Welcome 2022 & What’s New: Seasons 6, 7 & 8, Book 10 & More

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Photo: Starz

Here’s wishing everyone a very Happy New Year! I want to take this opportunity to let 2022 know that it will be a fantastic year, full of healing, promise, and thriving! All the best to you…

Caitriona bids farewell to 2021 – work /life balancing atop a pack of diapers… 😊

Sam plugs his new Sassenach whisky along with Sophie, Duncan, and Duncan’s adorable girlfriend Michelle… Looks like a fun night.

Starz has been releasing Season 6 video tidbits from the cast over the last couple of weeks; first Sophie, leading us to believe that Roger & Bree will stay on the Ridge this season… Hmmm. Could they be trying to throw us off track? 

Richard chimes in with much the same take…

And John, on Season 6 Young Ian…

According to the Starz Twitter account there may be more videos coming, with CĂ©sar Domboy, and Lauren Lyle đŸ‘đŸœ.

Starz also released this photo of the Christies – quite good, but I must say, it strikes me as Malva, Tom, and Alexander Vlahos! 😁 I’m sure I’ll only see Allan Christie, once I’ve seen him in action, in character.

 

In a recent interview with Town & Country, Diana shared that “The first episode is absolutely spectacular. It’s wonderful,” she says. “They’re all good. As a matter of fact, this is the first season where I have not had a single episode that I found less likable. They always do a good job; it’s just which direction they’ve chosen to head in. Anyway, the season is extremely good throughout.” which is very high praise and makes me even more excited for March to get here.

She went on to say that “A couple for instance, are focused heavily toward young Ian and his life with the Mohawk and what happened there, whereas, others are more closely focused on Jamie and Claire. And there’s quite a bit on Roger and Brianna and Fergus and Marsali. There’s quite a lot of stuff for [eight] episodes, but they’ve handled it beautifully.”

About the 16 episodes this season, Diana said, “We’re going to stop the season after the [eighth] episode, which believe me, is a really exciting place to stop it. And then we’ll just show those four extra episodes into season seven, which will then be 16 episodes, mirroring the first season, which also had 16.”

Diana did write the script for Episode 609 in Season 6, but believes we won’t see that until Season 7, “…they will probably recycle part of that script from what I’ve read so far, into season seven.”

She went on to say that we may get two scripts by Diana in Season 7, “they’ve also asked if I would write a new script for season seven as well, and that will be set in a different part of the show.” (Full article link in Sources)

 

How about that Season 7, based on An Echo In The Bone? I was concerned that the demands of shooting Outlander might not work for Caitriona, with a new baby, and that Season 7 might not actually happen. Clearly, I was wrong, and happily so! I am hopeful that Starz/ Sony are coming to the table with lots of support for Caitriona throughout this season.

In an early December interview with Josh Horowitz, Caitriona says the first two episode scripts for Season 7 are finished and in her hands, and that filming will last an entire year.  Clip below…

Well then, when will Season 7 start filming? 

Season 6 started filming exactly a year ago, amid the rise of the Delta variant in the UK. In fact, Scotland went back into lockdown on the very day filming started. (Backstory here: Season 6 Filming Begins Among Covid-19 Concerns). This year we have Omicron making its way across the world at the new year, but filming for Outlander hasn’t started yet. Omicron may well be affecting projects Sam and Cait are supposed to be doing before filming Season 7; Sam was supposed to meet Graham in New Zealand right at Christmas to film Men In Kilts 2, but was diverted to LA, where he has been since.

New Zealand apparently closed their borders December 23 due to Covid-19, and as of now, those restrictions are in effect until the end of February, so it appears that MIK 2 is on hold for now. How will that jibe with the timing of Sam’s new film Everest, which is due to start filming this month in Italy and the UK? And will either of these delays affect the filming timeline of Outlander? 

