Outlander: Blood of My Blood: Everything to Know About the Outlander Spin-Off

Outlander may be coming to an end, but romance still lingers in the air in the Scottish Highlands.

As Starz prepares to close the book on the love story of Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) with its upcoming eighth season, the world born from the books of author Diana Gabaldon is expanding into uncharted territory with a new prequel series, Outlander: Blood of My Blood.

The new show will transport Outlander fans back before the Jacobite uprising, the American Revolution, and all the turmoil of the mothership show to the quieter (for now) days in the Scottish Highlands with Jamie Fraser's parents, Ellen MacKenzie (Harriet Slater) and Brian Fraser (Jamie Roy), while also traveling to the World War I era to show us the meet-cute between Claire Randall's parents, Julia Moriston (Hermione Corfield) and Henry Beauchamp (Jeremy Irvine). But there are more surprises in store, as revealed by the show's first trailer.

Here's everything to know about the next chapter in the Outlander saga, Outlander: Blood of My Blood.

Outlander: Blood of My Blood premiere date

Clear your calendars for Friday, Aug. 8, because that's when you'll get your first taste of Outlander: Blood of My Blood. The episodes will first be available wherever you can stream Starz, and then air on the Starz channel later that night at 8/7c. New episodes will roll out every Friday.

Outlander: Blood of My Blood trailer

On July 10, Starz unspooled the official Outlander: Blood of My Blood trailer, and it's a WHOPPER. What starts as a simple tale of two love stories across two timelines quickly becomes something else when Claire's future mother, Julia Moriston (and eventually Claire's future father, Henry Beauchamp) time travels back to 1714 (!!!) following a car accident, further complicating what we thought this show was already about. There are even hints that Claire's parents and Jamie's parents cross paths — in fact, Starz's press release says the couples will be "intersecting in surprising and unforeseen ways" — as though fate was working its magic just to make sure Claire and Jamie eventually found each other in the future. 

Outlander: Blood of My Blood plot

The new series will chart the budding romance between Jamie Fraser's parents, Ellen MacKenzie and Brian Fraser. As fans will remember from the early seasons of Outlander, there is a wild allure to falling in love in the Scottish Highlands — just ask Jamie and Claire. But Jamie's parents have only been talked about in passing and in memory, as they are both dead by the time the series begins. So the untold story of the two people who gave the world Jamie Fraser will likely explore even more of the natural and romantic beauty of Scotland in the early 18th century.

Like its predecessors, the new series will also keep one foot in the 20th century by telling the similarly unknown story of Claire's parents, Julia Moriston and Henry Beauchamp. Their story will unfold at least partially during the upheaval of World War I in Europe, meaning that fans will never be too far away from the front lines of war no matter which series they are watching. However, as revealed in the first trailer above, it appears that time-traveling runs in the family!!! Starz also mentions that we'll learn the origin stories of fan-favorite characters from early seasons of Outlander.

Outlander: Blood of My Blood cast

The casting of Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan defined the success of Outlander, so it makes sense that the casting of their parents would be equally important to deepening the story. On the Frasers' side, Harriet Slater (Pennyworth, Belgravia: The Next Chapter) will play Ellen MacKenzie, and Jamie Roy (Condor's Nest, Flowers and Honey) will play Brian Fraser. On the Beauchamps' side, Hermione Corfield (The Road Dance, We Hunt Together) will play Julia Moriston, and Jeremy Irvine (War Horse, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again) will play Henry Beauchamp.

It is not yet known if Balfe or Heughan will have any involvement in the new series, either on screen or off — though it should be noted that both are executive producers on the original series.

Outlander: Blood of My Blood production news

On Feb. 5, 2024, Starz announced production had begun on the 10-episode first season in Scotland. Starz also shared the first slate used for filming on Blood of My Blood. It reveals the premiere will be directed by Jamie Payne, who has directed several episodes of Outlander, including the Seasons 5 and 6 finales.

Like the original series, Matthew B. Roberts will serve as showrunner, executive producer, and writer. Also executive producing the series will be Ronald D. Moore and Maril Davis, who originally developed Outlander for television.

Outlander: Blood of My Blood book connections

The new series will be uncharted territory for the Outlander franchise because it is not based on pre-existing material. The mothership series has followed very closely to author Diana Gabaldon's bestselling book series, covering one book per season up until Season 6. But as the series nears its end, the production has had to eat through multiple books in Seasons 7 and 8 in order to make it to a proper conclusion. Conversely, Outlander: Blood of My Blood will be an original prequel. However, fans don't need to worry about it deviating too far from the world built by Gabaldon, as she will serve as a consulting producer on the new series.

Where to watch Outlander

Outlander: Blood of My Blood will air on Starz and the Starz streaming platform, beginning Aug. 8. Seasons 1-7 of Outlander are now streaming on Starz. Season 1-6 are also streaming on Netflix.         

Stream Outlander Watch on Starz