pokaski and Aron Coleite would only comment that she \"feels pain, but not the way most of us do.\" Claire, describing her response to pain to West, says \"I feel pain; I just get over it quickly.\"\nBetween her tolerance for pain and seemingly unlimited healing potential, Hayden Panettiere compares her character to the X-Men character Wolverine, although she is \"less hairy and without claws.\" Since having her brain examined by Sylar, Claire has stated that she no longer feels physical pain of any kind.\n\nCasting\nMarc Hirschfeld, executive vice president of casting for NBC Universal Television stated, \"When they were trying to decide who the cheerleader should be, I literally picked up the phone and said to the producers, 'You've got to meet Hayden Panettiere. '\"In an interview with Vanity Fair, Emma Stone revealed that she had auditioned for the role of Claire Bennet. She said it was her rock bottom Hollywood moment; She overheard \"You are our pick ... On a scale of 1 to 10 you’re an 11\" and then she realised the role had gone to Hayden Panettiere.\n\nReception and analysis\nPanettiere received positive reviews for her work on the show throughout the series run, constantly being referred to as a \"breakout star\". Claire is also arguably one of the most popular characters on the show. UGO Networks listed Claire as one of their best heroes of all time.Professor of audiovisual arts Olvido Andújar Molina saw the character of Claire Bennet as a metaphor for the United States of America, as her role as a cheerleader functioned as one of the basic American cultural archetypes. Claire Bennet's special ability was regeneration from any kind of accident, which in this reading symbolizes the idea of the United States being invincible in the long term. Andújar Molina expands the idea to the character of Nathan Petrelli: As he is discovered as Claire's biological father, he represents the father figure and protector of the country as a whole. Andújar Molina thought that this identification of the characters, together with their presentation as heroes trying to save the world, contributed to their positive reception and identification with the audience.Sarah Godfrey and Hannah Hamad saw in the character a resurgence of the trope of the helpless girl in postfeminist, post-9/11 television: \"Notwithstanding Claire Bennet's physical indestructibility, she remains contained by a narrative position that necessitates protection from a range of male characters.\"\nPassage 5:\nOn a Claire Day\nOn a Claire Day was an American internationally syndicated gag-a-day comic strip by Creators Syndicate, created by Henry Beckett and Carla Ventresca and launched in 2006. The strip ended its run in print and online on June 14, 2014, to continue on the mobile device service Comikka. According to its creators, there was discussion on it being developed into a television show.The strip follows the life of fictional character Claire Bennett, an insecure and naive young woman, who has left her parents' home to live on her own. She is visited frequently by Sammi, her elegant, financially savvy, and impatient best friend; Jeff, her guy's guy neighbor, who's happy working construction and doesn't understand Claire's ambition or life issues; her \"out there\" Oprah-fanatic mom and her \"work hard or you're worth nothing\" dad; and the perfect neighbors, Pasha and James, who seem to do everything with an ease and flair Claire can't achieve or imagine possessing herself. But she managed to settle down in with a life with medical researcher Paul along with their dog Bradley and cat Lulu and at the end of the series were engaged.\nPassage 6:\nTemptation of Wife (2012 TV series)\nTemptation of Wife is a Philippine television drama revenge series broadcast by GMA Network. The series is based on a 2008 South Korean drama series of the same title. Directed by Dominic Zapata and Gina Alajar, it stars Marian Rivera in the title role, Dennis Trillo, Glaiza de Castro and Rafael Rosell. It premiered on October 29, 2012, on the network's Telebabad line up replacing Luna Blanca. The series concluded on April 5, 2013, with a total of 113 episodes. It was replaced by Love & Lies in its timeslot.\n\nCast and characters\nLead castMarian Rivera as Angeline Santos-Salcedo / Chantal Gonzales / Angeline Santos-Armada \nDennis Trillo as Marcelito \"Marcel\" Salcedo\nGlaiza de Castro as Heidi Fernandez-Montreal\nRafael Rosell as Nigel ArmadaSupporting castRez Cortez as Abner Santos\nRio Locsin as Minda Santos\nAntonio Aquitania as Leo Santos\nRaymond Bagatsing as Romeo Salcedo\nCherie Gil as Stella Salcedo\nBettina Carlos as Madel Salcedo\nAyen Munji-Laurel as Yolanda Gonzales-Armada\nMichelle Madrigal as Chantal Gonzales ArmadaRecurring castJC Tiuseco as Bernard\nBubbles Paraiso as Leslie\nMel Martinez as PatGuest castSheena Halili as young Yolanda\nJay Aquitania as young Romeo\nMel Kimura as Josefina Fernandez\nPatricia Ysmael as Scarlet\nJohn Nite as an event host\nRobert Seña as Robert Montreal\n\nBackground\nTemptation of Wife is a 2008 South Korean television drama series broadcast by Seoul Broadcasting System from November 3, 2008, to May 1, 2009. It was written by Soon-ok Kim and directed by Se-kang Oh. The series starred Seo Hee Jang, Jae Hwang Lee, Woo Min Byun and Seo Hyung Kim in the lead roles.The series also had a huge success in the Philippines during its run. GMA Network aired the series (dubbed in Tagalog) in an early primetime slot from October 4, 2010, and concluded on May 27, 2011.\n\nProduction and development\nIn 2011, GMA Network's senior vice president for entertainment, Wilma Galvante stated that they would be adapting the Korean series, Temptation of Wife. Pre-production started in earlier 2012. The head writer, Dode Cruz stated that he would develop \"a bit serious, sexier and edgier version\" than the original. The producer assigned Dominic Zapata to direct the series.\nOriginally planned for a December 2012 premiere, it was later moved to an earlier date. following the cancellation of the drama series, Haram.