$\""Caitriona\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Starz<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
The flashback also offers a fresh angle on a past storyline. \u201cI really enjoy that about Outlander,\u201d enthuses Heughan. \u201cAnd I think we might get more of that. We\u2019re really starting to pull upon other books, storylines, narratives. That\u2019s what is so great about our show \u2013 we can draw upon our past.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor Jamie, the way I played it the first time, he\u2019s just been through the Battle of Culloden, he thought he was going to die; he\u2019s shut off, he\u2019s living in the memory of Claire. And then to revisit that [in season 6], but slightly adapt it, he\u2019s suddenly forced into being receptive and being a leader of men again.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not something when I first played that time period that I even knew had happened. I love that. I think it\u2019s really cool for the viewers.\u201d<\/p>
The Christie family \u2013 Tom and his young-adult children Malva (Jessica Reynolds) and Allan (Alexander Vlahos) \u2013 bring \u201csuch a different vibe\u201d to Fraser\u2019s Ridge.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s full of praise for \u201cincredible\u201d newcomer Reynolds. \u201cClaire sees a lot of herself in Malva and they form a really strong bond,\u201d explains Balfe. \u201cBut things aren\u2019t always what they seem, and it gets very complicated.\u201d<\/p>\n
Likewise, Jamie \u2013 who practises his Catholic faith in a very different way \u2013 is grappling with the intractable Tom. \u201cJamie has to use his whole toolbox of manipulation and putting him down or threatening him,\u201d says Heughan. \u201cHe can see that Tom is a danger: he uses fear to control men, and that\u2019s not what Jamie believes in. It begins to unravel the Frasers\u2019 popularity on the Ridge.\u201d<\/p>\n
But \u201cthere\u2019s more layers to Tom Christie,\u201d teases Balfe, adding: \u201cOn the surface [Tom] seems to be this tiresome, Bible-bashing, fire-and-brimstone man. But as the season progresses we learn a lot more about him.\u201d<\/p>\n
$\""The\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Starz<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
But it\u2019s not just the Christies causing problems for Jamie. For now, he\u2019s on the side of the crown and, in season 6, becomes an Indian agent, approaching Native Americans to ask them to fight for the British in the Revolutionary War. However, that means potentially aiding a future enemy given that Jamie is planning to switch sides. \u201cThe ground really is very uneven right now for Jamie,\u201d sums up Heughan.<\/p>\n
Another major storyline is the aftermath of Claire\u2019s horrific abduction and gang-rape in season 5. \u201cEven before we filmed it, we had already started the conversations about how important it was to see the recovery and the fallout,\u201d recalls Balfe. \u201cI\u2019m so grateful that our writers were prepared to give a lot of air time to that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also think it\u2019s important that we see a character like Claire, who often gets this moniker of being a \u2018strong female\u2019, that whether you appear to be strong on the outside, something like this will really shake you to your core. For Claire, who\u2019s always been able to compartmentalise and move on from traumas before, we see her experience PTSD and make some missteps along her journey of recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those missteps include self-medicating \u2013 something which is prevalent in a lot of survivors\u2019 stories, observed Balfe. \u201cClaire is really good at giving help, but very bad at asking for help \u2013 so it felt true to her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Balfe \u201creally, really loved\u201d this departure from the source material, which is still, she stresses, woven into key elements of the book. \u201cI think it\u2019s a clever way of telling the story and I\u2019m excited to see what the fans think of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
$\""Claire\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n
However, there has been criticism that Diana Gabaldon\u2019s books, and now the series, feature too much sexual assault. Balfe acknowledges that \u201cthings have changed\u201d since the novels were first published. \u201cOf course we have to re-evaluate, and especially when you\u2019re showing something [on TV] as opposed to reading it,\u00a0 there\u2019s a different digestion of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very important to handle these things sensitively. If we can, we try to make it part of a conversation that will hopefully help people. That\u2019s why we show different aspects of recovery. What Brianna went through is different to what Claire went through, which is different to what Jamie went through.\u201d<\/p>\n
In season 6, Jamie gives Claire space to deal with her trauma, explains Heughan. \u201cBut he\u2019s keeping an eye on her. He knows that she\u2019ll come to him should she need it.\u201d He went on to say that it\u2019s \u201cunprecedented [territory] for both of them. It really does come to a head, because she keeps this secret [her self-medicating] from him. Normally, they deal with everything together.\u201d<\/p>\n
$\""Outlander\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n
Watching the Frasers\u2019 marriage evolve is one of the great pleasures of Outlander, thinks Heughan, and unusual for TV: \u201cYou never get to see the domestic daily life of a couple who actually make things work.\u201d There\u2019s plenty of that in season 6, despite fewer episodes. \u201cWe do somehow spend more<\/em> time with them. There are some lovely moments where you see Jamie and Claire just being in each other\u2019s company.\u201d<\/p>\n
