Outlander just can’t seem to help itself: The enormously popular Starz series is moving through time again. A prequel based on the show (and series of books by author Diana Gabaldon) is officially moving forward, per Variety, with the original series’ executive producer and showrunner Matthew B. Roberts attached to both write and produce the new show, called Outlander: Blood of My Blood.
The story will center on the parents of fan-favorite Outlander protagonist Jamie Fraser, a Scottish soldier who falls in love with Claire Randall, an inadvertent time-traveler whisked from 1945 to 1743. Their love story has now spanned numerous books and will continue for a total of seven seasons of Outlander, the last of which is currently in production. Blood of My Blood will continue the story (and, Starz hopes, the fan fervor) by adding a new dash of romance, one that led to the birth of the Scottish dreamboat himself.
For the prequel, Gabaldon will serve as a consulting producer, an unsurprising move given the author’s previous tease of a prequel novel starring Ellen MacKenzie and Brian Fraser. Cast announcements are still forthcoming, but Variety reports a writers’ room has already been assembled.
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In December 2021, following the release of her ninth Outlander novel, Gabaldon told Town & Country that she had “just started serious work on” the prequel “volume.” A few months later, she shared on Instagram what she thought could be “possibly the first line of the book,” which may very well become the opening scene of the new series: “Ellen MacKenzie, eldest of the children of Jacob Ruadh MacKenzie, chief of Clan MacKenzie—well, the late chief, if only by moments, but she’d think about that later—grabbed Ailidh Watt from behind and dragged her out of sight, clapping a hand over her slobbering mouth to stifle her cries.” One hell of a way for us to meet dear ole’ mum!
This post will be updated.
Lauren Puckett-Pope is an associate editor at ELLE, where she covers news and culture.