\n\nCasting\nThe cast was announced on September 11, 2012, during the series' story conference, with the main cast being, Marian Rivera, Dennis Trillo, Alessandra De Rossi and Rafael Rosell. As for Rivera's preparation, she stated that \"Whenever I have a new soap, I make sure to ask some tips about the role. Then I talk to my director how he wants me to approach my role. I'd like to have an idea of the character that I am going to portray and how I would give life to it onscreen\". She added that she wants every role she does to be different from the previous one in terms of how she going to approach it. Trillo described his character as a \"not-so-typical-leading-man\" role.De Rossi was hired to play Heidi Fernandez. However, the role was eventually given to Glaiza de Castro due to de Rossi's issues with the role.The series served as Rosell's first major project for GMA Network. Zapata, required the cast to watch the original series before filming began to familiarize their characters.\n\nFilming\nThe series' plug, teasers and opening title sequence were filmed on September 11, 2012, in a studio at GMA Network Center in Quezon City. Filming for the series began on October 9, 2012. Many of the series’ scenes were shot on location in Quezon City.\n\nReception\nRatings\nAccording to AGB Nielsen Philippines' Mega Manila household television ratings, the pilot episode of Temptation of Wife earned a 23.5% rating. While the final episode scored a 27.9% rating. The series had its highest rating with a 41.3% rating.\n\nCritical response\nVincent Anthon Garcia of gulfnews.com said that \"Marian Rivera has proved why she is truly the Queen of Primetime TV. Her current series, Temptation of Wife, has zoomed to the top of the ratings\". Mario Bautista of Journal praised the show's main villain, Glaiza de Castro, said that \"One reason why Temptation of Wife clicks with viewers is the fact that de Castro is so effective as the villainous Heidi. We know she didn't want to play kontrabida (villainess) again after she did lead roles in Grazilda and Biritera. But Glaiza made the right decision in accepting the Heidi role as it's really so \"mark\" and she can show her versatility as an actress who can do both lead and villain roles.\"\n\nAccolades\nPassage 7:\nJamie Fraser (character)\nJames \"Jamie\" Fraser is a fictional character in the Outlander series of multi-genre novels by American author Diana Gabaldon, and its television adaptation. In the series, married World War II nurse Claire Randall is visiting Scotland when she is transported through time from 1945 back to 1743. There she finds adventure, war and romance with the dashing Highland warrior Jamie Fraser, a member of Gabaldon's fictionalized Clan Fraser of Lovat. Jamie also appears in two novels in the Lord John series of historical mysteries, and in the 2013 novella Virgins.\nJamie is portrayed by Sam Heughan in the Starz television series Outlander.\n\nConcept and creation\nGabaldon took the name \"Jamie\" from the Doctor Who character Jamie McCrimmon, portrayed in the television series by Frazer Hines. Gabaldon had seen the Doctor Who serial The War Games, which inspired her to set her novel in Scotland. Gabaldon developed Jamie from an account in the Eric Linklater book Prince in the Heather, in which a single Jacobite named Fraser survives the mass execution of his fellows. Jamie's looks and character are based on Gabaldon's husband, Doug Watkins, as the author has herself confirmed on her Twitter account.Hines guest starred in the May 2015 episode \"Wentworth Prison\" of Outlander, the television series adaptation of Gabaldon's novels.\n\nCharacter\nWhen married World War II nurse Claire Randall is transported through time from 1945 back to 1743, she meets dashing Highland warrior Jamie Fraser.Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly wrote, \"The stories the show told during the second half of the first season deepened [Claire and Jamie's] bond and their need for each other. Jamie in particular was made to confront his personal and cultural attitudes about gender roles, understand how they impact Claire, and recognize the value to him of having a wife that was his equal in every way.\"Gabaldon describes Jamie as handsome and unusually tall, with distinctive red hair, deep blue eyes, and fair skin. The character uses many aliases throughout the series, including Jamie MacTavish, The Dunbonnet, Red Jamie/Seumas Ruadh, Mac Dubh, Alex MacKenzie, and Alexander Malcolm.\n\nAppearances\nJamie is a main character of Gabaldon's Outlander series. He also appears in two novels in the Lord John series of historical mysteries, and in the 2013 novella Virgins.\n\nOutlander novels\nOutlander (1991)\nDragonfly in Amber (1992)\nVoyager (1994)\nDrums of Autumn (1997)\nThe Fiery Cross (2001)\nA Breath of Snow and Ashes (2005)\nAn Echo in the Bone (2009)\nWritten in My Own Heart's Blood (2014)\nVirgins, prequel novella in the anthology Dangerous Women (2013)\nGo Tell the Bees That I Am Gone (2021)\n\nLord John novels\nLord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade (2007)\nThe Scottish Prisoner (2011)\n\nTelevision series\nJamie is portrayed by Sam Heughan in the Starz television series Outlander.\n\nAwards and nominations\nHeughan was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor on Television in 2015, and Best Actor on Television in 2016. Heughan was also nominated for a People's Choice Award for Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actor in 2016 and 2017, a 2016 BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actor in Television, and a 2016 Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series.\nPassage 8:\nCaitriona Balfe\nCaitríona Mary Balfe (; born 4 October 1979) is an Irish actress. She is best known for her starring role as Claire Fraser in the Starz historical drama series Outlander (2014–present), for which she received nominations for four Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama.\nAt age eighteen, while studying drama at the Dublin Institute of Technology, Balfe began working as a fashion model in Paris. Ten years later, she refocused on acting. She had leading roles in the series The Beauty Inside (2012) and H+: The Digital Series (2012–2013), and appeared in the films Super 8 (2011), Now You See Me (2013), Escape Plan (2013), Money Monster (2016), and Ford v Ferrari (2019). Her performance in Belfast (2021) earned her nominations for the Golden Globe and British Academy Film Awards.\n\nEarly life\nBalfe was born in Dublin and grew up outside the village of Tydavnet, near Monaghan Town, in a family of seven. She is the fourth of five children. Her father was a retired Garda Sergeant. She went to Dublin Institute of Technology to study drama, before being spotted by a model scout.