But while Balfe enjoys showing \u201cthe inner workings and dynamics of their marriage\u201d, she confesses that she\u2019s not hugely fond of filming the more intimate moments between them: \u201cI can\u2019t say that I love all of the sex scenes. They\u2019re never the most fun to film. I think at this point we know that they have a healthy sex life!\u201d But she accepts that \u201cit\u2019s a really core part of their relationship: they\u2019re as in love with each other now as they were from the get-go.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a good season for the wider Fraser clan as well, says Heughan, with strong storylines for Young Ian (John Bell), recently returned from Mohawk \u2013 \u201cWe get to find out what happened to him\u201d \u2013 as well as Fergus (C\u00e9sar Domboy) and Marsali (Lauren Lyle), and Brianna (Sophie Skelton) and Roger (Richard Rankin). \u201cIt feels like Fraser\u2019s Ridge is really flourishing, but this is just the time where it starts to decay.\u201d<\/p>\n
$\""Outlander\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Sony<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
There\u2019s further grappling with the ethics of time-travel knowledge, too. \u201cJamie and Claire tried to change history and that didn\u2019t work out,\u201d says Heughan. \u201cNow they\u2019re trying to be on the right side of history. Jamie is a man of honour and very loyal, but now he\u2019s trying to do right by his family and the people who depend on him.\u201d<\/p>\n
He particularly loved shooting the Native American storyline: \u201cWe re-created a Cherokee village and it brings another texture, another civilisation. The actors who came over, most of them from Canada, they brought their own culture. It shows the scale of what was going on with the Native Americans at that time.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for Claire, she\u2019s back in 18^{th<\/sup>-century doctor mode. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of fun,\u201d says Balfe. \u201cWe have our own Dr Claire on set, our medical advisor. It\u2019s a great puzzle when we bring her in and go, \u2018OK, how do we do this in a way that\u2019ll look realistic, but with what Claire has available to her?\u2019 We got to do an operation on Tom Christie and the only difficulty was getting through a take without us cracking up, with Mark shouting and moaning in pain!\u201d<\/p>\n}
What about fellow time-traveller Wendigo Donner (Brennan Martin), who we met in season 5? \u201cHe might pop his ugly head back up again,\u201d teases Balfe. And we\u2019ll definitely get more of breakout star Adso the cat. \u201cClaire couldn\u2019t have a surgery without him these days,\u201d she confirms. \u201cHe\u2019s the most chilled, docile cat I\u2019ve ever come across \u2013 speaking as a cat owner for many years.\u201d<\/p>\n
$\""Outlander\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n
Though the shortened season 6 wasn\u2019t planned, Balfe thinks there\u2019s a natural break in the storytelling. And the good news for fans is that we\u2019re getting a bumper season 7 with 16 episodes. \u201cIt brings us back to season 1, where we had a 16-episode order as well,\u201d recalls Balfe. \u201cI think we\u2019re steeling ourselves to have the stamina for a 12, 13-month shoot, but it\u2019ll be worth it.\u201d Balfe will also be going back to set \u201cas a new mum, which will be an interesting learning curve\u201d.<\/p>\n
Some stories from season 6 will continue into the next year, she explains, but then the series has already shifted several plots around rather than just mapping one book directly onto a season. \u201cThat\u2019s the beauty of a long-running show like this, we get to play around and take the best bits.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heughan points out that Gabaldon has written Outlander novellas and short stories, too, like one featuring a young Jamie and Ian fighting in France. \u201cA couple of times we\u2019ve tried to incorporate them or written stuff but it\u2019s never really made it in. But who knows! She\u2019s also mentioned writing a prequel. And I think she\u2019s written an episode this season as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neither Balfe nor Heughan has read the latest Outlander book, as they prefer to focus on their current season. What do they think about Gabaldon\u2019s professed plan to finish Jamie and Claire\u2019s story in her 10^{th<\/sup> book \u2013 so potentially their 10^{th<\/sup> season? \u201cThat would do it, wouldn\u2019t it?\u201d says Heughan.<\/p>\n}}
\u201cIt would be amazing if we get the season orders,\u201d agrees Balfe. At this point, she notes, only season 7 has been ordered. \u201cAnd maybe by that time Sam and I will have actually reached Claire and Jamie\u2019s real age. We\u2019ll save a fortune on make-up.\u201d<\/p>\n
But for now, they\u2019re thrilled to bring this new season to the eager fans \u2013 one which Heughan believes really rewards their long-term investment in the characters: \u201cIt\u2019s the payoff that I\u2019ve been waiting for.\u201d<\/p>\n
Outlander season 6 will premiere on\u00a0StarzPlay<\/a>\u00a0in the UK on 6th March 2022.\u00a0Looking for something else to watch? Check out our guide to the\u00a0best series on Netflix<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0 best movies on Netflix<\/a>, or visit our\u00a0 TV Guide<\/a>.<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n
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The latest issue of Radio Times is on sale now \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0to get each issue delivered to your door. For more from the biggest stars in TV, l<\/strong>isten to the\u00a0Radio Times podcast<\/a> with Jane Garvey.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/body><\/html>\n
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By Abby Robinson Published: Sunday, 27 February 2022 at 12:00 am By: Marianka Swain. Droughtlander has finally drawn to a close. The hit time-travelling series Outlander returns for season 6 on 6th March \u2013 and excitingly, the first episode is feature-length. That\u2019s a little gift to fans \u201cfor being so patient and waiting so long […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Abby Robinson Published: Sunday, 27 February 2022 at 12:00 am By: Marianka Swain. Droughtlander has finally drawn to a close. The hit time-travelling series Outlander returns for season 6 on 6th March \u2013 and excitingly, the first episode is feature-length. That\u2019s a little gift to fans \u201cfor being so patient and waiting so long…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/11576"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}