Outlander season 8: Tentative release date, plot, and everything we know so far

Outlander recently got renewed for an eighth season, several months before the TV drama brings forth its Season 7 this year. Lionsgate-owned premium cable and satellite TV network Starz announced that season 8 will be the last for the historical TV series.

While season 8 is yet to get a confirmed release date, reports say production will only commence in 2024 due to date issues for the lead cast. Hence, the final season may be expected to premiere around 2025.

Meanwhile, the seventh edition is set for a summer 2023 outing, meaning the 16-episode-long season will hit screens anywhere between June and September.

Interestingly, even though Outlander is ending, the exploits of the Fraser family will continue. That’s because, apart from announcing the renewal (and the end) of the show, Starz’s original programming president Kathryn Busby also officially signaled the show's prequel series.

Titled Outlander: Blood of My Blood, reports suggest that the prequel will chronicle the blooming romance between Brian Fraser and Ellen MacKenzie, parents of Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan). Rumors of a prequel floated in February last year and the same was confirmed in August.

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Starz executive Kathryn Busby "thrilled to continue" with season 8 of Outlander

While sharing an update about the 10-episode-long season 8, Busby said:

“For nearly a decade, Outlander has won the hearts of audiences worldwide and we’re pleased to bring Claire and Jamie’s epic love story to a proper conclusion. But before we close this chapter there is plenty of their passionate story to tell over the course of 26 new episodes and even more to explore of this dynamic world and its origin story. We’re thrilled to continue to partner with Matthew, Maril, and Ronald and can’t wait to see where their alluring storytelling takes us next.”

Reports say the ultimate season will be taken from Diana Gabaldon’s book, Written in My Own Heart’s Blood, the eighth novel in the series. Published in 2014, the story is set in June 1778, when Jamie Fraser "comes back from the dead to discover that his best friend has married his wife." The book's official synopsis continues:

“The ninth Earl of Ellesmere discovers to his horror that he is, in fact, the illegitimate son of the newly-resurrected Jamie Fraser (a rebel and a Scottish criminal!) and Jamie's nephew Ian Murray discovers that his newfound cousin has an eye for his Quaker betrothed.”

The main characters that feature in Written in My Own Heart’s Blood are:

• Claire Fraser (Caitríona Balfe)
• Jamie Fraser
• Claire-Jamie’s daughter Brianna MacKenzie (Sophie Skelton)
• Brianna’s husband Roger MacKenzie (Richard Rankin)
• Ian Fraser Murray (Steven Cree)
• William Ransom (Charles Vandervaart)
• Lord John Grey (David Berry).

Toni Graphia, Andy Harries, Jim Kohlberg, Luke Schelhaas, Balfe, and Heughan have served as executive producers for Outlander.

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What do we know about Blood of My Blood?

The prequel, Outlander: Blood of My Blood, will have 10 episodes with Matthew B. Roberts roped in as the writer and executive producer. According to Roberts, the show is “at its heart, a love story.” He added:

“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.”

Sony Pictures Television, Left Bank Pictures, Moore’s Tall Ship Productions, and Story Mining & Supply Company will bankroll the upcoming series.

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Watch the Outlander seasons released so far on Starz, Netflix, and Amazon Prime.