'Outlander' producers extend series to season eight

The producers of the beloved series 'Outlander' have revealed that the upcoming seventh season, initially intended as the series finale, will now be extended to include a Season 8.

Executive producer Matthew Roberts shared the unexpected news in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, stating, "It wasn't until we were two-thirds of the way in that we had the announcement that we were going to get season 8."

Executive producer Maril Davis added, "We went into that writer's room not having any idea and having to assume this would be our last season." 

This assumption prompted the writers to use more source material than ever before, combining books seven and eight to ensure a satisfying conclusion.

Davis explained, "Let's take all the material we have... We said, 'Let's take books 7 and 8, let's combine them and take all that material and make the best season we can.' And that's what we did."

Stars Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to give the series a proper send-off with an additional season.

Balfe stated, "What Sam and I personally felt was that we would like to see it finished up in a proper way and not wrapped up in two episodes or something." 

However, she acknowledged the emotional challenge of saying goodbye to her character, Claire, saying, "It's going to be very, very hard to say goodbye to it."

Fans eagerly anticipate the premiere of the first part of Outlander Season 7 on June 16 on Starz.