Outlander season 8: Release date, trailer and latest news
Outlander will conclude with its eighth and final season.
The final season of Outlander is almost here and while the end of Diana Gabaldon's book series hasn't actually been released, the series is carving out its own ending for its beloved characters.
It's no easy feat, with executive producer Maril Davis telling Radio Times and other press on a set visit for the series: "We’re just trying to be respectful because obviously, it’s weird to be doing the last season of the TV show where she still has a book left.
"So, it’s kind of hard because we don’t know where she’s taking the characters. So, we have to figure out a way to conclude it in a way that’s satisfying to everyone but also, doesn’t step on her toes."
Nobody knows quite how the show will wrap up, but if the trailer is anything to go by, it's set to be another sweeping, emotional instalment. Read on for everything you need to know about Outlander season 8.
Outlander season 8 release date
The eighth season of Outlander will officially start airing on MGM+ in the UK on Saturday 7 March 2026, one day after it debuts in the US on STARZ on Friday 6 March.
That means 'Droughtlander' – as it is affectionately known – is nearly over and fans of the show will soon get their fill.
The eighth and final season will be dropping episodes weekly, with a scheduled hiatus week before the penultimate episode.
Who will star in Outlander season 8?
The core cast of characters are all reprising their roles for the final season, thankfully.
Seeing as season 7 ended with Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire (Caitríona Balfe) taking in young Fanny (Florrie May Wilkinson) after the death of her sister Jane (Silvia Presente), we're also set to see Fanny is a recurring character in the show's eighth season.
The following cast members are confirmed to return for Outlander season 8.
- Caitríona Balfe as Claire Fraser
- Sam Heughan as Jamie Fraser
- Sophie Skelton as Brianna Randall Fraser MacKenzie
- Richard Rankin as Roger Wakefield MacKenzie
- David Berry as Lord John Grey
- John Bell as Young Ian Murray
- Charles Vandervaart as William Ransom
- Izzy Meikle-Small as Rachel Hunter Murray
- Joey Phillips as Dr. Denzell Hunter
- Florrie May Wilkinson as Frances “Fanny” Pocock
- Lauren Lyle as Marsali Fraser
- Cesar Domboy as Fergus Fraser
- Caitlin O’Ryan as Lizzie Beardsley
- Paul Gorman as Josiah/Kezzie Beardsley
- Kieran Bew as Captain Cunningham
- Frances Tomelty as Elspeth Cunningham
- Carla Woodcock as Amaranthus Cowden Grey
- Gary Lamont as Evan Lindsay
- Antony Byrne as Hiram Crombie
- Harry Jarvis as Henry Grey
- Alex Bhat as Benjamin Grey
- Turlough Convery as Benjamin Cleveland
- Diarmaid Murtagh as Buck MacKenzie
Season 7 also ended with a surprise appearance from Master Raymond (Dominique Pinon), but it remains to be seen whether he'll be returning for anymore scenes. When asking whether he could confirm if Master Raymond will return in season 8, co-showrunner and executive producer Matthew B Roberts told TVLine: "I cannot. And I don’t even know if I saw him in season 7. Who’s to know what happened?"
However, it has been confirmed that season 8 will mark the introduction of some new characters.
It's been announced that Kieran Brew (House of the Dragon) will portray Captain Charles Cunningham, a retired British soldier, Frances Tomelty (Catastrophe) will appear as his mother Elspeth Cunningham, and Carla Woodcock (Such Brave Girls) will play Amaranthus Grey, a new member of the Grey family.
Lauren Lyle and César Domboy are also reprising their previous seasons' roles as Marsali and Fergus, with Davis telling Radio Times and other press at a set visit for the show: "We had a story we thought was good to tell and is a very strong story for them, this last final season. It just felt fitting that they – the gang who is alive – is all back together. We obviously have a lot of people that have been killed off!”
What will Outlander season 8 be about?
It's hard to say exactly what Outlander season 8 will be about, especially since author Diana Gabaldon was still working on her 10th and final Outlander novel when season 8 was being worked on.
The official Outlander season 8 synopsis reads: "As season 8 begins, Jamie and Claire soon find the war has followed them home to Fraser’s Ridge, now a thriving settlement that has grown and flourished in their absence.
"With new arrivals and changes made during their years away, the Frasers are confronted with the question of what they are willing to sacrifice for the place they call home and, more importantly, what they would sacrifice to stay together."
It continues: "While the Frasers keep a united front against outside intruders, family secrets finally coming to light threaten to tear them apart from the inside. Although they’ve left the war for America’s freedom behind, their fight for Fraser’s Ridge has only just begun."
Radio Times previously posed the question of how the series will wrap up in light of the lack of Outlander's final book to executive producer Maril Davis.
She said: "We’ve talked to Diana a bit. Once we figure out how the actual ending is going to be – which we don’t totally have yet – I think we’ll run it by her and make sure she’s OK with it."
She continued: "I’ve asked her about things that we want to do to make sure she’s OK. The last thing we want to do is step on Diana’s toes, she’s been so lovely and supportive of this series and so thrilled with how it’s gone. We want to repay her and be respectful of her, do her books justice.
"But also, she’s always felt like the books are hers and the show is something different and I love that about her, she gives us that freedom also to take chances and risks and do things slightly differently."
Davis added: "We will of course run things by her, it will have to be slightly different, obviously, because she’s ending it and she hasn’t figured that out yet – what that it is – and we’re going to have to end the TV show. I’m excited about it but we have a few surprises up our sleeve.”
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The seventh season finale blew the doors all the way open for what could transpire in season 8. There were reunions, tricky surgery, death and a major cliffhanger relating to Claire and Jamie, harking back to a tragic season 2 storyline.
The final episode saw Claire overhear Fanny singing I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside, the same song that Claire sang to her stillborn child Faith in the show's second season.
Talking about how that finale sets up the eighth season, Heughan told The Hollywood Reporter: "It’s a huge moment for them to find out that their daughter potentially lived, and now they have this grandchild in their life. It’s a great cliffhanger – one that I think book and non-book fans are going to be surprised by. I think it was beautifully done with the song.
"It’s interesting because even playing [Faith’s death] way back in season two, we played the truth of it; we had no idea ourselves. So it was a shock for us as actors reading it and learning about it, as it was for the characters."
Is there a trailer for Outlander season 8?
Yes!
You can watch the trailer for the eighth and final season of Outlander below.
Outlander season 8 will start airing on MGM+ in the UK from Saturday 7 March 2026, and on Starz in the US from Friday 6 March. You can buy Diana Gabaldon's books on Amazon.
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Authors
Morgan Cormack is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering everything drama-related on TV and streaming. She previously worked at Stylist as an Entertainment Writer. Alongside her past work in content marketing and as a freelancer, she possesses a BA in English Literature.
