The British historical and time-travel romance drama TV series “Outlander” on Starz has been renewed for two more seasons following the successful airing of its Season 2 finale in July.
Filming for both Season 3 and 4 of “Outlander” has started on August 21 and reports have it that the production team would be able to complete it in May next year.
Thus, the airing date of Season 3 of “Outlander” might come out later than April, which has been its usual airing date on Starz during its first two seasons.
It was actually actor Sam Heughan, who plays Jamie Fraser in the TV series, who confirmed that they are filming the series next two seasons back-to-back until May next year.
In a recent Facebook Live session, he said that they are doing 11 months of filming and they will finish end-May next year. He also revealed that they will finish the shooting in South Africa which is pretty awesome and Season 4 will start not long after that, details Cinema Blend.
What Heughan meant is that while Season 3 would air later than its usual spring release date, Season 4 is likely to air a few months after the Season 3 finale. It is possible that Season 4 could air in the latter part of 2017 all the way to early 2018.
The delay in the airing date of “Outlander” Season 3 has something to do with the ton of editing and post-production work needed to be done after filming is done.
New characters for Season 3
The production team has already confirmed three casting additions to “Outlander” Season 3. In addition to David Berry, who shall play the role of Lord John Grey, John Bell and Wil Johnson have been taken into the TV series.
Bell would play the role of Young Ian who is Jamie’s cousin. His character is described to be a young lad who has the tendency to get into trouble. Ian is also an adventurous boy who exudes a whole lot of charm, details News Everyday.
Johnson, on the other hand, shall be playing the role of Joe Abernathy, a friend of Claire Fraser, played by Caitriona Balfe, from Boston in the 20th century who shall also be her confidant regarding her time travel secret.
Joe is also a friend of Claire in the medical school. He is described as intelligent and charming and has a great affection for Claire. They shall reportedly have a long-lasting friendship but it is not clear how Jamie would react if he learns about this in the 18th century.
Easier than Season 2
Showrunner Roger Moore said that the third book of Diana Gabaldon entitled “Voyager” where Season 3 of “Outlander” shall be based is easier to adapt on TV than “Dragonfly in Amber,” the second book used as source material for Season 2.
Moore said that “Voyager” is more of a straightforward narrative compared to its predecessor source material.
Season 3 of “Outlander,” just like in the book, shall pick up from where Season 2 left off with Claire already pregnant with Jamie’s child and goes back to her present life in 1948, not sure if Jamie died in the Battle of Culloden.
The Season 2 finale subsequently had a 20-year time jump as Claire moved to 1968 where she met her already grown up daughter Brianna.
Jamie, on the other hand, was left in the past and struggles to deal with the loss of Claire to the future and the complete wiping out of the Jacobites in the battle.
But Jamie was not seen in his aged self during Season 2 which is why fans wanted to know what he is going to look like when he becomes old. And that is what the actor did with his recent tease of his character.
It was only later that Claire realized that Jamie survived the Battle of Culloden that she will decide to go back.
Young Ian is the son of Jamie’s sister Jenny and her husband, Ian Murray, which makes him Jamie’s nephew, not his cousin.
Young Ian IS Brianna’s first cousin, however.
Thank you. I was sitting here scratching my head wondering how they came up with Ian being Jamie’s cousin…..