\n\nCareer\nModelling\nBalfe started modelling after she was scouted by an agent while she was collecting money for charity at a local shopping centre. At 18, after working as a model in Dublin for a few months, she caught the attention of a visiting Ford Models scout, who offered her the chance to work for them in Paris.Balfe's modelling career highlights include opening and closing fashion shows for Chanel, Givenchy, Dolce & Gabbana, Moschino, Alberta Ferretti and Louis Vuitton. In a three-year period, she walked in more than 250 runway shows. At the height of her career, Balfe was considered to be among the twenty most in-demand models in the world.\n\nActing\nWhile living in New York, Balfe played the minor role of an employee of the magazine Runway in the 2006 film The Devil Wears Prada. In 2009, after a decade-long modelling career, Balfe returned to her initial career choice and moved from New York to Los Angeles, spending her first year and a half in the city exclusively taking acting classes, first at the Warner Loughlin Studios and then at the Sanford Meisner Center and the Judith Weston Studios. Balfe has appeared in the films Super 8, as the protagonist's mother, Now You See Me, as Michael Caine's character's wife, and Escape Plan, as the CIA lawyer that hires Sylvester Stallone's character.In 2012 she portrayed Alex #34 in The Beauty Inside, a social film divided into six episodes telling the story of a man named Alex (Topher Grace) who wakes up in a different body every day. In 2013 she starred in the music videos for \"First Fires\" by British musician Bonobo and for \"Chloroform\" by French band Phoenix, the latter directed by Sofia Coppola.Balfe was part of the main cast of the Warner Bros. web series H+: The Digital Series during 2012 and 2013, in which she played Breanna Sheehan, one of the executives of a biotechnology company that develops an implanted computer which allows people to be connected to the Internet 24 hours a day.In September 2013, Balfe was cast as the lead character, Claire Beauchamp Randall Fraser, on the Starz television drama series Outlander, based on the novels written by Diana Gabaldon; the series premiered in August 2014. She plays a mid-20th-century nurse (later surgeon) who is transported back in time to the war-torn mid-18th-century Scottish Highlands. Both the series and her performance have received critical acclaim, with Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair saying \"it helps immensely that Balfe is such an appealing actress, [she] makes Claire a spirited, principled, genuinely heroic heroine\". Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Balfe is \"reason enough to watch; she's a confident actress who brings various shades to her character.\" James Poniewozik of Time labelled Balfe's portrayal as \"wry, [and] infectiously engaging.\" Angelica Jade Bastién of The New York Times called Balfe \"one of the most stunning actresses on television\".In December 2014, Entertainment Weekly named Balfe one of its 12 Breakout Stars of 2014; that month she was also voted \"Woman Of The Year\" at BBC America's Anglophenia Fan Favorites tournament.\nIn April 2015, Balfe received Best Actress in a Lead Role Drama and Rising Star Award nominations for the 12th Irish Film & Television Awards, and was named one of People magazine's \"50 Most Beautiful People in the World\". She won Saturn Awards for Best Actress on Television in 2015 and 2016. In November 2016, Balfe won the Scottish BAFTA award for Best Actress on Television and in February 2018 she won the Irish IFTA for Best Actress in a Lead Role Drama. Balfe also received four nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama for her role in Outlander.Balfe co-starred in the film Money Monster (2016), directed by Jodie Foster and starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts. She played the head of PR of a company whose stock bottoms out, causing a man to lose all of his savings and subsequently take hostages on a live TV show. Eric Hills of The Movie Waffler wrote \"But it's relative newcomer Balfe who leaves the greatest impression; she's magnetic, stealing scenes even when her character is only glimpsed reacting to the situation on a background monitor. Expect to see a lot more of this Irish actress in the coming years.\"In 2019, Balfe had a recurring voice role as Tavra in the Netflix fantasy series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. The series, which was a prequel to the 1982 fantasy film The Dark Crystal and produced by the Jim Henson Company, was released to critical acclaim. Also in 2019, she had a starring role opposite Matt Damon and Christian Bale in the sports drama film Ford v Ferrari. Balfe portrayed Mollie Miles, the wife of professional race car driver Ken Miles, a role which earned her an IFTA nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. The film received universal acclaim upon release and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.In 2021, Balfe had a co-starring role in Kenneth Branagh's semi-autobiographical film Belfast, for which she received critical acclaim. Critic Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair lauded Balfe for her \"modest, affable performance\". Her performance earned her nominations for the Screen Actors Guild Award, Golden Globe Award, Critics' Choice Movie Award, and British Academy Film Award for Best Supporting Actress. The film was nominated for Best Picture at the 94th Academy Awards. She has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the Actors Branch since June 2022.Balfe will next star in the 20th Century Studios film Amateur.\n\nPersonal life\nBalfe lives in London and, while filming Outlander, in Glasgow. She previously lived in Los Angeles, where she started acting professionally, and in New York City, Paris, London, Milan, Hamburg, and Tokyo while working as a model. In addition to her native English, she is a speaker of the Irish language and is conversant in French.On 10 August 2019, Balfe married her longtime boyfriend, Scottish band manager Anthony \"Tony\" McGill. She announced on 18 August 2021 that she had given birth to their son.In an interview, Balfe was asked if she considered herself spiritual. Balfe responded \"I would say I'm spiritual, though have long turned my back on institutionalised religion. I definitely believe in the inherent goodness of the universe.