Best selling author Diana Galbaldon’s best selling series “Outlander” is heading to Starz network as a new dramatic series under the careful guidance of Ronald D. Moore.  We’ve been teased with photos from the set via the Instagram and various twitter releases, but today we have not only the key art and the OFFICIAL start date for the series.  (Also, something not mentioned in this press release is Emmy winner Bear McCreary is composing for the series.)

The official press release:

“Outlander,” adapted from Diana Gabaldon’s international best-selling books and executive produced by Ronald D. Moore will debut Saturday, August 9^th at 9pm ET/PT. The sixteen-episode first season is currently shooting on location in Scotland. For more information, go to the official Outlander Facebook Page and follow @Outlander_Starz on Twitter.

What if your future was the past?” The poster depicts Claire (Caitriona Balfe), a married British combat nurse from 1945 who mysteriously falls back in time to 1743 Scotland, where she is torn between her husband Frank Randall (Tobias Menzies) and Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan), a Scottish warrior who comes to her rescue. The image represents Claire’s physical and emotional journey. At the start of the series, she is a woman who has been transported into the past, but she’s reaching back and trying to stay connected to the life and husband that are now beyond her reach. Starz collaborated with The Refinery and photographer Frank Ockenfels 3 to create the key art which was shot on location in the Scottish highlands.

The “Outlander” series spans the genres of romance, science fiction, history, and adventure in one epic tale. It follows Claire Randall as she navigates the hidden dangers of 18^th century Scotland, an unknown world where her freedom and very life are at risk. When she is forced to marry Jamie Fraser, a chivalrous and romantic young Scottish warrior, a passionate affair is ignited that tears Claire’s heart between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.

Diana Gabaldon’s seven-book series has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide and has graced the New York Times best-seller list six times. The eighth installment of the “Outlander” series titled “Written in My Own Heart’s Blood” will be released June 10^th, 2014.

The first two episodes of the series are written by Executive Producer Ronald D. Moore and directed by John Dahl (Dexter, Breaking Bad, Justified). Outlander is produced by Tall Ship Productions, Story Mining & Supply Company and Left Bank Pictures in association with Sony Pictures Television.

In addition to Caitriona Balfe (Claire), Sam Heughan (Jamie Fraser) and Tobias Menzies (Frank Randall/Jonathan “Black Jack” Randall), the cast of Outlander also includes Graham McTavish (Dougal MacKenzie), Gary Lewis (Colum MacKenzie), Lotte Verbeek (Geillis Duncan), Duncan Lacroix (Murtagh FitzGibbons Fraser).