As Outlander's Final Season Continues Production, Executive Producer Ronald D. Moore Explains Approach To Keeping Diana Gabaldon 'In The Loop' On Book Changes
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The wait continues for the second half of Outlander Season 7 to arrive on Starz, with the good news that the premiere finally has a spot in the 2024 TV schedule. Meanwhile, the cast and crew have already been hard at work on the eighth and final season, with Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan even confirming some returning characters who have been gone for a while. Now, executive producer Ronald D. Moore has opened up to CinemaBlend about the show ending before author Diana Gabaldon has published the final novel in her Outlander book saga.
Ronald D. Moore, who developed Outlander for television and has remained on board as an executive producer, spoke with CinemaBlend's Mick Joest at San Diego Comic-Con about his various projects. When asked whether planning Season 8 was affected by Diana Gabaldon's tenth and final planned Outlander book not yet being published, Moore shared:
The show is in close contact with Diana, who writes the books and, you know, we've always changed and made adjustments from the books in the adaptation process, and we've always kept Diana in the loop, and she's given feedback. And so they kind of work hand and glove with each other. But the intention was never that we would [proceed without her] and be sure that we were writing stuff with her because I think she's gonna keep writing this for some time.
Moore, who has spoken about changes from book to screen during past seasons of Outlander, clarified how the series continues to work with Diana Gabaldon. Changes always have to made when adapting any written work to television or film, and apparently, the author has been kept "in the loop" to provide feedback.
Shortly after the game-changing Season 7 midseason finale, Gabaldon shared what she "really appreciated" about how the show's team was approaching the need to condense the source material. She is also credited as a consulting producer for the Blood of My Blood prequel, although she wasn't entirely clear on what the would entail earlier in the process.
As for whether the second half of the seventh season or any episode of the eighth season will give any more definitive answers about Outlander time travel or the ghostly figure of young Jamie that appeared to Frank way back in the series premiere, only time will tell.
News broke that Outlander was ending back in early 2023, with confirmation of the Outlander: Blood of My Blood prequel to soften the blow. A few months later, Sam Heughan revealed what the vibe was like on set in the wake of the news. It'll be the end of an era of a show that endured the COVID-19 pandemic and has spanned decades of romance, heartbreak, and history with its time travel.
That end is still a ways off, though, as the second half of Season 7 won't premiere until November 22 and Season 8 presumably won't premiere until 2025 at the earliest. In the meantime, Ronald Moore's comments about getting feedback from Diana Gabaldon are worth thinking on, and you can always revisit the first six seasons of Outlander streaming with a Netflix subscription.
