Leading man Sam Heughan offers an update on the production status of Outlander season 7. Having first premiered on Starz in 2014, Outlander adapts the eponymous ongoing novel series by Diana Gabaldon. Outlander stars Caitríona Balfe as Claire Randall, a WWII military nurse who mysteriously travels back to the year 1743 and falls for Jamie Fraser (Heughan), a Highland warrior and tacksman. Every season, the time-traveling fantasy series adapts a new book from Gabaldon's literary line. Season 6 was based on A Breath of Snow and Ashes, but the show's episode order was truncated due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Balfe's pregnancy, meaning that only part of the book was covered.
Outlander season 7 was announced in March 2021. At that time, it was to consist of 12 episodes, but in June, Starz upped the episode count to 16 to make up for those cut from season 6. Outlander season 7 will primarily adapt the book An Echo in the Bone, but before that, the first few episodes will resolve Outlander season 6's cliffhanger ending. Filming on season 7 began in April, with the report being confirmed after Starz shared a photo featuring the core cast.
Now, Heughan offers an update on that report. In a new interview with Esquire UK, he opens up about how deep the cast is into filming Outlander season 7. As the actor notes, things are certainly moving at a fast pace, as the show has already completed production on episode 6. Heughan hopes to wrap filming on Outlander season 7 by February or March of next year, although, interestingly, he points out that they are filming an 18-episode mega-season, when Starz had earlier indicated that season 7 would be 16 episodes long. Read what Heughan says below.
We’re shooting season seven and it’s flying by. It feels like we started yesterday but already we’re on our sixth episode. This season is going to take a while, it’s an 18-episode bumper mega season, so we probably won’t be finished until March or February of next year. It’s a big one this year as last year we had to reduce it by six episodes because of Covid and my co-star [Caitríona Balfe] was pregnant, so we moved it.
Be it 16 or 18, Outlander will certainly have a lot of mess to clear up when it returns for season 7. In Outlander's season 6 finale, Jamie and Claire face off against Richard Brown and his Committee of Safety. Claire ultimately surrenders and agrees to stand for trial for the murder of Malva Christie. After spending a night with Jamie at the benevolence of Tom, Claire is taken to Wilmington, which is a clear change from the books. There, she is imprisoned and accused of witchcraft, while Jamie is rescued by Ian and Cherokee. Ian and Jamie decide to free Claire, but whether they can reach Wilmington in time is a mystery only Outlander season 7 can address.
Considering that season 6 just wrapped its run last month and season 7 won't complete production until at least next February, it will certainly be a minute before viewers can learn Claire's fate. The likely possibility is that she will escape the prison alive, but only after a run-in with Wendigo Donner, whose lurking presence has been ominously hinted at throughout season 6. Of course, since Outlander is deviating from Gabaldon's books, it's hard to predict exactly how Claire's fate will pan out in the forthcoming episodes. But viewers may need to brace themselves for rising tensions, as well as for a long parting between Claire and Jamie in Outlander season 7.
Source: Esquire UK