Sam actually filmed the first Men In Kilts on weekends, while in full production on Outlander Season 5 Monday through Friday – but he won’t be able to pop over to New Zealand for weekends. 

****UPDATE**** Sam is in New Zealand! As with Scotland in January 2021, there are some exceptions to entering the country, and apparently Sam is an exception (no surprise there) 😜. In Scotland last year, TV and movie filming was exempt from lockdown, and perhaps something similar is happening in New Zealand with regard to current travel restrictions? So, it appears that filming for Men In Kilts 2 will be getting underway very shortly! (thank you to my scoop goddess @JBSchneider50!)

Fansided reported in November that “Since Outlander began filming in 2014, the show, Screen Scotland, and ScreenSkills co-founded a training program. It gives those who are over 18 years old a chance to get hands-on experience from the professionals who work on the popular series. This year’s applications are now open and there are opportunities to help out in multiple departments including production, costume, and painting.”

The trainee recruiting video is voiced by none other than our fearless leaders, Cait and Sam…

 

Fansided said that in previous years the training program brings in trainees a couple of weeks before filming is set to begin. On the trainee application page, it says that all applications had to be in by Monday January 3rd, 2022, and that interviews will be held January 17 through 21, with start dates sometime afterward. The cast will need to do press leading up to the release of Season 6 (March 6), and according to a January 4, 2022 article by my buddy Caitlin Gallagher over at The Dipp, Diana said “they aren’t even going to start filming Season 7 until after Season 6 airs….” So, there ya have it. Sounds like filming will get underway in mid to late March.

In the same article, Diana talked about the timing of shooting Season 7, “I can’t say whether they’re going to shoot all 16 [episodes] without stopping because that’s really, really hard on everybody, or if they’re going to have a hiatus like they did with the first season … It’s totally up to them what they do. But even if they were to shoot straight through … it takes about nine months just to shoot a 12-episode season, and then it takes another nine months pretty much to do the production on that. So that’s 18 months for a 12-episode season.”

This all jibes with the trainee recruiting video, which says the job runs through March of 2023, which will probably mark the end of filming. But how long will we have to wait for post production on a 16 episode season? Using Diana’s math, to fully produce a 16 episode season would be a minimum of 24 months, and that’s working straight through. Breaks will need to be added for that length of time, working 12-14 hour days, so we’re looking at a March, 2024 finish for production, earliest. At one time, Early on, Maril Davis said that post production (putting in music, special effects, additional dialogue recording, editing, etc. etc.) takes 2 months per episode. I believe the post production team begins work as soon as an episode is finished, so that’s (16 x 2 =) 32 months (??!!) starting in March of 2022. Perhaps they’ve shortened those turnaround times as seasons have progressed, but if not, that takes us out to November of 2024 for the earliest possible release date. Zoinks!

If, as Diana referenced, they split up Season 7 into two parts, as they did in Season 1, bringing us the first 8 episodes before the whole season is completed in post production, and then having a hiatus before the second 8 episodes air, then we could get Episode 701 earlier in 2024. The cast did full press tours for both releases of Season 1, so that’s another energy, time and money expenditure they’ll have to weigh in making that decision. 

Further supporting these thoughts, in Caitlin’s article, she and Diana were discussing whether the show will ever catch up to the books, and Diana said, “It would be a minimum of two to three years before they finish Season 7, during which time I would have been busily writing Book 10. If they then went ahead and did Book 8, I would certainly have Book 10 finished by the time they got to the end of Season 8.”

Book 10! Season 8! Oh yes please.

Speaking of Book 10… Diana just keeps on writing, you know, so Book 10 is in fact underway. It has no title yet, of course, and is in its infancy, but it is a work in progress. In fact, Diana has already shared the first Daily Lines from Book 10! 

Now, about Season 8, based on Written In My Own Heart’s Blood... Oh, would that they will continue and do a Season 8! 

