Where Was Outlander Iii Filmed For The Scottish Scenes?

Totally psyched to talk about 'Outlander' season three — it's one of those seasons that really sticks with me. To cut straight to it: season three has 13 episodes. It adapts much of Diana Gabaldon's 'Voyager', so the episode count gives the writers room to breathe through both the emotional fallout and the sweeping historical bits. That 13-episode structure feels deliberate; the show moves between Claire's life in 1940s Edinburgh and Jamie's struggles back in the 18th century, and the pacing benefits from not being rushed. The episodes usually land in the 50–60 minute range, so you get a lot of story in each installment — almost like mini-movies. I watched the original run on Starz, but depending on where you live, later streaming windows or local broadcasters might carry the season. What I liked most was how the show balances quieter character moments with big set pieces; some episodes felt intimate and letter-heavy, while others brought real tension and action. There are standout episodes that lingered with me long after they aired. All in all, 13 episodes was a solid choice for season three: not so long that it bloated the narrative, but long enough to adapt a dense book section without losing nuance. If you're revisiting the season or diving in for the first time, expect a slow-burn emotional core paired with the usual historical flair — I still find myself thinking about a few scenes from this run whenever I rewatch bits.

Great news if you’ve been keeping score — 'Outlander' season three originally premiered on Starz on September 10, 2017. I still get a kick recalling how the premiere dropped and everyone immediately began dissecting the time-jump and the changes from the books. Starz debuted the episodes weekly in the U.S., so that was the first place to catch new episodes as they aired. Netflix’s timeline is messier, because streaming and broadcast rights vary by country. In many international regions, platforms like Netflix picked up season three several months after the Starz debut — generally in the spring of 2018 for a lot of territories (so think April through June 2018 in many markets). In the U.S., though, Netflix hasn’t been the primary home; Starz and its affiliated streaming options are the go-to there. If you want the cleanest route now, subscribing to Starz (or adding the Starz channel through Amazon Prime/VOD services) or getting the season on Blu-ray/DVD is the most reliable bet. Personally, I prefer rewatching a season on physical media for the extras, but bingeing on Starz app hits just right for a nostalgia trip.

What a ride that season was — I still get chills thinking about how 'Outlander' shifted gears in its third season. The simple, factual bit first: season three of 'Outlander' premiered on Starz in the United States on May 10, 2017. Starz rolled out the episodes weekly, with a 13-episode run that played out over the summer of 2017. Beyond the U.S. premiere date, the worldwide rollout was a little more of a patchwork. Starz's international channels and partner networks staggered release dates depending on contracts and regional windows, so in many places viewers got episodes very close to the U.S. premiere — sometimes same day, often within a few days or a week — while other territories saw a slightly later release. For collectors and marathoners, the season later arrived on DVD/Blu-ray and various streaming platforms, which was great for catching up or rewatching. Personally, I loved how the show dug deeper into the characters this season; knowing the premiere date felt like the kickoff to a long, satisfying summer of television.

I kept digging through liner notes and interviews because that soundtrack haunted me in the best way — the composer behind 'Outlander' Season 3 (often called 'Outlander III' by fans) is Bear McCreary. He wrote and produced the score for the show, and his fingerprints are all over those sweeping Celtic textures, intimate piano passages, and the patched-together period pieces that make scenes feel lived-in. McCreary also arranged several traditional songs for the series, weaving them into the narrative so you recognize a melody not just as background music but as part of the characters' lives. One small detail I love is how he used vocalists like Raya Yarbrough on the main theme and other tracks; her voice gives that wistful, timeless quality that sits perfectly with the show's time-traveling heart. If you hunt down the album titled 'Outlander: Season 3 (Original Music from the Starz Series),' you'll get the full picture of his work — themes, motifs, and those little regional touches. It’s a score that really rewards repeat listening, and I still get chills during certain cue returns.

My brain lights up just thinking about the globe-trotting chaos of 'Outlander' season three — the show really goes all over the map. The bulk of filming was done in Scotland, where the production has long been rooted; you’ll recognize a ton of the familiar castles, villages and estate grounds that double for 18th-century Scotland and colonial America. For example, the series has repeatedly used places like Doune Castle (the stand-in for Castle Leoch), Midhope Castle (Lallybroch), Hopetoun House (used as grand manor grounds at times), and the picturesque village of Culross (that perfect, cobbled Cranesmuir look). You’ll also see Glasgow and surrounding countryside filling in for towns and interiors. Where it really surprises people is Jamaica: the Caribbean sequences in season three weren’t shot in the Caribbean at all but in South Africa, mostly around the Cape Town area. The production found coastal spots and leafy estate gardens there that read as 18th-century Jamaica on camera — beaches, ruins and plantation exteriors were all staged around Western Cape locations. In addition to on-location shooting, a lot of the period interiors and complicated scenes were handled on soundstages and production lots near Glasgow and around central Scotland. Visually, that blend gives season three its odd, wonderful tone — Scottish landscapes for family and Highland life, Cape Town doubling as the tropics, and studio work stitching everything together. I love tracing where a scene was really shot versus where the story takes you; it makes rewatching 'Voyager' bits feel like a mini travelogue for me.

