Scottish actor Sam Heughan has described his burgeoning fame as "nice but quite strange".

The 34-year-old plays a lead role in US television series Outlander which has seen him gain cult status in America while remaining relatively unknown in his homeland.

That looks likely to change when the first eight episodes of series one, based on author Diana Gabaldon's bestselling books, finally become available on Amazon Prime Instant Video in the UK from Thursday.

"It is kind of odd because you are very removed from it in Scotland," he said. "[The show] has been well received but it is always odd when people recognise you in America or at airports and come up to you. It is very nice but quite strange."

The £50 million first series, which made extensive use of Scottish locations and was first screened on the US network Starz last autumn, is due to have joint premieres in London and Glasgow this evening.

Heughan plays charismatic Highlander Jamie Fraser in the show which charts the adventures of Claire Randall, a former Second World War combat nurse played by Irish actor Caitriona Balfe.

Randall is on a second honeymoon to Scotland with her husband Frank in 1945 when she is mysteriously transported back in time to 1743. It is here, on the cusp of the Jacobite rising, that she meets the dashing Fraser.

Heughan, who was born in New Galloway, Dumfries and Galloway, spent his teenage years in Edinburgh before going on to study at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow.

His part in David Greig's Outlying Islands in 2002 saw him nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award as most promising new performer.

Other early roles included River City, Midsomer Murders and BBC soap opera Doctors, before Heughan landed his big break in Outlander in 2013.

The actor is looking forward to the show finally being available to UK viewers. "It is a very proud moment and exciting because I've been desperate for people to be able to see it," he said. "It feels right because Scotland has played such a major part of this show. I think it is a celebration of Scottish culture."

Already the Scot has a fiercely loyal online fan club, dubbed "Heughligans", which was 24,000 strong at the last count and still growing.

Then there is the "Outlandish Bakers", a group of devotees who busy themselves rustling up sweet treats for the cast and crew.

"Somehow they manage to find us on set no matter where we are shooting, even if it is in the middle of nowhere, and bring lots of sugary goods which always goes down a treat," said Heughan.

"It is usually peanut butter-based biscuits for me and gluten-free, pseudo healthy things for Cat [Balfe]. When it was my birthday they sent to the studios the most enormous cake that was shaped like Craigh na Dun [standing stones] and had Jamie and Claire on the top."

The second series of Outlander is due to start filming in Scotland this May.

Further new episodes of series one will be available weekly on Amazon Prime Instant Video from April 5, released every Sunday just hours after broadcast in the US.

A Guide to Outlander

The television show is based on Diana Gabaldon's Outlander novels which were first published in 1991. The popular eight book series has sold 26 million copies to date.

Filming locations used in the first series include Doune Castle, Rannoch Moor, Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway, Linlithgow Palace, George Square and Pollok Country Park in Glasgow, the Fife town of Falkland and Aberdour Castle.

Other Scots among the cast include Gary Lewis, Bill Paterson and Graham McTavish.

Gabaldon drew inspiration for Outlander from another time travelling show, Doctor Who. In an episode from the late 1960s, Patrick Troughton encountered a Scotsman from 1745. The young man was wearing a kilt, which the author thought was "rather fetching."

During filming Wardpark Studios, a former factory in Cumbernauld, formed the main base for cast and crew.