Outlander was one of many shows that faced production delays starting in 2020, but the beloved Starz series is back in action and ready to reveal some new characters on the way in Season 6. The first look at three newcomers proves that the sixth season definitely isn't cutting these characters who had parts to play in Diana Gabaldon's book saga, starting with The Fiery Cross. The three members of the Christie family will arrive from page to book!
Jessica Reynolds of The Curse of Audrey Earnshaw is on board Outlander Season 6 to play Malva Christie, Alexander Vlahos of Merlin and Broke will play Allan Christie, while Mark Lewis Jones of Gangs of London will play Thomas Christie. If you were for some reason expecting the Christies to be all smiles all the time in their appearances on Outlander, the first look photo already seems to prove otherwise!
The image itself doesn't give away many details about how these characters will be adapted from page to screen other than what the Christies will be wearing, but the Outlander Twitter account dropped some descriptions that shed some light on what's to come. Let's start with the patriarch of the Christie family who comes to Fraser's Ridge with more than a little baggage.
Mark Lewis Jones' Tom Christie arrives on Fraser's Ridge looking for a place to settle down, with some shared history with Jamie as a fellow Ardsmuir prisoner. Unlike Jamie, however, Tom is a devout Protestant, and his arrival at the Ridge will bring some tension. Would it really be a season of Outlander if there was nothing but peace at Fraser's Ridge, especially with how Season 5 ended? Jones described his character, saying:
I'm playing Thomas Christie and so there's a bit of history between Jamie Fraser and myself. We were at Ardsmuir together.
The actor also confirmed that his character and Jamie were not the "best of friends," so Jamie's experience with Tom at Ardsmuir is clearly different from what he went through with some others, including of course Murtagh. As for the actress playing Tom's daughter, Jessica Reynolds' Malva Christie is "spirited" and captivated by the work and modern thinking that she sees with Claire, but the conservative Tom isn't going to embrace that thinking from his daughter.
Jessica Reynolds explained how Malva sees Claire and Jamie at Fraser's Ridge, sharing:
She's kind of in awe of Claire. I think when she gets to the Ridge she's heard so much about Jamie and she expects him to kind of be the hero of her story, and then she sees the woman and she's like, 'Oh no, I'm more interested in that.'... We kind of start off with a very innocent, kind of eager to learn, she's got the world in front of her, she thinks this is kind of her chance to blossom, and become a woman potentially like Claire, and then lots of stuff gets in the way.
Based on the first five seasons of Outlander, I just hope that the "stuff" that gets in the way for the show's version of Malva isn't as brutal as what some of the other characters have experienced! Whatever happens, she will have her brother around, and Alexander Vlahos' Allan Christie is highly protective of his family as they settle in at the Ridge. Depending on just how many of Claire's modern sensibilities that Malva embraces, she might not take well to Allan if "protective" becomes "overprotective" in Season 6!
Alexander Vlahos shared how he sees Allan on Outlander, explaining:
Those of you who've read the books know that Allan has a very dark history. But he's also trying to find his way in the world. He's come over to the settlers and to Fraser's Ridge to try and take a claim of a little bit of his own manhood, I guess, trying to emulate his father, trying to follow in his father's footsteps.
"Dark history" sounds about right for Outlander! The show is making some exciting additions to the cast, and – perhaps more importantly for fans who haven't read the books – clearly making progress in production on Season 6. There is still no confirmed date for the sixth season to premiere, but 2022 seems likely at this point, although we don't have to rule out late 2021 just yet.
The very good news is that fans don't have to spend the wait for Season 6 worrying that the sixth season will be the last, as Starz has already renewed Outlander for a seventh season, based on An Echo in the Bone as the seventh of eight currently published Outlander books by Diana Gabaldon. Season 7 has already received an order for 12 episodes, so the future is bright for Outlander fans, even if Claire and Jamie are bound to run into more trouble in the next couple of seasons. And there's always Men in Kilts in the meantime!
