THE West Fife villages of Culross and Limekilns are set to star in the much-anticipated American TV series ‘Outlander’.

They are two of the locations in Fife, filming also took place in Falkland, set to be viewed by millions of viewers from Saturday.

Julie Craik, FifeScreen manager, said, “It’s been a great pleasure and privilege to help Outlander. Hugh Gourlay and Miglet Crichton are two of the top location managers in the country and we’re delighted that they were sold on Fife for such a high profile production.” Based on the book by Diana Gabaldon, the series stars Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan and is directed by Richard Clark and Brian Kelly, who have worked on Silent Witness, Dr Who, Dracula and Downton Abbey. They’re confident Outlander will be picked up by broadcasters in the UK and across the world, bringing the delights of Fife into homes around the globe.

Julie said the Kingdom has long been favoured by filmmakers, “Fife is especially attractive for its unique coastal and historic locations and this gave the area huge appeal for the production. But it’s not just locations that get projects to come here. Fife Council is film-crew friendly.

“It’s a huge team effort when a production of this scale is filming, so a special thank you to the transport services and building services teams and the community councils.” Councillor Lesley Laird, Fife Council depute leader, added, “It’s really exciting that Fife will be showcased in the new US series Outlander. We are so lucky to have such beautiful landscapes, quaint picturesque towns and villages on our doorstep.

“This is probably why we have been successful in attracting screen producers for a number of years. The Fife and Tayscreen partnership works hard to secure around 70 projects annually, injecting around £1.5 million of spend in the local economy.” Outlander follows the story of Claire Randall (Balfe), a married combat nurse from 1945 who is mysteriously swept back in time to 1743, where she is immediately thrown into an unknown world where her life is threatened.

When she is forced to marry Jamie Fraser (Heughan), a young Scottish warrior, a passionate relationship is ignited that tears Claire’s heart between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.

Fife has featured in a number of film and TV projects in recent years, notably the 2012 award-winning historical drama The Happy Lands which was filmed in Dunfermline and West Fife and starred many people from the local area. The Railway Man, featuring Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman and out this year, used many locations in Scotland including North Queensferry and St Monans while scenes for an episode of BBC TV drama Silent Witness, aired in January, were shot in Falkland.