THE ruthless Jonathan "Black Jack" Randall has long been the man that Outlander fans love to hate, but as season two of the hit TV show unfolds against the opulent backdrop of 18th-century France, there is a new villain in the frame: the dark, dangerous and dastardly Le Comte St. Germain.

Adapted from Diana Gabaldon's best-selling second novel Dragonfly in Amber, the latest series sees Jamie and Claire Fraser – played by Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe – travel to Paris to infiltrate the brewing Jacobite rebellion led by Charles Edward Stuart in a bid to prevent the Battle of Culloden.

Sony Pictures Television, which makes Outlander, films the series on location across Scotland, with many of the interiors shot at Wardpark Studios in Cumbernauld, a former factory which has been converted into a production base and four state-of-the-art sound stages.

Other than Prague (which doubled as the streets of Paris) and Wilton House in Salisbury (used as Versailles) the lion’s share of scenes were shot in Scotland.

The second series – which began on Amazon Prime Video earlier this month – has seen Outlander welcome a raft of new faces including French actors Stanley Weber and Lionel Lingelser who play Le Comte St. Germain and King Louis XV respectively.

Weaving my way through a maze of trailers on the Cumbernauld set, I spot Weber holding the door open looking devilishly handsome in full French dress. Inside Lingelser is eating lunch, his powdered wig and frilled lace collar somewhat incongruous against the slick modern interior and loosely tied Nike trainers on his feet. “It’s not Versailles,” he jokes with an airy wave of the hand.

Weber’s character Le Comte St. Germain is a wine merchant and member of the French Court – a nobleman renowned for his fierce ambition and a murky reputation for dabbling in the occult.

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Barely have Claire and Jamie set foot on French soil than a troubling sequence of events sees them become his sworn enemies. Paris-born Weber, who was the leading man in the 2013 Scottish rom-com Not Another Happy Ending opposite Doctor Who star Karen Gillan, roguishly arches an eyebrow when asked whether it was fun to play a baddie.

“Well, he’s a baddie for them,” he deadpans, referring to Jamie and Claire. “I don’t know how much I can reveal about the storyline, but they really mess his day up. He has a boat with wine – but she ruins everything.

“As far as I’m concerned I’m not a baddie, I’m trying to get vengeance because she [spoiler redacted]. I’m high up in the Court, trying to get closer to the king and this weird couple coming around is bad news to me.”

Across the table, Lingelser plays with the rings on his fingers, apologising shyly for his English as he prepares to speak. The 32-year-old actor has clearly done his homework, though, speaking knowledgably about Louis XV’s marriage to Marie Leszczynska, his multiple mistresses and nickname as “the well-beloved”.

While content to allow Weber, 29, do most of the talking, Lingelser has brilliant comic timing. It transpires that Weber auditioned first for the part of Louis XV before later being cast as Le Comte St. Germain. Beside him Lingelser gives a mischievous grin. “But then she [the casting director] saw me and said: ‘Sorry … this is the king,’” he says, pouting coyly for dramatic effect.

Even before the show aired, the pair got a taste of how devoted the Outlander fanbase can be. “Yes, my sister begged me to get a picture of Sam …” says Weber with a grin.

“I was not too much into social media and had someone taking care of it for me,” he adds. “When the casting news broke, he [his social media guy] called and said: ‘Mate, your Twitter is going absolutely mental.’ I had fun seeing people commenting and most have been encouraging so far.”

According to Weber, the new arrivals quickly clicked with the existing cast. “There is a great atmosphere and amazing crew,” he says. “When you get on-board in season two, you don’t know anyone and arrive in the middle of a big family who have been together for six or seven months. You never know how the lead actors are going to be with you. It is always a bit stressful.

“On the day I arrived the first person I met was Cait and she came straight over, introduced herself and was absolutely charming. She was smiling and laughing. I shot a scene that day with her and Sam. We had so much fun and they introduced me to everyone. It has been absolutely brilliant.”

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It is a sentiment echoed by Lingelser. “My first day was in the garden at Drummond Castle [used in some of the Versailles scenes] with the three main characters Tobias [Menzies], Sam and Caitriona. I was very impressed. I had watched all of the first series and loved it.”

Le Comte St. Germain doesn’t take kindly to Jamie and Claire’s arrival. How does Weber think people will respond to his character sweeping in and shaking up their world with his fiendish ways?

“I try to avoid thinking about that too much,” he muses. “If you start thinking about it then maybe you are going to try to make your character likable which is not the point as far as I’m concerned. It is impressive the amount of people who love [Jamie and Claire] because their chemistry is brilliant and touching.

“I could tell from the first day the couple worked so well because they are close friends and [have been] working hard together for a long time. It is enjoyable to see a couple on-screen who are down-to-earth and working hard to make it believable. It is a chemistry that you want to watch.”

Outlander season two is available for unlimited streaming and download exclusively on Amazon Prime Video with episodes airing weekly

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