Outlander season five has just finished, and filming for season six is currently on hold due to the pandemic. Sadly, we don’t know when Jamie, Claire, Brianna will next be on our screens. And this, fellow sassenachs, leaves us in one heck of a “droughtlander”. 

But fear not: last week, Sam Heughan released the trailer for his new documentary, Men In Kilts, which sees the actor take a historical tour around Scotland with his co-star Graham McTavish. We’ll be able to see what the pair got up to when the show is aired later in 2020.

And in more exciting Outlander news, author Diana Gabaldon has just announced she’s writing a prequel to the series.

Fans already know that Gabaldon is currently writing the upcoming ninth book in the series, Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone, which will continue telling the adventures of the Frasers.

But the author has also shared a tweet confirming she is writing a prequel  – and it will focus on Jamie’s parents. 

A fan asked: “Have you ever thought of writing a prequel to Outlander about Jamie’s parents? His mom Ellen sounds like quite a gal. Murtagh loved her (boar tusk bracelets) and MacRannoch also loved her (pearls) and his parents’ love sounds very intense like [Jamie] and [Claire].

Gabaldon simply replied: “Yes. It’s in progress.”

Although Gabdaldon shared no other details, it was of course enough to spark joy across the fandom. And there are so many more questions we need answering.

Will there be a backstory about Claire? Does this mean Jamie and Claire’s tale will be wrapped up in book eight? And, perhaps most importantly, does this mean a spin-off TV series?

While we wait to get some more information (which might not be for quite a while), Heughan – who of course plays Jamie in the TV series – has been talking about season six. 

Speaking on This Morning on Tuesday 16 June, Heughan explained: “We were supposed to be shooting right now, obviously things are still slightly up in the air but I’m hopeful that we’re going to be back before we know it… They’re putting plans in place, but people can still binge it, it’s on Amazon here in the UK so you guys can watch that.”

And bingeing seasons one to five while we’re in lockdown is exactly what we’re going to do.

Images: Starz