Starz set for delayed Outlander return

Outlander has aired on Starz since 2014

US cablenet Starz has announced the long-awaited return of its drama series Outlander will happen next year, with a shortened eight-episode sixth season.

Production on Outlander, which has aired on Starz since 2014, had been delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic, leading to fans dubbing the gap between seasons five and six as ‘Droughtlander.’

Production of the shortened sixth season, which will have a 90-minute premiere episode, has now concluded and it will return next year.

The show, about a woman from the 1940s being transported back to 1743 and marrying a Scottish revolutionary, is adapted from Diana Gabaldon’s international best-selling books. The sixth season is based on the sixth book in the series, A Breath of Snow and Ashes.

Production will now begin on an extended 16-episode seventh season. Both S6 and S7 were originally commissioned as 12-episode runs.

Ronald D Moore, Matthew B Roberts, Maril Davis, Toni Graphia, Andy Harries and Jim Kohlberg executive produce. The series is produced by Tall Ship Productions, Sony-owned Left Bank Pictures and US prodco Story Mining & Supply Company, in association with Sony Pictures Television.