Vanity Fair did a very nice article on Caitriona recently, in which Cait commented on how long Outlander will run, “Balfe says she’s not sure when the series, which will shoot its seventh season later in 2022, will end, but adds, “We will have hit the almost 10-year mark by the end of that, which feels like a nice kind of time frame, but we don’t know. Those decisions are far above my pay grade.”

Time will tell what happens with all of this. “They” are saying that Omicron will be the last hurrah for Covid, oh please let that be true. Whatever the case, Outlander will continue, for now. We now have Bees to read and re-read, Season 6 airs in March, we should get a Season 7 in 2024, we hope!, and we will get a Book 10. Not too shabby, if you ask me. 

Check out my new fun article (based on the TV Insider article), on Diana, Cait, Sam, and my! favorite episodes seasons 1-5.

Go here đŸ‘‰đŸŒ for new Season 6 cast videos.

For all my posts about Seasons 6 & 7 as well as Bees, go to the Featured Favorites section.

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Source: Town & Country
Source: OutlanderBTS Interview with Graham McTavish
Source: Fansided
Source: Town & Country
Source: @JBSchneider50
Source: The Dipp
Source: Vanity Fair

Have a wonderful weekend. xo

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20 comments on “Welcome 2022 & What’s New: Seasons 6, 7 & 8, Book 10 & More”

  2. Well done, Courtney! What a wonderful synopsis of everything Outlander! Thanks again for all your hard work!
    Susan

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  3. Wow! This is wonderful. I checked out the Book 10 excerpt Diana provided as well, and while I normally find myself frustrated with Diana’s digressions into side stories and under painting (there’s just so much of it), I loved seeing Roger in this scene. This is why I love his character (and have always failed to understand why the haters hate on him). Though at first he seemed lost in the 18th century, once his calling and place was settled he’s clearly a man for all time–any time. I’m not sure the same can be said of Jamie (no matter how good he translates into 70s clothes). In his later years, reading, playing chess and farming perhaps. Anyway, there was much to consider out of that small excerpt.

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    • Hi Lynda, I’m glad you liked the Daily Lines. I have mixed feelings about Roger & Bree, I find them the least compelling part of the story, besides the military intrigue parts 😬.

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  5. Great update Courtney! Thanks for all the video tidbits! I was so happy to see those Daily Lines earlier this month! I thought I would have to wait longer to see some. Happy New Year indeed!

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  6. Savoring your compilation with my lunch! I read ever word even though I read each article before when they originally dropped. A re-read of outlander info is always a good idea. IMHO, if Caitriona gets to direct episodes in season 7, we will get season 8. We can’t have season 8 end with someone in a tunnel, can we? I believe that Cait wants to extend her professional experiences and if Starz will allow it the series is good to go. What do you think?

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    • I think that would increase the likelihood of her continuing on, for sure. If they provide an on-site nanny and a homey safe place for the little guy to be near her during her long days of filming, I think that would go a long way too.

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      • Yes, totally. Also if Caitriona wins any awards she will have the “pull” of a REAL actress, not just a tv star. Starz will pay more attention. Nominations are good but awards are better.

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  7. Courtney, wow, what a fabulous post. I saw some of this on sm but not all. And Duncan has a girlfriend! Hooray. Great news. Thank you.

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  8. You had me at Welcome! Great Outlander news combining videos, interviews, analysis, and predictions. The excitement surrounding Season 6 is growing by the day!

    We’re so fortunate to have this ensemble led by Caitriona and Sam. There are no reports of ego outbursts or prima-donna behavior. They work incredibly hard and are completely vested in the final product; I could watch them forever
.and probably will.

    Thank you and Happy New Year!

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  9. Thanks for all of the updates Courtney! I’ve been a little lax at keeping up with Outlander news so it’s nice to have so much in one place!

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    • Hi Roz – A Breath of Snow and Ashes is book 6, and the one that season 6 is based on. It’s often referred to as ABOSAA for short 😊.

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