Starz' 'Outlander' goes continental on April 9

Starz Thursday announced Outlander will return for Season 2 on April 9 (9 p.m. ET/PT) with some French flair, as Claire Randall Fraser and Jamie Fraser are on the European continent.

To whet fan appetites, the pay-cable network also released a first look photo of Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie (Sam Heughan) on the steps of Versailles as they gamble on rewriting 18th Century history (The photo was shot on location in Scotland.). It carries the appropriate slogan: "Vive Les Frasers."

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The 13-episode second season is based on Dragonfly in Amber, the second of eight books in Diana Gabaldon's best-selling Outlander series.

The season opens as Claire and Jamie arrive in France, planning to infiltrate the Jacobite rebellion and stopping the Battle of Culloden back in Scotland, according to the Starz description.

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It continues: "With the help of his cousin Jared, a local wine merchant, Jamie and Claire are thrown into the lavish world of French society, where intrigue and parties are abundant, but political gain proves far less fruitful.  Altering the course of history presents challenges that begin to weigh on the very fabric of their relationship.  However, armed with the knowledge of what lies ahead, Claire and Jamie must race to prevent a doomed Highland uprising and the extinction of Scottish life as they know it."

Ronald D. Moore (Battlestar Galactica) is executive producer of the time-traveling romance drama.