Before the TV show was announced or Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe cast in their now-famous roles as Jamie and Claire Fraser, we were almost given a made-for-TV movie based on the Outlander books instead.
Things could have been very different if the original plans for the franchise had gone ahead.
Author Diana Gabaldon, who created the universe almost 30 years ago when her first book in the epic series, Outlander (Cross Stitch), was published in 1991, had previously revealed that Liam Neeson (perhaps due to his kilted turn in the 1995 film Rob Roy) had been considered for the role of Jamie if any movie was to go ahead.
While Katherine Heigl was also apparently in the running for Claire, with the Knocked Up star even hinting in 2012 that she could have been heading to Scotland for a possible film adaptation.
Thankfully though, current showrunner Matthew B. Roberts revealed the incredible circumstances that led to Maril Davis deciding to step in when they realised how rich a TV show it could become due to the strength of the story found in the books.
Speaking on the first episode of the official Outlander podcast earlier this year, Matthew revealed that in his former role as a script reader, he was given the Outlander books with a view to making them a TV movie.
He said: "One of the first things that I was tasked to read was a couple of the Outlander books. And I did a pass for this production house because they wanted to make a TV movie. You wouldn’t be able to get the richness the novels in that short of time."
After, putting paid to the idea of a TV movie, he then decided to involve executive producer Maril Davis to try to get something off the ground.
“Your office was down the hall and I gave you the books,” he revealed. “And next thing you know, here we are.”
And thankfully he did, as thanks to the actions of both him and Maril we now have one of the most successful TV franchises in the world today.
As Matthew himself put it: "It was meant to be."
Perhaps most interestingly, Diana herself hasn't ruled out the movie still happening, thankfully though, it would be with the more recognisable TV show cast if it ever did.
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