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Outlander star Sam Heughan speaks candidly about shortened season six 

The hugely popular series will only run for eight episodes 

Emmy Griffiths
TV & Film Editor
August 26, 2021
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Outlander star Sam Heughan has opened up about the shortened season six, and revealed that it was “one of the hardest” shoots that they’ve ever had to do, despite it only being eight episodes instead of the 12 or 13 that is tradition on the show. 

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Chatting to Alex Zane on the Just for Fact podcast, he said: “It’s the shortest season we’ve done, it’s only eight episodes but it’s potentially one of the hardest because we were shooting during a pandemic and there were a lot of factors involved that made it pretty difficult to shoot.” 

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He also chatted about decompressing after playing the intense role of Jamie Fraser, explaining: “It really is a transitional moment and it’s very hard to switch off. For the first few days after shooting and completing a season of Outlander, you’re still on this hamster wheel of getting things done and everything. I came to London as I had a bunch of meetings and various things going on, suddenly it just dawned on me that I’m done.”

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Are you excited for season six?

The showrunner, Matthew B. Roberts, confirmed that season six would be shorter than usual in a statement to Deadline in early 2021, which read: "We are excited to get into the editing room to work on bringing the fans one step closer to reuniting with the family back on Fraser’s Ridge. 

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“Filming in 2021 has presented an unprecedented set of challenges which led us to the decision to truncate the season in order to bring the fans the most vibrant and dynamic season as soon as possible. Dinna fash, we will then film an extended Season seven with 16 episodes next year as life returns to normalcy.” 

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