Outlander – the time-travel bodice ripper that has given Scottish tourism its most prominent platform in the US since Mel Gibson donned a kilt in anger in Braveheart – has finally got its own spin-off. Blood of My Blood on MGM+ has everything that fans of the original will have wanted – tastefully steamy lovemaking (much of it outdoors), scheming Highland clans and a soundtrack with enough bagpipes to fuel 10 years of Hogmanay.
But will anyone else want to watch? It’s hard to say. Outlander, which will go into its eighth season next year, is such a bizarrely specific series – aimed at people who enjoy Game of Thrones-type historical fantasy, Fifty Shades of Grey-style naughtiness, and glorified Highlands advertorials. If you fall into that demographic, it’s manna from the streaming gods. If not… well, there’s only so many times you can hear characters say lines such as “My my, a sassenach – and a fiery one!” – as someone proclaims early in Blood of My Blood – without gagging on your shortbread.
