Outlander season 4: A look ahead (and giving thanks) before season 3 premiere
It’s been 14 months since a new episode of the series came on the air, and within that time we estimate that we’ve written hundreds of updates — some of them were casting notices, some were story discussions, and others were about the actors, about ratings, about new preview videos, and a whole lot more. We love diving into the nitty-gritty of things, and there are few shows as fun or as fascinating to analyze as Outlander.
Rest assured, we will be doing plenty more when it comes to Outlander analysis as we move forward into season 3. (You can view our current schedule of coverage over at the link here.)
Now, let’s spend a moment looking beyond season 3 and into the next. Outlander season 4 doesn’t have a firm premiere date — we know that there are hopes of it airing in the fall of 2018, but it feels impossible to say that for sure before production even begins. Pre-production is underway in some forms overseas, and there could be early photography later this month. (That’s one casting notice suggested.) Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe are due back in October, so they will be working on Outlander season 4 while season 3 is airing. That probably means that they won’t be awake all of the time to see what the public thinks about the show in America while it’s airing on Starz.
For those who aren’t devoted book readers, the fourth season is going to be based on the Diana Gabaldon novel Drums of Autumn, and (book spoiler alert) it will move the primary setting for Jamie and Claire over to North Carolina. Scotland will still be used as the main filming location; places have already been scouted in order to properly mimic part of America. Depending on alternate locations (there’s buzz about Eastern Europe being used for at the very least location shots), filming could go into the spring or summer. The show does take its time to film episodes, but that makes sense given that they are so vast and detailed! They also run longer than the standard network or cable series.
What about castings?
Even when there are rumors floating around, we like to wait on either consensus reports or Starz announcements before confirming anything in this regard. The last thing anyone should want is to start picturing someone in one role before learning that someone else is actually playing the part. There are several new characters who will be important to the story moving forward, and they should be rather different from anyone you met through the first few seasons.
Is Outlander season 4 the final season?
It’s not being planned as such. We’d love for the show to make it to the end of Gabaldon’s still-unfinished series, but there’s no guarantee of that. For now, we do feel confident that a season 5 renewal will come at some point either later this year or early next based on the amount of effort Starz is putting into promotion.
How to watch tomorrow’s premiere
We’ve got all sorts of CarterMatt information for you on that over at the link here right now. (Photo: Starz.)