Outlander is preparing to premiere its fourth season after month of months of production and post production work. While early previews have shown us what life will be like for Claire and Jamie in a whole new setting in America, the new setting was actually a gigantic challenge for the cast and crew. In fact, losing Scotland as a character was the biggest challenge the series has faced so far. Executive producer Matthew Roberts noted in a recent interview:
We always played Scotland as a character, and when you find yourself in the American colonies, you don't have that.
Although the first three seasons of Outlander took Jamie and Claire to plenty of fun and exotic locales, including Paris and the Caribbean, Scotland was always a key component. As Matthew Roberts noted, Scotland was a character on the series, with its own beauty and its own look, including "castles" and "kirks," or churches.
While the show will be losing Scotland as a major location in its fourth season and beyond (Outlander has already been renewed after all), the Scottish people will still shine brightly--especially through characters like Jamie and Young Ian. Plus, Scotland is still key to the Outlander production. In fact, Starz's Outlander continued a lot of filming in Scotland for Season 4, which meant there were additional challenges to incorporating the American colonies. Per Matthew Roberts:
Scotland doesn't have a lot of wooden structures made out of clapboard and wooden shingles and all that. So, we had to build everything and allow for the time to do that.
There are also no Native Americans living in Scotland, so to create authenticity, not only did Outlander have to build homesteads, sheds and shanties, Matthew Robets also told Variety the show brought over actors from North America to play the roles that are key to Season 4.
So, when you see scenes set in North Carolina in the upcoming fourth season, just know its TV magic that's behind a lot of the looks in the new season. Much of the production remained in Scotland, where Outlander has been contributing to the economy since its premiere back in 2014. Still, bringing the show to yet another new location should make for intriguing storylines and also up the ante as we approach the Revolutionary war in the Outlander timeline. As we well know, Jamie isn't super fond of the British, but we'll have to wait and see how that pans out under the couple's latest circumstances.
The popular time travel drama will be returning to the schedule on November 4th, starting at 8 p.m. ET on Starz. If you haven't already subscribed to the subscription cable channel to get your Outlander fix, you can do so through your TV listings, Amazon or Hulu. Be sure to also check out what has yet to premiere this fall with our full schedule.
