Season 3 of “Outlander” will premiere in September 2017 on Starz, the cable network announced Wednesday.
This is a later start date for the fan-favorite time-travel romantic drama that has premiered in April in its first two seasons.
“While ‘Droughtlander’ will last just a little longer, we feel it is important to allow the production the time and number of episodes needed to tell the story of the ‘Voyager’ book in its entirety,” Starz President of Programming Carmi Zlotnik said in a statement. “The scale of this book is immense, and we owe the fans the very best show. Returning in September will make that possible.”
In addition, Sam Heugh and Caitriona Balfe have bid goodbye to Scotland – at least temporarily – as production on the season moves to South African for its final five episodes.
The move is to accomodate scenes of sea voyages taken from the pages of Diana Gabaldon’s “Voyager,” on which the season is based. The upcoming season of “Outlander” will be taking over the sets last utilized by Starz’s pirate drama “Black Sails.”
The new episodes pick up right after Claire (Balfe) travels through the stones to return to her life in 1948. Now pregnant with Jamie’s (Heughan) child, she struggles with the fallout of her sudden reappearance and its effect on her marriage to her first husband, Frank (Tobias Menzies). Meanwhile, in the 18th century, Jamie suffers from the aftermath of his doomed last stand at the historic battle of Culloden, as well as the loss of Claire. As the years pass, Jamie and Claire attempt to make a life apart from one another, each haunted by the memory of their lost love.
The budding possibility that Claire can return to Jamie in the past breathes new hope into Claire’s heart… as well as new doubt. Separated by continents and centuries, Claire and Jamie must find their way back to each other. As always, adversity, mystery, and adventure await them on the path to reunion. And the question remains: When they find each other, will they be the same people who parted at the standing stones, all those years ago?