Ronald D. Moore on Outlander season 5 hopes, season 4 filming, and Murtagh

Ronald D. Moore gave Outlander fans a fun treat on Monday evening! The prolific producer did a lengthy Q&A session on Twitter with fans that lasted more than an hour, and through that there was some interesting information we learned.

Moore is the man who signs off on everything! He takes ownership of the decisions, and that includes (at times) the changes from the books.

One of the biggest changes, (as discussed here at CarterMatt often) is the choice to keep Murtagh alive rather than killing him off during the Battle of Culloden.

So why did Moore and the writers decide to keep him alive? We like the explanation he offers — it’s emotional, and it suggests that he could still have an important role to come in the series. If he’s family, don’t you want to incorporate him again?

One of the surprises during the Q&A was learning that Moore, (who typically writes the premiere episodes) did not do that with the start of season 4. That doesn’t mean that he took a back seat, but he wasn’t the one putting pen to paper (or fingertips to the keyboard).

Meanwhile, Moore also made it clear that there are some challenges that come with filming the America-set (fourth season) in Scotland, but he makes a great comparison to another show in Justified that substituted one place for another. The reality is that if you’ve got the right people working around you and the perfect locations, you can set things up in a way that really makes one place look like another. It just makes sense to keep Outlander in Scotland given that this is where they’ve been for most of the series save for some occasional trips elsewhere and it also makes sense to use much of the same crew. It’s a little more cost-efficient than constantly moving around.

As for those season 5 dreams…

Moore confirms that there is no renewal just yet. Know that when it comes to a renewal, this is not something that the producers or Starz will keep from you. There are times when actors actually learn about this from the press before anywhere else. Cancellations are a little bit of a different story sometimes, but there’s no reason to worry about that here: There will be an Outlander season 5 – it’s just a question as to when Starz decides to renew the show. With its current ratings and place in pop culture, there’s virtually no reason to end it now.

Of course, this is without mentioning all of the recent Golden Globe buzz. (You can read a little bit more about what Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe did at a Hollywood Foreign Press event recently over here.)

Be sure to check back tomorrow…

As per usual, we are going to be back with some of the latest ratings for Outlander 3×08! We will continue to provide you with new ratings updates every Tuesday/whenever they are revealed.

If you like this story, be sure to join us on Facebook for more CarterMatt updates! Also, we have started up our Golden Globes series on who we think is deserving of a nomination this year (which includes a lot of Outlander love!). You can check that out (and vote in our poll) at the link here. (Photo: Starz.)