It must be really annoying to constantly get that question, how it compares to the book.

It’s been happening for five years and I don’t think it’s going to stop, but what we always say is, we tried to be true to the material. We keep the plot of the books, but we cannot recreate individual scenes because those are, and I say this a lot in different interviews, the reader of the book is the casting director, is the director of photography, the director. They are the editor. They get to do all of it. We are doing that for them on the show, and that’s where you get that little [feeling of] “Oh, that’s not how I imagined it.” We’re getting that already.

When Jon Gary Steele designed the big Fraser house, I saw some that were like, “Oh, that’s not what the way I pictured it.” I’ve fallen in love with the big house. And I think when looking at images of the time, of the period and what houses looked like, you hope people respond like, “Okay, yeah, I can see this.” The house has to look good on camera, and it also has a function. If we built it to the actual size, we could get the actors in there but we couldn’t get any cameras or crew.

So anytime you see a scene where it’s just Jamie and Claire, there’s another 15 people standing just opposite them with two cameras, directors, supervisors… a lot of people. I think Gary and his team did a fantastic job of creating something that’s very functional but also looks fantastic on camera.

~ Matthew B. Roberts

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