It’s a busy day for Starz. The cable network has announced a bunch of new TV shows and premiere dates at the 2024 Television Critics Association (TCA) summer press tour. But let’s be real, nothing screams Starz more than its claim-to-fame in recent years: the sexy period drama Outlander. And thankfully, Starz ends the “droughtlander,” as the fans have dubbed it, by serving up new photos for its return.
The show, which aired part one of its seventh season in the summer of 2023, is back in November. The eight new episodes of part two follow Claire (Caitriona Balfe), Jamie (Sam Heughan), and Young Ian (John Bell) as they arrive in Scotland and brace for the Revolutionary War. Meanwhile, Roger (Richard Rankin) and Brianna (Sophie Skelton) are back in their time in 1980 and face new enemies that can pull their family apart. So, you know, the usual.
Outlander returns on November 22 at 8 p.m. ET. The 10-episode eighth and final season is already in production.
But don’t worry, there’s still more to come from this Diana Gabaldon-created world. Starz is going further back in time with a prequel titled Blood Of My Blood, which premieres in 2025. The new show centers on the lives of Claire’s parents, Julia Moriston (Hermione Corfield) and Henry Beauchamp (Jeremy Irvine), as well as Jamie’s parents, Jamie’s parents, Ellen MacKenzie (Harriet Slater) and Brian Fraser (Jamie Roy). So it’s parallel love stories set in two different periods. It doesn’t just sound like the perfect follow-up to Outlander, but also looks like it, based on the first-look photos alone:
If you thought Outlander’s end meant no more Sam Heughan on Starz, think again. The actor leads a new thriller titled The Couple Next Door, which releases over the winter. The six-part British psychological thriller follows Evie (Poldark’s Eleanor Tomlinson) and Pete (Alfred Enoch), who move into a new neighborhood and befriend their neighbors, traffic cop Danny (Heughan) and his yoga instructor wife, Becka (Jessica De Gouw). As their paths continue to clash, a sexual entanglement leads to inevitable disaster.
The cable network has also acquired the rights to air Sweatpea, based on C.J. Skuse’s novel. A darkly comedic revenge tale led by Fallout and Yellowjackets star Ella Purnell, the story follows Rhiannon Lewis, a wallflower who is consistently overlooked at work and home. Well, one day she’s had enough and develops a vengeful, liberating taste for murder. The cast includes Nicôle Lecky, Leah Harvey, Jon Pointing, and Ted Lasso’s Jeremy Swift. Sweatpea debuts later this year.