'Outlander' Prequel Series 'Blood of My Blood' in the Works at Starz

Outlander fans, rejoice! Starz confirmed on Thursday that their beloved historical romance is expanding its TV universe, with a prequel series officially in the works.

The prequel series, titled Outlander: Blood of My Blood, will detail the love story of Ellen MacKenzie and Brian Fraser, the parents of Jamie Fraser, played by Sam Heughan in the flagship series.

Outlander showrunner and executive producer Matthew B. Roberts will write Outlander: Blood of My Blood and will also serve as showrunner and executive producer on the new series. Author Diana Gabaldon, whose novels inspired the franchise, will serve as a consulting producer after revealing in February that she’s writing a prequel book about Jamie’s parents.

"Outlander is a riveting show that from season to season has captured the hearts of its fans around the world,” said Kathryn Busby, President of Original Programming at Starz, in a press release. “We are excited to peel back the layers of this vibrant world to bring our audience the origin of where it all began. Matthew, Maril [Davis], and Ronald [D. Moore] will continue to bring their excellent vision and creativity to this new iteration, and we can’t wait to see what happens next."

ET spoke with the Outlander cast and creative team earlier this year about their sixth season -- which aired as a shortened, eight-episode run this spring, due in part to COVID-19 filming restrictions and star Caitriona Balfe's real-life pregnancy -- as well as what to expect from the "super-sized" season 7, currently in production.

"The challenge of light and weather really hit us hard," Roberts shared of the show's altered shooting schedule in the Scotland winter. "Our cast and crew embraced that, and got just beautiful, beautiful shots when the snow came, so that worked out. And then with Caitríona's pregnancy, we just had to reschedule the show... We condensed season 6 and got all the good material in there. And then we're going to give you a super-sized season 7, which will present its own challenges."

Ultimately, the impending American revolution may become a factor in Claire's fate, as the unrest in the colonies becomes more evident the farther the family ventures from Fraser's Ridge. But while Claire knows the outcome of that war, it's "all those really important steps that lead up to it that she's not so clear on, which would be much more helpful to them," Balfe noted. 

"I think it's a really tough position that they're in," the actress added. "I think Jamie carries sort of the larger brunt of that burden with having to decide where his loyalties are, his allegiances are, at any given time, because they know that at a certain point, they're going to have to go against the crown. But at this present point, the crown is who kind of rules the law and you have to appease them and you have to be seen to be loyal to the crown. So it's a really delicate balancing act that they're trying to do."

Season 6 of Outlander is available to stream now on Starz. See more in the video below!

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