economie

Everything we know about the upcoming ‘Outlander’ prequel series ‘Blood of My Blood’

July 14, 20240
Ellen MacKenzie (Harriet Slater) and Brian Fraser (Jamie Roy) in “Outlander: Blood of My Blood.”

Starz

  • “Outlander” may be ending with season eight, but fans can look forward to a new prequel series.
  • “Outlander: Blood of My Blood” will focus on the origin stories of Jamie and Claire’s parents.
  • Production on the 10-episode series is now underway in Scotland. Here’s everything you need to know.

It was announced in early 2023 that “Outlander” had been renewed for an eighth but final season, putting a pin in Starz’s original plan to adapt all of Diana Gabaldon’s novels (the last of which has still not yet been written). 

Although that will bring Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire’s (Caitríona Balfe) time-traveling escapades to a close, audiences will be delighted to learn that a prequel series continuing the story of the Fraser and Beauchamp families is officially in production.

Speculation that Starz was expanding the “Outlander” universe began in 2020 when Deadline reported that the network bosses had encouraged producers Ronald D. Moore and Maril Davis to “to plot a slew of spin-offs, sequels and story extensions.”

The prequel series was officially greenlit in 2022, and several months later, it was confirmed that the writers’ room had started working on scripts and that the series had been given a name — “Outlander: Blood of My Blood.”

While a release date for the series hasn’t been announced, lots of other details about the series have been shared, including who has been cast in the main roles as Jamie and Claire’s parents. Keep reading for everything we know about the series so far.

The series will tell two parallel origin stories: how Jamie’s parents came to meet and Claire’s parents’ romance.
Henry Beauchamp (Jeremy Irvine) and Julia Moriston (Hermione Corfield) in “Outlander: Blood of My Blood.”

Starz

As Roberts stated, the series will take place in two different time periods.

The story focusing on Brian and Ellen will be set sometime around 1716, some 30 years before Claire travels back in time and meets Jamie. That’s when the Great Gathering at Castle Leoch happened — which is where Brian and Ellen met for the first time — according to the “Outlander” books.

That would make our heroine Ellen and her future husband Brian both 25 at the time the series begins, as they were both born in 1681, per details shared in “Dragonfly in Amber.” 

The other story about Claire’s parents is likely to take place sometime in the 1910s. As fans know from the first book installment, Claire was born in 1918 and was five years old when her parents passed away in 1923. Exact details on when her parents met or how old they were are not known.

 

Diana Gabaldon is involved as a consulting producer — and she’s also writing a book about the characters, too.
Brian Fraser (Jamie Roy) and Ellen MacKenzie (Harriet Slater) in “Outlander: Blood of My Blood.”

Starz

In a press release from January, Starz announced that “Outlander: Blood of My Blood” had been greenlit for a 10-episode season.

It hasn’t been confirmed if that means the series will be a one-off or whether viewers can expect more seasons after “Outlander: Blood of My Blood” airs. Representatives for Starz did not respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.

The title is a nod to the vow Jamie made to Claire on their wedding day.
Dougal MacKenzie (Graham McTavish) and Colum MacKenzie (Gary Lewis) in “Outlander.”

Starz

But before you get too excited, keep in mind that since the Brian and Ellen timeline part of the prequel will be set nearly three decades before the events of the main series, the same actors won’t be playing the roles.

Some characters audiences will be familiar with who will appear in the prequel are younger versions of Murtagh Fitzgibbons Fraser (Rory Alexander), Dougal MacKenzie (Sam Retford), Colum MacKenzie (Séamus McLean Ross), and Ned Gowan (Conor MacNeill). The roles were originated by Duncan LaCroix, Graham McTavish, Gary Lewis and Bill Paterson, respectively.

Red Jacob MacKenzie, the Laird of Clan MacKenzie and father to Ellen and her brothers, will be played by Peter Mullan, while Tony Curran will portray Simon Fraser, also known as Lord Lovat, Brian’s father.

A younger version of Jamie Fraser may also appear.
Henry Beauchamp (Jeremy Irvine) and Julia Moriston (Hermione Corfield) in “Outlander: Blood of My Blood.”

Starz

According to Gabaldon’s blog, filming for the prequel commenced on January 22, 2024, in Glasgow (and without giving too much away, she added: “I’m liking everything I’m seeing!”)

According to the BBC, it had originally been scheduled to kick off on January 7. The two-week delay to the start of production can be attributed to the inclement weather in the Scottish city faced at the start of the year.

Per the BBC’s report, the series is expected to air in 2025 after the final series of “Outlander” next year. However, it may hit screens later than that, as fans are still awaiting the second half of “Outlander” season seven and the drama’s final eighth season. 

If “Outlander: Blood of My Blood” does not air until after “Outlander” has wrapped, it will more likely be sometime in 2026.

Read the original article on Business Insider

https://www.businessinsider.com/outlander-prequel-series-blood-of-my-blood-premiere-date-cast-2023-9