Television viewers who love romantic shows and period dramas have been deep in the latest Droughtlander for nearly a full year now, with Outlander Season 7 not set to premiere until mid-June. Though we still have another season to look forward to after that, Season 8 will be the time-traveling romance’s last, so fans are likely wondering what else will be on tap for the show’s many stars. Well, Sam Heughan has just landed his next TV show, and from the description it sounds like Jamie wouldn’t approve of his new character at all.
What New Show Has Outlander’s Sam Heughan Signed On To?
It might please Outlander fans to know that Heughan (who has the upcoming book-to-screen adaptation, Love Again, coming to theaters in May) has stuck with Starz for what will now be his third series on the premium cabler. The network announced that his new show “is a deliciously dark, psychological drama” titled The Couple Next Door.
Heughan (who many think was born to play Jamie Fraser) will star as an “alpha traffic cop” named Danny, who’s married to Becka (Jessica De Gouw, Pennyworth), an alluring yoga teacher, but soon finds himself sharing a heated night of passion with his new neighbor Evie (Eleanor Tomlinson, Poldark). Evie has some problems of her own, as she’s described as “beautiful but troubled,” and some of those issues might come from the fact that she’s also married, and she and her husband, Pete (Alfred Enoch, How to Get Away with Murder) have just moved into this fancy neighborhood and felt a bit out of place until making friends with Danny and Becka.
The thriller is based on the Dutch series, New Neighbours, and the channel also revealed that it’s already begun filming on the six-episode season. We don’t know when the show will be ready for release, but I gotta say, this Danny dude sounds about as far from Jamie as Heughan could get.
Can you ever imagine our Jamie outright cheating on Claire? I mean, sure, he dallied a bit after the Battle of Culloden, but he’d already sent pregnant Claire back to the future, and she spent a whole 20 years there with Frank. She was unhappy, but how was Jamie supposed to know that, or that she was slowly dying inside not being able to be with him? Besides, all that time apart didn’t really mean much, as once they reunited (which is one of the best scenes of the show overall) it was firework fuck city in Jamie’s room, leading to one of Outlander’s sexiest romantic moments.
Plus, you probably noticed that the basic description of Danny makes him seem like a less-than-appealing man in a number of ways. He’s “alpha,” and I think many of us are incredibly likely to read that as “toxic asshole.” Jamie fights when he has to (and fights well), but very little about him could be described as “alpha” in any negative way. Add to that the fact that ol’ Danny’s a cop, and I suspect that he’ll be using some of his police privileges for things he really shouldn’t be (Jamie. Would. NEVER.) as things become more complicated for the romantic pairs at the center of Sam Heughan's The Couple Next Door.
It’ll be interesting to see Heughan take on a role like this, and I bet that many of his Outlander fans will be eager to tune in.
