Outlander Renewed for Season 2! Get to Know the Starz Drama With Our 16 Fascinating Facts

Fresh off its impressive debut, breaking the network's ratings record, Outlander landed "at least" more 13 episodes, based on Diana Gabaldon's second book

By Tierney Bricker Aug 15, 2014 2:24 PMTags
Outlander, Caitriona Balfe, Sam HeoughSTARZ

Well, that was fast!

Fresh off its impressive debut, Starz has renewed breakout hit Outlander for a second season, the network announced on Friday. "I'm thrilled at the prospect of doing another season of this show for Starz," showrunner Ronald D. Moore said in a statement. "This project has been a labor of love from the very beginning and it's incredibly gratifying to see it succeed with viewers and critics alike."

But (there's always a but, isn't there?) it's worth noting that the second season could be shorter than the first, as Starz said the order was for "at least 13-episodes. (The second season will be based on the second book in Diana Gabaldon's bestselling book series, Dragonfly in Amber.)

The first (and current) season received a 16-episode order, with the first eight episodes airing through Sept. 27, before the second batch of episodes air in early 2015.

Outlander debuted to solid ratings for Starz, bringing in 2.3 million viewers, and when you factor in the 1.4 million viewers from other platforms, the drama netted 3.7 million viewers, a network ratings record. (The network notes the first episode has surpassed 5 million viewers in its first week.)

"The overwhelming support Outlander has received from the fans, viewers and critics made the decision for us to go ahead with the second book a very easy one," Starz CEO Chris Albrecht said. "Diana Gabaldon has given us years of great drama. With an incredible artist such as Ronald D. Moore at the helm and a cast as spectacular as this, we look forward to continue this spell-binding journey with Claire, Jamie, Frank, Brianna, Roger and everybody over the centuries."