‘Outlander’ season 3: On (possible) summer premiere, South Africa talk

While “Outlander” may be done shooting some exterior scenes in Scotland for the third season, that hardly means that we’re at the end of the road with production! That is what this particular article all about — charting a path forward to where filming for the rest of the season could go.

First, we should acknowledge that there is some interior filming still taking place in Edinburgh for the third season between now and February 8. We don’t like to give away further location information on this sort of thing for two simple reasons: It can make things harder for production when people know where they are (and show up to watch the action), and we don’t want to lead anyone into believing that a certain cast member or two will be present there when they’re not. We don’t know who is filming; all we can say for certain is that there is some work going on in the Scottish city for most of the next week.

South Africa production talk – You already know that this is most likely happening, and that the country is doubling for Jamaica, a prominent location in the third book Voyager. When will the cast be heading there? Odds are, not until March. Remember that Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe have an appearance at Emerald City Comic-Con early next month, and it’s hard to envision the two of them flying from Scotland down to South Africa, and then going back to the other side of the world in Seattle before going back again. They likely booked the convention knowing when some of the production dates are; otherwise, they’d be taking a 4-5 day break in the middle of production to go.

We do know courtesy of an old interview featuring Sam and Harper’s Bazaar that filming in South Africa will continue until late May, so he and Caitriona will be working there for some time.

Premiere Speculation – After previously hoping that season 3 could begin in April (as did season 2 and season 1A), there are more and more signs pointing towards the summer as the logical start time for the show. First, you have the continued discussion that Bryan Fuller’s “American Gods” will premiere this spring. Meanwhile, from there you have the logistics of having to turn around footage that is filmed in spring to air in the spring and that timeline is tight. They could potentially try for a split season, but that’s a little tricky with only thirteen episodes and doesn’t allow for much in the way of momentum.

Finally, it’s been mentioned in a new Interview Magazine piece featuring Tobias Menzies that the third season is premiering this summer. That’s not confirmed by Starz, but this is a trusted source and the timing makes the most sense given what the show has to do.

Let us know what you think about the show potentially premiering in the summer by sharing a comment! Meanwhile, be sure to head over here if you do want to take a look at some other news and features regarding “Outlander.” (Photo: Starz.)