Outlander ended its eight-season and 12-year run last weekend, bringing the time-traveling love story of Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie (Sam Heughan) to a close. It’s been quite a journey for fans who have watched this epic story unfold through decades of battles and traumatic injuries.
Now, those same fans can continue the action with the show’s official spinoff, Outlander: Blood of My Blood. This historical romance is a prequel that unravels the stories of Jamie’s parents, Brian Fraser and Ellen Mackenzie, and Claire’s parents, Henry Beauchamp and Julia Morriston.
If you want to witness love unfold in 18th century Scotland or during the First World War, this is the watch for you. However, if you’re looking for a similar Outlander thread with completely new characters and stories, here are five other series worth checking out.
Poldark, a PBS masterpiece (via Prime Video)
Poldark’s Eleanor Tomlinson and Aidan Turner.Supplied
The 2015 series revolves around Ross Poldark (Aidan Turner), who returns home from the American Revolution and rebuilds his life. Based on the novel by Winston Graham, this drama is about new beginnings and recovery from tragedy, with love triangles, business feuds, and unexpected twists. Especially in the first few seasons, it’s a drama with strong characters, set against the backdrop of rapidly changing British society. Eleanor Tomlinson and Jack Farthing will also star over five seasons.
Pachinko, Apple TV
Pachinko player Yoon Yoo Jung.Associated Press
One of the most underrated series, Pachinko is a beautiful and epic story of a Korean family living in Japan, told over multiple generations. This work, which is based on a novel by Ming Jing Lee, is also a love story. But dig deeper and there are themes of resilience, identity, and erasure, not to mention intergenerational trauma. Kim Min-ha anchors the show as the teenage Sun-ja, and Yoon Yoo-jung does a great job playing the older version of the character. This work is moving and beautiful, capturing the anti-Korean sentiment in Japan following the Japanese occupation of the Korean peninsula in the early 1900s.
A Discovery of Witches, AMC+
Teresa Palmer and Matthew Goode in A Discovery of Witches.Supplied
If escapism and romantic fantasy are your main reasons for watching Outlander, this adaptation of Deborah Harkness’ novel may be your next treat. It’s a supernatural story centered around a witch (Teresa Palmer) and a vampire (Matthew Goode), who turn enemies into lovers. The show sets the tone with great cinematography, costumes, and historical references, illustrating magic throughout, but also incorporates classic pulpiness and genre tropes such as brooding vampires. While the tone may be confusing at times, it’s still a fun fantasy that settles into three short seasons.
Customer’s Chef, Netflix
Roberto Enriquez and Alia Bedmar in “Custamaru Chef”.Supplied
If you’re worried about investing your time in another series but going downhill after a few seasons, this 18th century period drama is an immersive one-off watch. Over 12 episodes, the show heads to Madrid, where an agoraphobic woman turns her talents to cooking in the wake of her father’s death. But when she catches the eye of a grieving duke, a forbidden romance begins, with a story of jealousy, revenge, and class barriers. Starring Michelle Jenner and Roberto Enriquez.
black sails, clave
Toby Stevens in “Black Sails”.Supplied
Sure, Outlander had a lot of romance, but it also had a lot of adventure and battle. Black Sails takes adrenaline-fueled storytelling to the next level. Sure, there’s plenty of hot action. But those scenes take a backseat to survival, political activism, and piracy. This is a less traditional romance that serves as a prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. Join Captain Flint (Toby Stevens) and young John Silver (Luke Arnold) as they search for Spanish treasure and defend the seas from the British and Spanish empires. Check out all four seasons on Crave now.
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