Starz has confirmed that its time-traveling historical drama Outlander will continue into an eighth season, but the show will wrap up at that point. The upcoming seventh season is set to premiere this summer and will consist of sixteen episodes while the eighth season will consist of ten eps. It is unclear if the show will cover through the ninth novel in the book series or end at the eighth. It has been covering one book per season, but perhaps they will cover two in the expanded seventh year. A tenth book is in the works from Diana Gabaldon, but that will not be part of the television series. Outlander performed very well for Starz during its first few seasons, but its numbers dropped off notably the last couple of years. It still does very well in digital and delayed viewing, though, and the premium cable channels pay more attention to those stats since they are not beholden to sponsors.
A prequel series has also been announced to be titled Blood of My Blood and the first season will consist of ten episodes. Showrunner Matthew B. Roberts had the following comments about the new series:
Outlander: Blood of My Blood is, at its heart, a love story. It will explore what lengths a person will go to find love in a time when love is considered a luxury, and when marriages are made strategically, often for political or financial gain.
Outlander only barely counts as a genre entry and it sounds like the prequel will mostly dispense with the time-traveling elements and focus more heavily on the historical drama angle. There is no word at this point on when production will begin on the new show.
Outlander focuses on Claire Randall, an English nurse from 1945, who mysteriously travels back in time to eighteenth-century Scotland where she becomes involved with a group of rebel highlanders. It stars Caitríona Balfe, Sam Heughan, Tobias Menzies, Graham McTavish, and Duncan Lacroix and it is based on the book series of the same name by Diana Gabaldon.
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