\"\n\nPhilanthropy and other ventures\nShe is a patron of the organisation World Child Cancer. In April 2018, she ran the London Marathon, raising over US$41,000 in support of the organisation.She is also a supporter of charitable causes involving refugee relief with ChooseLove, raising thousands of dollars in funds to help aid refugees in crisis globally, as well as a vocal supporter of charities that aid the environment. In October 2020, an annual birthday fundraising initiative called Project CaiTREEna was started by fans to raise money for the environmental charity One Tree Planted. To date over US$150,000 has been raised in her honour, resulting in over 150,000 trees being planted around the world.In August 2020, Balfe launched Forget Me Not, a Scottish-based small batch gin with 25% of the proceeds funding arts programmes.\n\nFilmography\nFilm\nTelevision\nAwards and nominations\nPassage 9:\nOutlander (TV series)\nOutlander is a historical drama television series based on the Outlander novel series by Diana Gabaldon. Developed by Ronald D. Moore, the show premiered on August 9, 2014, on Starz. It stars Caitríona Balfe as Claire Randall, a former Second World War military nurse in Scotland who, in 1945, finds herself transported back in time to 1743. There she encounters, falls in love with and marries a dashing Highland warrior named Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan), a tacksman of Gabaldon's fictionalized version of Clan Fraser of Lovat. Here, Claire becomes embroiled in the Jacobite rising.\nThe 16-episode first season of the television series (released as two half-seasons) is based on the first novel in the series, Outlander. The second season of 13 episodes, based on Dragonfly in Amber, aired from April to July 2016. The 13-episode third season, based on Voyager, aired from September to December 2017. The 13-episode fourth season, based on Drums of Autumn, aired from November 2018 to January 2019. The fifth season of 12 episodes, based on The Fiery Cross, aired from February to May 2020. The sixth season of 8 episodes, based on A Breath of Snow and Ashes, aired from March to May 2022. The seventh season which consists of 16 episodes, is based on An Echo in the Bone and premiered on June 16, 2023.\nBy February 2022, development had begun on a prequel series titled Outlander: Blood of My Blood, which will focus on Jamie Fraser's parents Brian and Ellen Fraser. In January 2023, Outlander: Blood of My Blood was officially confirmed for a ten-episode first season, and Outlander was renewed for a ten-episode eighth and final season.\n\nPlot\nSeason 1 (2014–2015)\nIn 1945, Claire Randall, who had formerly served as a nurse in the British Army during the Second World War, and her husband Frank are visiting Inverness, Scotland, when she is carried back in time to 1743 by the standing stones at Craigh na Dun (in what is now Tay Forest Park). She falls in with a group of rebel Highlanders from Clan MacKenzie (a fictionalization of the real Clan MacKenzie), who are being pursued by government troops led by Captain Jonathan \"Black Jack\" Randall. Randall turns out to be Frank's ancestor.\nClan MacKenzie suspect her of being a spy, but retain her as a healer, which prevents her from attempting to return to her own time. Knowing that the Jacobite cause is doomed to fail, she tries to warn them against rebellion. Out of necessity, Claire marries a Highlander, Jamie Fraser, but they quickly fall in love. Her husband Jamie is captured, tortured, and raped by the sadistic Randall, but Claire and his clansmen rescue him. Claire tells Jamie that she is pregnant and they set sail for the Kingdom of France.\n\nSeason 2 (2016)\nIn 18th century Paris, Claire and Jamie try to thwart the Jacobites by subverting the funds that King Louis XV of France is likely to provide. Jamie becomes the confidant of Charles Stuart, but the Frasers fail to prevent the risings. Randall reappears in Paris, but Claire makes Jamie swear to keep him alive until Frank's descent is assured. She achieves this by convincing Randall to marry Mary Hawkins. Claire and Jamie's daughter Faith is stillborn, and she and her 18th century husband return to Scotland. The Jacobites win the Battle of Prestonpans. Jamie and Claire also adopt a young French boy named Claudel, who Jamie renames Fergus.\nBefore the Battle of Culloden, Jamie convinces Claire, pregnant again, to return to the 20th century. Jamie decides to die fighting at Culloden with his clan. Back in her own century, Claire tells Frank about her time travel. He asks her to forget Jamie and let him raise her child as his own. Twenty years later, Frank has died in a car accident. Claire takes her 20-year-old daughter Brianna to Scotland. Claire discovers that Jamie did not die at Culloden and vows to return to him.\n\nSeason 3 (2017)\nJamie kills Randall at Culloden and is gravely injured, but spared execution. At Ardsmuir prison, he befriends the governor, Lord John Grey, who later paroles him to work at an English estate. There, Jamie is manipulated into a sexual liaison and fathers an illegitimate son, William. Jamie returns to Scotland and becomes a printer.\nIn 1968, Claire enrolls in medical school in Boston, Massachusetts. Frank is killed in a car accident while Brianna is in college. With the help of Roger Wakefield, Claire finds clues to Jamie's fate after Culloden. She returns to the 18th century and discovers Jamie has married a widowed Laoghaire. Claire's return nullifies their union as illegal. They try to retrieve some hidden treasure so that he can placate Laoghaire with a settlement, but Jamie's nephew Ian is captured by pirates and taken to the Caribbean. Jamie and Claire follow and manage to rescue him from Geillis, who had escaped burning at the stake in season one. Claire and Jamie sail for Scotland, but are shipwrecked on the coast of Georgia.\n\nSeason 4 (2018–2019)\nIn the Province of North Carolina, Claire and Jamie seek to return to Scotland with Fergus, Marsali and Ian. They visit a plantation owned by Jamie's aunt Jocasta Cameron, where they encounter Black slaves. Claire and Jamie decide to leave and claim land that they name Fraser's Ridge, which is already inhabited by Cherokee. Jamie reunites with Murtagh, now a blacksmith and leader of the Regulator Movement. Lord John visits with Jamie's son, Willy.