Dive deeper into this episode with exclusive sketches, production designs, and fun facts delivered directly from the Outlander crew.
Rollo
Rollo is Young Ian’s faithful companion in Season 4. During the very first episode, we are introduced to the ‘wolf dog’ of Diana Gabaldon’s books—the dog which Young Ian has won gambling at dice. A Northern Inuit breed, the dog chosen for the role is so gentle in terms of his temperament that producers had to amend some of the more ferocious qualities attributed to him in the novel. John Bell (Young Ian) has spent a considerable amount of time with Rollo since he was a puppy and the two have bonded. He commented, “He is such a soft, lovable dog. I went to puppy training classes with him and we climbed our first mountain together in Loch Lomond Park. I am much more of a diva than Rollo on set, but it has to be admitted that he doesn’t always want to come to his mark!”
Executive Producer Maril Davis adds: “Rollo was very exciting to cast! We bought two puppy brothers and named them, Whisky and Mac Dubh (Dui for short). It turns out Dui is the better actor but he’s not the ferocious dog that he is in the books. He’s quite a sweet dog with a mellow personality.”
David Stewart, Rollo’s trainer comments on the dog’s early life: “There were 7 puppies in the litter, 4 girls and 3 boys, who were all named after “Munros” which are Scottish mountains over 3000ft. The two puppies for the Outlander production were Ben McDui and Ben Cruachan but they quickly became called Dui and Whisky, with the family name Rollo. Dui was bossy, Whisky adventurous. They had a lovely childhood playing in the woods, chewing whatever they could find including spectacles and shoes.”
The Medical Box
“The gift of the beautiful medical box is one of the most touching things Jamie has ever done for Claire.”
–Caitriona Balfe (Claire)
The medical box is Jamie’s gift to Claire, which he purchases using one of the Frasers’ jewels. Ever thoughtful and considerate, it is Jamie’s way of recognizing one of his wife’s many talents—a gift that will truly keep on giving, allowing her to help those in need and perhaps a first step in helping her to continue fulfilling her passion and calling in life in this new environment.
“The medical box was researched extensively. We found references to a type of eighteenth-century, portable chest—a surgeon’s chest. We had three versions made bespoke for the show by a specialist antique company, Wetton and Grosch. It is one hundred percent period accurate. The first version is the ‘master,’ all bells and whistles, but it is prohibitively heavy to work with as a movable prop, either for Caitriona, or even for a horse to carry, so we had two lighter versions built too. Within the wooden chest are lots of little drawers and compartments for all the tinctures and tools and instruments required, from the microscope to cutting instruments, a little mortar and pestle and notebook of medical notes from its previous owner which the Outlander Art Department created page by page. For the pirate attack we replicated the little glass bottles with sugar-glass so they could be thrown around safely.”
–Stuart Bryce, Set Decorator
Introducing Stephen Bonnet
Executive Producer Maril Davis on the casting of Ed Speleers as Stephen Bonnet: “We were aware of Ed—both from Downton Abbey and also because he had read for another part. Bonnet plays a pivotal role in Season 4; after the death of Jack Randall, Bonnet is our next major villain. He is both wicked and charming and will be a character that fans will love to hate. It wasn’t easy to find someone who can bring all of these characteristics together in one character. Ed is exactly what we wanted. He brought an amazing mix of charm, mischievousness, violence, aggression—the psychopathic characteristics that we wanted—to the character. It takes a great actor to play that.”
Describing Bonnet’s look, Costume Designer Nina Ayres comments: “Bonnet is a pirate and thief. We put lots of rings on his fingers to illustrate that he takes what he wants from life when he wants it. When he was trying to steal the rings from Claire’s hands, the props team made lots of jelly-flavored rings for Caitriona Balfe to have, to swallow. Bonnet’s many rings hint at past crimes committed against others—he is a dastardly thief.”
Building Wilmington
For the Art Department, creating a new world in Scotland was, logistically, one of the biggest challenges faced yet, since, in terms of architecture, nothing existed in Scotland as an appropriate match. The studio took on a huge backlot space where they’ve built a ‘clapper board’ colonial town. This season, it took the form of a two-street town which will made even bigger for Seasons 5 and 6. There is a tavern, furniture stores, a forgery, a lawyer’s office, an apothecary and a grocery store, all built from timber and brick. The exterior frontage is on the backlot, complete with a dirt road, which really got muddy at the start of production filming in a very wet and rainy Scotland. The interior sets for the tavern bar, tavern hotel rooms, the prison, and more are on stages with huge translight replicas of the town. The fun of creating a world from scratch for Production Designer Jon Gary Steele and Set Decorator Stuart Bryce meant they could include anything of their choosing. As Jon Gary Steele observes: “The street lights in Wilmington are a personal win for me. I saw this design in a painting when I was doing research for the first season and have never been able to fit them in before. The four fire lights were just not right for Scotland but they look incredible in Wilmington and provide such a dramatic light.”
Costumes in America
Co-Costume Designer Terry Dresbach on creating the new costumes for colonial life: “It was very exciting to design American colonial life. I grew up with various versions and visuals of this time as an American child from my fourth-grade history books, but those versions were very pretty and sanitary. I wanted to design what it really would have looked like; the beginning of the American melting pot, a world made up of the native culture that had been there for thousands of years, and a flood of immigrants from Western Europe, most of whom came with the clothes on their back and not much more. Once I started digging further, all sorts of fascinating information started pouring forth about the trade restrictions placed on America by Britain and how that affected clothing. Americans had to buy fabrics from Britain and export all of the materials for fabric production to Britain. That helped create a fair amount of tension, and the slave states were particularly incensed at having to import wool to clothe the slaves, rather than making cheaper fabric from the cotton they were producing. All of this created yet more small, fascinating puzzle pieces leading to the Revolution of 1776. On the streets of Wilmington there were Native People, the French, Germans, Swedes, the Welsh, Scots, and the Irish. People were poor and had to adapt and assimilate, so the clothing of any one group might be passed to another. There were very few who had the luxury of fine clothing. Much of it was heavy wool and worn linen. People didn’t have multiple changes of clothing, they had one, maybe two. It wasn’t very “pretty”. Clothes were repaired and patched over the course of a lifetime. Garments were expected to last and we worked very hard to show that in America.”
