Mapping Outlander season 5, season 6, and the future far beyond that

As many CarterMatt readers know, we’re all about taking looks deep into the future, whether we are talking about Outlander or many other shows on the air.

With that in mind, today we’re going to play an interesting game of scheduling hypotheticals as we look towards what the future of the Starz series could be provided, of course, that it achieves the rather incredible feet of making it all the way to the tenth season. There are set to be ten Diana Gabaldon books (she is currently working on the ninth) and to date, Outlander has done roughly one book per season. There may be a slight shake-up in things for seasons 5 and 6 in terms of how the material is combined, but we don’t get a sense that season 6 is going to venture at all beyond the events of the sixth book.

Now that we’ve laid the groundwork, let’s get to what we really came here to do today: Look at when every season from here on out could come out, and why Starz should keep renewing the show in the process.

Season 4 – November 2018. This has already been confirmed — as a matter of fact, if you believe the reporting that has come out via a Starz video over the past 24, November 4 could be the actual premiere date! You can read more about that here or watch the video below. (As always, be sure to subscribe to get even more video updates and discussion.)

Season 5 – Filming for this season begins in February, which is a good year and five months after season 4 filming began. Does this mean that it will premiere a year and five months after season 4? Not necessarily, since there are twelve episodes as opposed to the thirteen we’ve seen for seasons 2-4. Filming will likely continue until around October, and we could envision a premiere date in either late January or early February. It’d be a stretch to get it in late 2019, but theoretically possible.

Season 6 – This is where things get complicated since everything depend on the length of the hiatus between seasons. Because this one has already been ordered, though, we don’t think there will be a super-long filming Droughtlander between seasons. We’re thinking a winter / spring 2020 filming start time and a spring 2021 premiere, keeping past production patterns in mind.

Season 7 – This is where things get really interesting, given that we are now talking about a time when there could be additional negotiations and other things to hammer out. If the show does continue, our feeling is that there would be a longer hiatus (think like the one we’re in) and the season would likely premiere come fall 2022. It also wouldn’t shock us if the episode order is cut to 10 or 11 to allow more time off for the cast and crew.

Season 8 – If Starz continues to renew in batches of two, we’re thinking a shorter hiatus and production starting likely around the time season 7 starts airing. We foresee season 8 premiering in fall 2023 / winter 2024.

Season 9 – If we get this far into the story of the books, we’re really going to be celebrating! Starz typically doesn’t run scripted drama series this long and this would be a testament to everyone involved. We wouldn’t be shocked if there is a hiatus year of a year and a half or longer, especially so that the actors can age up to play the characters. (Jamie and Claire arrive in America in 1767, and many events for them in the eighth book. a.k.a. season 8, would be more than a decade later.) We’re envisioning a summer 2025 launch here.

Season 10 – It’s the final season, and with that, Starz should throw everyone a parade and a thousand parties all over the world. We think the final season would probably be shorter (may about eight episodes), but could be ready in summer 2026 or that fall.

Basically, we think that we’ve got a good eight years of Outlander left, if we’re so lucky to get a season for every book. This was a fun little exercise to think about, and we’re eager to see moving forward how true these predictions end up being! This is without even considering whether or the network decides to eventually order a spin-off on Lord John Grey or someone else.

How many more years of Outlander do you think we’ll end up getting? Share below!

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