\nIn the 1970s, Brianna rejects Roger's marriage proposal. After learning her parents will die in a fire, Brianna travels through the stones. When Roger discovers Brianna has left, he follows her. They meet in Wilmington, North Carolina and enter into handfast marriage. Shortly after, they get into an argument and Roger leaves. In his absence, Stephen Bonnet rapes Brianna. She reunites with her mother and finally meets her biological father, Jamie. Brianna discovers she is pregnant. Roger goes to Fraser's Ridge, where Brianna's maid Lizzie wrongly assumes that he is the rapist. Lizzie informs Jamie, who beats Roger. Young Ian sells Roger to the Mohawk. Discovering their mistake, they set off to rescue Roger and Ian trades his freedom for Roger's. Roger and Brianna are reunited at Jocasta's plantation and Jamie receives instructions to kill Murtagh, who is a fugitive.\n\nSeason 5 (2020)\nJamie and Claire fight to retain their home at Fraser's Ridge as the American Revolutionary War looms on the horizon. Brianna and Roger marry and Governor Tryon further pushes Jamie to hunt down Murtagh, forcing Jamie to gather up a militia and counteract the Regulators. He struggles to balance keeping his godfather safe and fulfilling his duties to the British, especially under the eye of Lieutenant Knox, who is determined to find and kill Murtagh. Despite Murtagh's pleas for Jocasta to return his love for her, she moves forward with her fourth marriage, choosing the safety and security of her plantation's future over his idealism. Jamie's loyalties are pushed to the breaking point at the Battle of Alamance, when Roger's attempt to warn Murtagh fails and Murtagh is shot dead. Roger is captured and mistakenly hanged by the British; he survives, but is left traumatized by the experience. Jamie is left devastated in the months following the battle.\nMeanwhile, Roger and Bree's relationship is put to the test as there are signs of Stephen Bonnet's reappearance, forcing Brianna to take matters into her own hands when she is captured by him. Eventually, Bree and Roger decide to go back through the stones when they realize Jemmy can too, as the future will be much safer for their son. Their attempt fails and the two, taking this as a sign of fate, decide to stay at Fraser's Ridge, along with their large family. Young Ian returns from his time with the Mohawk and learns the truth about Claire, Brianna and Roger's origins when he confronts them with information passed to him by the Mohawk. Claire continues to subvert conventional medical practices by producing penicillin and covertly providing medical advice under a pseudonym, but her subversive advice backfires on her. Claire is abducted and gang raped by Lionel Brown and his men, but is subsequently rescued by Jamie, Fergus, Roger, and the other men of the Ridge. Though Jamie returns Lionel's body to Richard, Lionel's brother and mayor of Brownsville, Richard subtly threatens Fraser's Ridge and Jamie's family.\n\nSeason 6 (2022)\nThe political unrest in the colonies begins to boil over and the Frasers (Jamie and Claire) and the MacKenzie (Roger and Brianna), try to peacefully live on their isolated homestead in the foothills of North Carolina. Jamie is suddenly faced with walking between the fires of loyalty to the oath he swore to the British Crown and following his hope for freedom in the new world. Trouble continues with the Browns as they form 'a committee of safety' that threatens the peace on the ridge dividing a wedge between the Native Americans, the British and the Frasers. In the meantime, the Christie family arrive on the Ridge, a throwback to Jamie's time in Ardsmuir Prison, and begin to influence the harmony on the Ridge. Malva Christie, the daughter of Tom Christie, takes a liking to Claire only to betray her in announcing her pregnancy with Jamie as the father. The season ends with a huge amount of unrest involving the Browns and the Christies as Jamie and Claire's grip on Fraser's Ridge becomes ever more fragile.\n\nCast and characters\nProduction\nDevelopment\nIn July 2012, it was reported that Sony Pictures Television had secured the rights to Gabaldon's Outlander series, with Moore attached to develop the project and Jim Kohlberg (Story Mining and Supply Co) producing. Sony completed the deal with Starz in November 2012, and Moore hired a writing team in April 2013. That June, Starz picked up the Outlander project for a sixteen-episode order, and in August it was announced that John Dahl would be directing the first two episodes. Starz CEO Chris Albrecht later said that he had green-lit several genre projects, including Outlander, to shift the network's series development toward \"audiences that were being underserved\" to \"drive a real fervent fan base that then becomes the kind of advocacy group for the shows themselves\".Calling it \"a different kind of show than has ever been on, in my memory\", Albrecht believed that Outlander's combination of fantasy, action, a strong central romance and a feminist focus would set it apart. Another distinguishing feature of the show is its use of Scottish Gaelic. Àdhamh Ó Broin is the language consultant and Griogair Labhruidh sang in Gaelic on the second season's soundtrack.On August 15, 2014, after only the pilot episode had aired, the network renewed the series for a second season of at least thirteen episodes, based on the second book in Gabaldon's series, Dragonfly in Amber. On June 1, 2016, Starz renewed the series for a third and fourth season, which adapt the third and fourth Outlander novels, Voyager and Drums of Autumn.On May 9, 2018, Starz renewed the series for a fifth and sixth season, which adapt The Fiery Cross and A Breath of Snow and Ashes, respectively and each season to consist of twelve episodes.On March 14, 2021, the series was renewed for a seventh season, originally to consist of 12 episodes and adapt the seventh novel, An Echo in the Bone. On June 1, 2021, Starz announced the sixth season would premiere in early 2022 with a shortened eight-episode season, while the seventh season would consist of 16 episodes. On November 22, 2021, Gabaldon announced that the sixth season would premiere on March 6, 2022. In January 2023, the series was renewed for an eighth and final season to consist of 10 episodes.