Outlander producer talks ending of season 6, expanded season 7

Outlander is BACK. The season 6 premiere, which aired this past Sunday, gave us a little bit of everything we were waiting and hoping for. There were flashbacks, character development, and twists. It was bigger and better than expected, which if you’ve been following along during the Droughtlander you know is impressive, because season 6 was very difficult to put together. Along with the pandemic precautions that had to be taken, the producers had to ensure the safety of Caitriona Balfe (Claire Fraser), who was pregnant during shooting.

By the end of the premiere, it’s very clear what direction the series is going to take. War is around the corner, and the return of an old foe is going to rattle things up for Jamie (Sam Heughan). While speaking with SYFY Wire, executive producer Matthew B. Roberts teased what’s ahead for not just this season, but the super-sized seventh season, which will have 16 episodes.

Filming Outlander season 6 was not easy

“Once we started to break down, production-wise, we didn’t know what we could shoot and how we could shoot it,” Roberts said. “We had to revise the scripts as we started to go [back] to keep everybody safe. And then with Caitriona’s pregnancy, we wanted to make sure she was safe, and that she worked only to a certain point. We wanted to make sure she got out and had enough time to deliver her baby.”

This was the first time the series had to change the scripts and figure out a game plan on the fly. It was a very common occurrence for productions during the pandemic; changes had to be made and they had to be made fast!

And on a show like Outlander that’s very hard, because it’s based on Diana Gabaldon’s novels. In the end, season 6 ended up being shorter than before; there are only eight episodes. Where do they cut the story off? Roberts shared some intel:

"That was a little bit of a juggling act to go what was the best spot to end [Season 6]? And then once we all decided let’s just do a super-size Season 7, where do we begin? Once we decided where to end Season 6, we just knew where we were going to end. The challenge was how to integrate. We couldn’t just leave those stories. We couldn’t just start Season 7 and not finish. But it worked out great. I will say I’m really happy with what we have for Season 7 right now. I don’t want to talk too much about that because Season 6 is amazing. But Season 7 is going to be…Well, tune in!"

That means we won’t get to everything in season 6, including the time-travel shenanigans the series is known for. “I think that the stones…you might need to wait until Season 7.”

Outlander season 6 flashes back to Jamie’s time at Ardsmuir Prison

Going back to season 6, Roberts said that he was very excited to have a flashback to Ardsmuir Prison, where Jamie and newcomer Tom Christie did time together. “I love that we were able to show the Ardsmuir stuff; that really sings. That wasn’t in this book, that [scene] was in the previous book. But the audience needed to see that and I didn’t want to have Jamie just talk about it. We wanted to show it.”

"I love bringing back some of the older characters so that we see some familiar faces. And I love seeing the growth of Fraser’s Ridge so you see the community growing. When we put the stables up, you just visually immediately go, ‘Wow, man, The Ridge is really growing!’ Even though the timeline is pretty short between the end of Season 5 and the beginning of Season 6, not a lot of times gone by. But we always like to show in the new season some newness, some new growth, some new places, and I think we’ve done that."

It’s hard to believe that when Jamie and Claire first arrived at Fraser’s Ridge there was absolutely nothing there, but now it’s a bustling community. I can only hope that it stays that way as we trek forward into the sixth season. But with war looming, I think we all better prepare ourselves for the worst!

Be sure to check out new episodes of Outlander season 6 on Starz at 9:00 p.m. EST every Sunday.

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