P Savage

Not always a show for the feint-hearted, the portrayal of life during the very formative years of the 1700's, both in Scotland and America has a considerable degree of accuracy. The interwoven theme of a woman training as a doctor and then surgeon during the late 1940's/ early 50's is a little less so. By that time, following WW2, women had certainly been fairly widely accepted in all medical schools in the UK. They actually had been following WW1. America may have been a little less open to the recruitment of women but necessity, in that there was a shortage of properly trained medics, was almost certainly the driving force there too. The stories are none the less extremely well researched, not to say there is not an occasional minor historical error. (e.g. the regiment to which a female theatre nurse from WW2 would have belonged, was not the RAMC (Royal Army Medical Corps), but the QAIMNS (Queen Alexandra Imperial Nursing Service, often shortened to QA's); or the use of replaceable blade scalpels in early 1960's, when solid ones were still used until the late 60's). I certainly cannot fault the writing of Diana Gabaldon over minor technicalities like that. The books on which the series is based have so much rich content that unfortunately much has been 'cropped' in turning them into a TV series. Some parts have actually been re-written and I have to say I did not find these anything other than detrimental; especially Brianna's visit to Lallybroch. I was looking forward to a potential expansion of that story-line. Instead, a significantly inferior re-write theme was substituted. However, to those who have not read the books, such comparisons have no meaning and the substitute story-line is acceptable. The show deals with a huge variety of difficult social topics and tries to portray them in an appropriately sensitive way. The acting is superb; I could not fault any of the lead characters, especially that of Caitriona Balfe, whose intelligent and intuitive performances lead me to suspect that she would indeed have made an excellent surgeon; although she would have been financially poorer had she followed medicine as a profession. I cannot understand why the series has attained so little recognition at film industry awards. The costumes and scenery are always outstanding, they have a supremely talented cast, clearly backed up by a seriously good production team and to complete the requirements, it would be hard to find superior, fact based, fictional material in any other historical drama series. The only explanation is the politics of the film industry awards, which like politics throughout the world at present, is approaching an all time low. Don't be put off by any of my comments. As a stand alone drama series this makes excellent (adult) viewing. You could say that there are 'no punches pulled', so it will not appeal to everyone and some may even find certain scenes distressingly realistic. To me, that is simply a testament to the quality of the show, although I do sympathise with anyone who finds some aspects a bit too 'difficult'. In history, these were brutal times. A must see for anyone with an interest in the history of the periods covered, or just anyone who enjoys good drama.