\n\nWriting\nMoore said of the pilot: \"There's a lot of things we did in the first thirty to forty minutes that aren't in the book or are compilations of things that happened in the book\". He emphasised that he did not want to present the time-travel dimension in a traditional special effects-laden science fiction manner. Describing the adaptation of the first season as \"straightforward\", he explained: \"it was always kind of clear what the basic structure was: Claire's trying to get home, then she meets this guy, now she's falling in love, now she has a conflict, will she go home. You lay it out in a very linear fashion\". Regarding the darker tone of the season's second half, he said: \"the show becomes more complicated and the emotional journey more wrenching\".Regarding the second season and the source novel Dragonfly in Amber, Moore said:\n\nThe book is a more complicated structure in terms of how Diana [Gabaldon] wrote it ... So it was not as easy an adaptation as the first season was ... Book 2 is just a more complex book. It's laid out very differently, as a result it took more wrangling to try to figure out how to translate this particular story into our season. There were more complications, there were more characters ... It was a bigger task. The thing that gives me the most comfort is that Diana likes it a lot. She had said, 'Oh, I really liked the way you did it. it was a difficult plot, I know, but I think you really found the essence of it. You really found the through line that really defines what this part of the journey is.' ... It's not going to be a literal adaptation because I don't think that's possible with the second book ... But I think it's very much the same story, the major characters are all represented, the major scenes are all represented, and it still gets you to all the same places you want to go.\nGabaldon was employed as consultant to the TV production. When asked in June 2015 about the adaptation of the first season, she said: \"I think they did condense it very effectively ... I ended up getting most of the things that I felt strongly about in there. There were only a few instances where the most important stuff in my opinion didn't get in\". In March 2015, she said of the scripts for season two: \"The Parisian stuff is very good and in fact I'm deeply impressed by the outlines I've seen ... I think they've done a wonderful job of pulling out the most important plot elements and arranging them in a convincing way\". Gabaldon wrote the screenplay for the episode \"Vengeance is Mine\".According to Moore, the writing and pre-production for season four began while season three was still in active production. Gabaldon wrote an episode for the fifth season.\n\nCasting\nOn July 9, 2013, it was announced that Sam Heughan had been cast as Jamie Fraser, the male lead. Tobias Menzies was the second actor cast, on August 8, in dual roles of Frank and Jonathan Randall. Stephen Walters and Annette Badland were announced in the recurring roles of Angus Mhor and Mrs. Fitzgibbons on August 29, 2013, with Graham McTavish and Gary Lewis announced as the MacKenzie brothers on the September 4. Series female lead Claire Beauchamp Randall was to be portrayed by Caitríona Balfe as announced on September 11, 2013. The series later added Lotte Verbeek as Geillis Duncan and Laura Donnelly as Jamie's sister Jenny in October 2013.In December 2013, Simon Callow was cast in the supporting role of Duke of Sandringham, and Entertainment Weekly reported in April 2014 that Steven Cree would portray Ian Murray. Bill Paterson was cast as lawyer Ned Gowan in June 2014. Author Gabaldon has a cameo as Iona MacTavish in the August 2014 episode \"The Gathering\". In August 2014 it was announced that Frazer Hines had been cast in the role of a prison warden in an episode to air in 2015. From 1966 to 1969, Hines had portrayed the Doctor Who character Jamie McCrimmon, who Gabaldon said had inspired the setting of the Outlander series and the character of Jamie Fraser. Hines plays Sir Fletcher Gordon, an English prison warden, in the May 2015 episode \"Wentworth Prison\".In June 2015, the series cast Andrew Gower as the Jacobite pretender Prince Charles Edward Stuart; Robert Cavanah as Jamie's Scottish cousin Jared, a wine merchant and Jacobite living in Paris; Margaux Châtelier as Annalise de Marillac, Jamie's French ex-lover; and Laurence Dobiesz as Alex Randall, Black Jack's younger–and gentler–brother. Other cast added for season 2 include Romann Berrux as the French pickpocket Fergus, Rosie Day as the baronet's daughter Mary Hawkins, Stanley Weber as Le Comte St. Germain, Dominique Pinon as healer Master Raymond, Marc Duret as French Minister of Finance Joseph Duverney, Frances de la Tour as Mother Hildegarde, and Audrey Brisson as Sister Angelique. In July 2015, Lionel Lingelser was cast as King Louis XV of France. Moore revealed in June 2015 that Verbeek would be returning in the role of Geillis. Richard Rankin was cast as Roger Wakefield in December 2015, while Sophie Skelton was chosen to portray Brianna Randall, Claire and Jamie's daughter, in January 2016.In August 2016, Starz announced that David Berry had been cast as Lord John William Grey for season three. In September, Wil Johnson was cast as Joe Abernathy and John Bell as \"Young Ian\" Fraser Murray. In October, César Domboy was cast as an adult Fergus and Lauren Lyle as Laoghaire's daughter Marsali MacKimmie. Hannah James and Tanya Reynolds were cast as sisters Geneva and Isobel Dunsany in November 2016.In October 2017, two season four roles were announced. Maria Doyle Kennedy was cast as Jamie's aunt, Jocasta and Ed Speleers as Stephen Bonnet, an Irish pirate and smuggler. The casting of Colin McFarlane as Jocasta's slave butler Ulysses was announced in January 2018. The Cherokee and Mohawk people in seasons four and five were portrayed by members of First Nations from Canada who traveled to Scotland for the filming.In May 2020, Berry announced that he would not be returning to Outlander for the sixth season. Nevertheless, he made a guest appearance in one episode in season six.In May 2022, it was announced that Canadian actor Charles Vandervaart had been cast to play William Ransom, Jamie's son who was raised by Lord John Grey since season three. In October 2022, it was confirmed that Graham McTavish, Nell Hudson, Steven Cree and Lotte Verbeek would reprise their roles in the seventh season.