Starz® announced Friday, July 26 2019, that Outlander will be returning for Season 5 in early 2020. We are nearing the middle of Droughtlander, the term so dreaded by fans as the show has usually taken 11-12 months of filming and production in past seasons.

The speed of filming is down to fewer episodes, and more film teams. While we are used to long series here in the states and Canada, sometimes reaching 18 episodes per season in some shows, with large productions like Game of Thrones and Outlander, longer seasons is both costly and time consuming. Most series that are period or special effects driven in other countries are 6 to 10 episodes.

Starz® announced it was extending the series to season 6 in 2018. Knowing the fanbase history, fans of the show will start campaigning for seasons 7 and 8 by the time season 5 airs. However, given the shorter episode pattern, it is possible that the writers, who are already going in different directions from the book series, may surpass author Diana Gabaldon’s writing. She is currently finishing book 9 and averages 5 to 6 years a book. Let’s hope we make it to the explanation of the ghost of Jaimie in series 1. Although, many of us already know that one.