‘Outlander’ will get second season on Starz

Fans of time travel and Scottish romance rejoice! “Outlander,” the new series based on the historical romance novels of Diana Gabaldon, has been renewed for a second season by Starz.

The series, adapted for TV by “Battlestar Galactica” writer Ronald D. Moore, has aired just one episode of its first season, but it’s already been met with good reviews and a big audience. The first episode, which was available online ahead of its TV premiere, drew an estimated 5 million views, which Starz says was divided evenly between men and women.

The 16-episode first season will adapt the first book in Gabaldon’s eight-book (so far) series, “Outlander.” The second season is expected to have at least 13 episode and adapt the second book, “Dragonfly in Amber.”

The series seems to have also captured a fair amount of attention in social media, a key indicator for the life or death of a cable series these days. The show was the top ranked in Nielsen ratings for Twitter conversation about TV shows on the day it premiered.

For a book series that’s sold more than 20 million copies, it’s not surprising that a well-done adaptation is drawing longtime and new fans.

The series is about an English World War II nurse (Caitriona Balfe) who mysteriously time travels back to 18th century Scotland and encounters not just her husband’s not-so-nice ancestor, but a hunky Scottish warrior (Sam Heughan). She finds herself torn between the hunky Scottish guy in the past and nice-guy husband (Tobias Menzies) in the 1940s.

The series is filmed on location in Scotland.

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