\n\nFilming\nIn July 2013, British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne confirmed that the production would benefit from the Creative Sector Tax Relief programme implemented in the UK in 2012, which extends film tax reliefs to high-end television productions. The Scottish government also agreed to help pay for the conversion of a warehouse complex on the outskirts of Cumbernauld in North Lanarkshire into a film studio. Principal photography began on location in Scotland in September 2013. The Cumbernauld studios were used for on set filming, with location shoots taking place at Doune Castle, Stirling; mills in East Linton, East Lothian; Newtonmore in the Scottish Highlands; Rothiemurchus Forest, Aviemore; quarries near Bathgate, West Lothian and Aberfoyle, Stirling, as well as Linlithgow Palace, Loch Rannoch in the Highlands and Falkland and Culross in Fife. Such settings have attracted substantial numbers of international tourists.Filming for season two began in April 2015, to air in spring 2016. The primary setting for the season is Paris, which Moore explained is being recreated using other locations. Some interiors were filmed on the show's Scotland soundstages, while Prague was used for the exterior street scenes and the Palace of Versailles. In addition some palaces in the south of England which have French rooms and architecture were used as Parisian interiors and part of Versailles. Moore noted that season two of Outlander \"will look completely different than season one\" with a \"richer, more dynamic kind of visual palette\". With the change of setting from Scotland to France, he said that \"visually you’ve moved from the heavy woods and stone of season 1 into the finery of the Parisian apartments\". He explained:\n\nEverything about Paris is so completely different, especially the costumes ... It's the most stylish city in the world during this time. A lot more money. A lot of finery. Scotland is featuring a lot of heavy wools and more organic colors. In Paris everyone wants to be a peacock. You’ve got a much wider palette of textiles and colors and styles than you did in Scotland. It's a completely different world. And that kind of goes across the board for all the departments ... There were really no sets or pieces of sets that we could use for Paris that we'd used for Scotland ... There are carriages, there are servants with livery, there are props and furniture. It's completely different. It's a whole new show.\nProduction on season three began in September 2016 in Scotland and filming took place in Cape Town from March to June 2017. Filming completed on June 16, 2017.In August 2017, Moore said that for season four, locations in Scotland would double as 18th century America and some of the mountains and rivers of North Carolina would be recreated using locations in Eastern Europe. Production for season four was completed in Scotland by July 5, 2018.Production on season five, set primarily in North Carolina, began in Scotland in April 2019. Locations included Kinloch Rannoch (for Craigh na Dun), the Thomas Coats Memorial Baptist Church in Paisley, \nThe Hermitage, Dunkeld in Perthshire and Milne Woods in Bridge of Allan. Much of the filming was completed at Wardpark Studios in Glasgow.Production on season six was scheduled to begin in May 2020, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Production eventually began in February 2021.Production for season seven began in April 2022, while filming began in May 2022 in Scotland.\n\nMusic\nThe music is composed by Bear McCreary. The title song is an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's poem Sing Me a Song of a Lad That Is Gone, set to the tune of the Scottish folk song \"The Skye Boat Song\". For the first half of season two, the second verse of the opening theme is sung in French to reflect the season's French setting. For the second half of season three, the second verse of the opening theme has Caribbean music to reflect the season's Jamaican setting. The fourth season opening theme has a colonial American sound.\n\nRelease\nOutlander premiered in the United States on August 9, 2014. Its first eight episodes aired through September and the remaining eight episodes resumed in April 2015. The first-season finale aired on May 30, 2015. The second season of 13 episodes premiered on April 9, 2016, and the 13-episode third season on September 10, 2017. The fourth season premiered on November 4, 2018, and the fifth on February 16, 2020. The sixth season premiered on March 6, 2022. The first part of the seventh season premiered on June 16, 2023, and the second part is set to debut in 2024.Outlander debuted in Australia on SoHo on August 14, 2014, and began airing in Canada on Showcase on August 24, 2014. The series also premiered on October 21, 2014, in Ireland. In the United Kingdom, it was acquired by Amazon Prime Video, where it premiered on March 26, 2015 In April 2015, The Herald reported that emails leaked in the Sony Pictures Entertainment hack suggested that the broadcast delay in the UK may have been due to sensitivity about the September 2014 Scottish independence referendum. In New Zealand, Outlander was previously distributed by the video streaming service Lightbox. Following Sky's acquisition of Lightbox, Sky's streaming service Neon acquired the distribution rights to Outlander in New Zealand.\n\nReception\nCritical response\nOn Rotten Tomatoes, the average rating of the overall series is 89%, while on Metacritic it has an average rating of 76 out of 100.\n\nSeason 1\nThe first season received mostly positive reviews. On Metacritic, it has a rating of 73 out of 100, based on 34 reviews, indicating \"generally favorable reviews\". On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a 91% rating with an average rating of 7.95/10 based on 261 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads: \"Outlander is a unique, satisfying adaptation of its source material, brought to life by lush scenery and potent chemistry between its leads\".The Huffington Post called the first episode \"... A masterpiece of impressive depth ... It is amazing!\" Entertainment Weekly gave the premiere an \"A−\" rating, writing that it was \"sexy and smart and stirring\". Matt Zoller Seitz of New York magazine also praised the series, calling it \"defiantly its own thing: part romance-novel fantasy, part-time-travel story and part wartime drama (set across two time periods)\". Sonia Saraiya of The A.V. Club gave the first six episodes an A, writing that it \"does for 1743 Scotland what Downton Abbey does for 1912 England\" and adding that \"Outlander succeeds admirably ... it refuses to sit comfortably in any genre.