Fans of the Starz mega-hit Outlander know that the drama wrapped Season 5 way back in the middle of May. And, while those behind the romance and sexy-time heavy series would have likely had a while to wait before getting back to work anyway because of the pre-planned extended hiatus between Seasons 5 and 6, we know that this year has shaken things up even more. While star Sam Heughan has spoken several times about being more than ready to return to Fraser's Ridge, he's now revealed when Outlander expects to get back to work.
Sam Heughan spoke with Good Morning America recently to talk about his new book, and when asked what fans could expect from Season 6 of Outlander, noted that filming for the next season is set to begin before too much longer:
Yeah, hopefully you know everything is getting back to normal. We’re finding ways around everything that’s been happening right now with Covid. We are gearing up to go back to work. We’re ready, so we are going to start shooting early next year. We’re all very excited to get back to work. We’re ready for it.
WOOO! Man, this is very good news, right? OK, while I know many of you are rejoicing in the streets right now, it's important to note that this does not mean that Outlander will be on our screens by next summer. As I mentioned earlier, there was already a longer break planned until we got to see Season 6. In case you need to be reminded, we had to wait for over a year between the Season 4 finale and the start of Season 5, so we might not get new Outlander until very late 2021 (at the earliest), and (prepare yourselves) we might have to wait until 2022. I know!
As you might imagine, some of this is due to the show having to film during the pandemic. Many shows (and movies) have been able to get back to filming in the past few months, with very serious and strict new guidelines in place to try and keep everyone in the cast and crew safe. There is frequent virus testing, and everyone is being put into certain groupings on set (usually called bubbles), so that only people who have to work with each other on a regular basis are in close proximity, with the hope being that if there is a positive test it will be much easier to isolate everyone who's worked with that person.
In addition, the now-standard social distancing and mask-wearing is also enforced on sets. While these steps have made a return to work possible for shows like The Witcher, Grey's Anatomy, For Life and even shows that film in front of audiences like Saturday Night Live, Outlander faces some special challenges. Remember all those sexy-times I mentioned above? Yeah, Outlander can't really have lots of people kissing or otherwise making out, and executive producer Maril Davis spoke about how that might shake out when it comes to filming Season 6. And, fans might have to make do with far less naughty stuff whenever we finally see the new episodes.
Luckily, from what Sam Heughan said during his interview, they at least seem to have a tentative plan in place to get going on the next season, so it might not be too much longer before we hear when we can expect Season 6 to actually air. For now, you can watch all of Outlander streaming on Starz, and watch Seasons 1-3 on Netflix. For more on what to watch in the coming weeks, check out our guide to fall TV!