Totally buzzing about the new season of 'Outlander' — it leans hard into what made the show addictive: sweeping locations, messy emotions, and a bigger ensemble to carry book-sized storylines. The core duo, Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan, of course come back to center the season, and the writers brought in a number of new faces and guest players to flesh out the time-jumping chaos. Instead of just a handful of one-off characters, the season expands with recurring players who represent different threads from the books: people tied to Jamie’s past, figures from Claire’s medical world, and folks who complicate life on both sides of the Atlantic. If you want specifics, the cleanest way to see who actually joined is to check official casting announcements from Starz and trade outlets like Variety or Deadline — they usually list series regulars and notable guest stars when a season rolls out. Fan-curated databases like IMDb and the show's official site also catalog episode-by-episode credits, which is great for spotting surprise cameos. Personally, I loved watching how the newcomers didn’t just fill space; they changed the chemistry in scenes and let the leads stretch into darker, more vulnerable moments. It felt like the cast got both wider and deeper, which is a real treat.

Can't help but grin talking about who pops back up in 'Outlander' season three — it's the season where the show leans into that messy, beautiful 20-year gap from the books, and you see a mix of old faces and the grown-up next generation. The core returning duo is, of course, Claire Fraser (Caitríona Balfe) and Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan); their chemistry is still the engine that drives everything. Alongside them, Sophie Skelton comes in as Brianna Randall Fraser, now an adult, and Richard Rankin returns as Roger — both of whom anchor the 20th-century threads when Claire returns home. Tobias Menzies shows up again in a tricky dual capacity: his presence as Frank Randall and the echoes of Black Jack Randall continue to haunt the story through flashbacks and emotional fallout. On the 18th-century side you also get familiar allies like Fergus (César Domboy) and the Murray siblings — Jenny and Ian (Laura Donnelly and John Bell) — who keep that Fraser-home vibe alive. There are also plenty of supporting players and guest returns that stitch earlier seasons into the new timeline; minor faces from the Highlands and Claire's life before time travel make cameo appearances that feel rewarding. Beyond just names, season three is about how those returns affect the stakes: Jamie and Claire have to reckon with two decades lost; Brianna and Roger bring in a whole different perspective; and the show uses returning characters to bridge grief, guilt, and familial loyalty. I loved watching those reunions land — they felt earned and sometimes heartbreaking, in the best way.

You know, diving into how season three of 'Outlander' reshapes 'Voyager' feels like unpacking a treasured, slightly altered heirloom — familiar but polished for a different light. I noticed the show compresses time and rearranges scenes so the emotional beats hit harder on screen: the long twenty-year gap Claire spends in the 20th century is still there, but the series leans into the visuals of loss and memory rather than the book’s slower, interior chapters. That means fewer pages of Claire’s day-to-day rebuilding with Frank and more focused vignettes that let viewers feel the ache and the clues that lead her back through the stones. The series also streamlines or merges some side plots that in the book unfold slowly. Jamie’s survival arc after Culloden gets distilled — his time as a fugitive, the people who help him, and his movement toward smuggling and privateering are shown with cinematic snaps rather than the long, detailed digressions the novel indulges in. Characters who functioned mainly as background in the book may be combined or reduced to keep the main arcs (Claire, Jamie, and Brianna) central, and some of the epistolary and reflective material from the book transforms into new scenes visualized for television. Beyond compression, the show amplifies certain relationships and adds connective scenes to clarify motives: the reunion between Claire and Jamie is reworked to maximize on-screen chemistry and visual closure; the series sometimes shifts the order of events so that plot threads converge neatly within a season. It also gives Claire’s medical skills and moral conflicts sharper, more immediate moments — things that read as internal monologue in 'Voyager' become action. All of this means the spirit of the book survives, but the structure gets nipped and tucked so it breathes right on camera. I love how they keep the heart, even if a few branches get pruned for pacing — it still hit me right in the chest.