\"British reception was more mixed. In the first UK review, Siobhan Synnot of The Scotsman said \"There has not been such a proud display of tartanalia since the opening of the 2014 Commonwealth Games\". Alastair McKay of The Evening Standard quoted Saraiya's comparison with Downton Abbey, adding \"[The comparison] is entirely correct. It is magical-mystical heuchter-teuchter cobblers.\" Euan Ferguson of The Observer called it \"gorgeous drivel\" and Thomas Batten of The Guardian stated \"If you love the scenery, shifting allegiances and palace intrigue of [Game of Thrones], but find yourself wishing the pace were a little slower and that the sex scenes were filmed in a more pretentious manner with lots of slow pans and softer lighting, here's your show.\" Graeme Virtue noted \"the rather languid pace of the opening episodes\", but praised the show's \"rare acknowledgment of the female gaze\" in its treatment of sex scenes. The Daily Telegraph also made the Game of Thrones comparison, while The Independent stated \"...yes, it's a time-travelling, wish-fulfilment fantasy, but it's done with such flair and attention to detail that it's impossible not to hop on board for the ride.\"\n\nSeason 2\nThe second season received universal acclaim. On Metacritic, it has a score of 85 out of 100 based on 11 reviews, indicating \"universal acclaim\". On Rotten Tomatoes, it reports a 92% rating with an average rating of 8.05/10 based on 234 reviews. The website consensus reads: \"Outlander returns for a second addictive season of mystery and sweeping romance as Claire and Jamie take on Paris.\" Based on five episodes for review, Marah Eakin of The A.V. Club gave it a perfect \"A\" grade and wrote, \"It's not just well-written and lovely to look at. It's downright immersive. ... Outlander feels important–even moreso in its second season.\"\n\nSeason 3\nThe third season also received universal acclaim. It has a Metacritic score of 87 out of 100 based on 6 reviews, indicating \"universal acclaim\". Rotten Tomatoes reports a 90% rating with an average rating of 7.95/10 based on 195 reviews. The website consensus reads: \"Outlander's epic love story returns with the same strong storytelling and an added layer of maturity.\" Based on six episodes for review, Liz Shannon Miller of IndieWire gave it an \"A\"-grade review and wrote, \"This is a show that's grown and matured since its initial premiere in ways that defied our initial expectations.\"\n\nSeason 4\nThe fourth season received mostly positive reviews. It has a Metacritic score of 71 out of 100 based on 6 reviews, indicating \"generally favorable reviews\". Rotten Tomatoes reports an 88% rating with an average rating of 7.15/10 based on 170 reviews. The website consensus reads: \"Outlander's epic romance settles into a violent fourth season, planting its flag on the American frontier while treading on darker themes.\"\n\nSeason 5\nThe fifth season also received mostly positive reviews. It has a Metacritic score of 73 out of 100 based on 4 reviews, indicating \"generally favorable reviews\". Rotten Tomatoes reports an 86% rating with an average rating of 7/10 based on 142 reviews. The website consensus reads: \"Outlander's romantic ardor doesn't burn as bright in this fifth season, but the Frasers remain an enthralling pair as they try to forge a home together.\"\n\nSeason 6\nThe sixth season has an 89% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with an average rating of 7.8/10 based on 9 reviews.\n\nSeason 7\nThe seventh season has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with an average rating of 7.7/10 based on 6 reviews. On Metacritic, it has received a score of 75 out of 100 based on 4 reviews, indicating \"generally favorable reviews\".\n\nRatings\nThe first eight episodes averaged more than 5.1 million multiplatform viewers. In July 2015, noting Outlander's strong ratings, its \"vocal online fandom and a slew of think pieces tied to its feminist twists on the action genre\", Josef Adalian of Vulture credited Outlander as one of the series responsible for Starz's increased success against competitors like Showtime. On February 11, 2020, cable provider Comcast moved Starz from its base cable packages to an a la carte option. This occurred five days before the premiere of season five.\n\nAccolades\nPrequel series\nIn February 2022, it was reported that a prequel series was in works, with Matthew B. Roberts writing and executive producing. In May 2022, executive producer Maril Davis confirmed that the series would focus on the parents of Jamie Fraser. In August 2022, it was confirmed that the series will be titled Blood of My Blood. In January 2023, Starz ordered a 10-episode first season.\n\nNotes\nPassage 10:\nList of Outlander episodes\nOutlander is a television drama series based on the Outlander series of historical time travel novels by Diana Gabaldon. Developed by Ronald D. Moore and produced by Sony Pictures Television and Left Bank Pictures for Starz, the show premiered on August 9, 2014. It stars Caitríona Balfe as Claire Randall, a married former World War II nurse, later surgeon, who in 1946 finds herself transported back to the Scotland of 1743 where she meets and falls in love with the dashing Highland warrior Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) and becomes embroiled in the Jacobite risings.The seventh season consists of 16 episodes split into two eight-episode parts with the first half debuting on June 16, 2023, and the second later in 2024. In January 2023, the series was renewed for a 10-episode eighth and final season. As of July 7, 2023, 79 episodes of Outlander have aired.\n\nSeries overview\nEpisodes\nSeason 1 (2014–15)\nSeason 2 (2016)\nSeason 3 (2017)\nSeason 4 (2018–19)\nSeason 5 (2020)\nSeason 6 (2022)\nSeason 7 (2023)\nThe ninth through sixteenth episodes were written by Barbara Stepansky, Luke Schelhaas, Sarah H. Haught, Toni Graphia, Madeline Brestal & Evan McGahey, Diana Gabaldon, Danielle Berrow, and Matthew B. Roberts & Toni Graphia, respectively.\n\nViewership\nNotes",6 "char_len": 63017,7 "document_hash": "7cdd978c6b8ecc1125a8bdcd9707cf35caf1a87d67feb16322526036961cb850",8 "questions": [9 {10 "question_id": "q00",11 "qtype": "hotpotqa",12 "question": "What is the character of fictional character Claire Fraser in a British-American television drama series developed by Ronald D. Moore ?"13 }14 ]15}