Outlander, Starz’s new series about a World War II-era nurse transported back to 18th-century Scotland, has been picked up for a second season of at least 13 episodes. After debuting this past Saturday, the show’s series premiere has racked up 5 million views and took first place in the Nielsen Twitter TV Ratings among all television premieres that day. That was more than enough for Starz—a network known for renewing shows before any episodes have even aired—to order more.
If Outlander is as successful as Starz hopes, the network could be renewing it sight-unseen for years to come. The show is based on a bestselling series of eight novels and counting, with the second season slotted to cover the events of second novel Dragonfly In Amber. That puts Outlander well ahead of a show like Game Of Thrones, which is rapidly threatening to overtake its literary source material. Considering that Outlander author Diana Gabaldon and Game Of Thrones writer George R.R. Martin are known to be buddies, perhaps she’ll influence him to work faster (or anger him by suggesting it, then discover a new character named “Gabaldon” who’s killed off horribly in his next novel).