Outlander season 6 filming locations: where in Scotland will new series of Sam Heughan drama be filmed?

Season six filming could begin sooner than fans think

Time-travelling drama Outlander has taken the world by storm, and fans are eagerly awaiting the release of season six of the show.

Filming of the latest season, which once again stars Scottish actor Sam Heughan, was due to take place in 2020 but production was majorly delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

That meant fans were faced with a “Droughtlander” - a long gap between seasons of the show.

Sam Heughan is approached by fans as Outlander filming takes place in Glasgow (Getty Images)

However, those who have followed Jamie and Claire Fraser’s adventures since the beginning will be happy to know that there is news on where filming of season six will take place.

Here’s everything you need to know.

Is Outlander season six in production?

Back in May 2018, Starz, the American network that produces Outlander, confirmed that the popular show would be renewed for a fifth and sixth season.

Preparations for filming season six then began in March 2020, but the coronavirus crisis swiftly put a halt to things.

However, in December last year, Sam Heughan, who plays Jamie in the show, took to Twitter to show his followers the inside of the Outlander costume department, confirming that preparation for the sixth season was finally underway.

He said: "We're prepping, we're dressing people, we're learning to deal with all the guidelines but we can't wait to show you what we have got in store for season six. I might even have a new hat, we'll see."

Filming is expected to begin in the coming weeks, after the producers of the show spent £150,000 on setting up a private Covid-19 testing centre for the cast and crew.

Where will Outlander season 6 be filmed?

The brand new testing centre has been built in the car park of Wardpark Film Studios in Cumbernauld where all the previous seasons of Outlander have been produced.

For season six, the cast of the drama will once again return to the same studios to film.

The production hub is currently the only elite film and television studio in Scotland, with its 200,000 square feet of studio space making it perfect for Outlander filming.

Wardpark Studios has confirmed that work is ongoing at the location before season six filming takes place.

A statement on its website reads: “The studio is currently occupied by Outlander production, produced by Sony Pictures Television and Left Bank Pictures for Starz.

“This television drama has proved hugely popular, and work is currently ongoing at the studio to film the sixth series of the show. All previous series have also been filmed at Wardpark Film and Television Studios.”

The set is where most of the drama’s non-location specific filming happens.

Explaining how they use the space, Executive Producer Matthew B Roberts told Radio Times: "This [the studio] is a rare thing to have because it’s ours. This is all ours.

“Every stage is ours, we have a prop building, we have plasters, we have everything we need to create this world.”

But the show usually features iconic spots from all over Scotland, which also double for where the series is set in North Carolina.

That means, Covid-19 restrictions permitting, the cast and crew could once again take to places across the country to film the new season.

Where could location filming take place?

However, there has not yet been any confirmation on where these Scottish locations could be.

And the show’s producers are always hesitant to reveal all the shooting locations to protect people who live in the local areas.

Executive Producer Maril Davis told the New York Post: “There is a right-to-roam law in Scotland, where you can pretty much go anywhere you want.

“Because of that, we like to try to protect some of these people [who live near shooting locations] so they don’t have too many people visiting their properties.”

Season five of the show was filmed at many different locations in Scotland, so it is possible that some of those places could be reused in season six.

Kinloch Rannoch was once again used for the site of Craigh na Dun where Claire time-travelled through the stone circle.

The Thomas Coats Memorial Church located in Paisley was used to film scenes set in the 1960s.

And the Hermitage forest in Perthshire was also used for some scenes, as well as Milne Woods in Bridge of Allan, a town just north of Stirling.