How 'Blood of My Blood' Differs From 'Outlander'

World building takes time, even in a time-traveling world already familiar to millions of fans. For Matthew B. Roberts, showrunner of Outlander: Blood of My Blood, the first season of the prequel series was about reintroducing a world audiences already think they know.

"You have to start the story," Roberts told T&C on set at Wardpark Film and Television Studios in Scotland, while season two was filming last October. (Both Blood of My Blood and the original Outlander series have been filmed at the same soundstages.) "You spend a lot of time just getting the story started, getting the audience up to speed about the world and who everybody is, and then the family dynamics."

Jhon Lumsden as Malcolm Grant, Harriet Slater as Ellen MacKenzie, Sally Messham as Mrs. Fitz, and Séamus McLean Ross as Colum MacKenzie.Sanne Gault - STARZ

Although it is also set across two timelines with flashbacks to the 20th century, the prequel series Blood of My Blood is grounded in 1714. The plot is still centered around the Fraser and MacKenzie clans, as well as the new Grant family—all played out against the backdrop of the Highland politicking and the earliest whispers of the Jacobite rising. Viewers already know the outcomes of some of these characters' story arcs as Outlander has now finished its eight season run. There are also a number of real-life historical events and figures that have already been introduced in season one. (Hello, Rob Roy!)

"I've suffered from that since the first day that Outlander started, which is everybody knows the outcome," Roberts said when asked about writing about events like the Battle of Culloden. "Everybody knows that certain things happen, certain people live, so we always have that. It's the how that is the interesting part."

Jamie Sives as Rob Roy McGregor (center).Sanne Gault - STARZ

That exploration happens on multiple levels. "There's threads in the book where something's mentioned and you go, 'Hey, wait, maybe this happened,'" Roberts said. Then the writers can begin to look for new ways to bring characters together. Once the audience understands who everyone is and where they fit, the writer's room can focus less on exposition and more on interaction. That's where the surprises happen.

One example in the finale of season one is the marriage of Dougal MacKenzie (Sam Retford) and Maura Grant (Bobby Rainsbury). "We know that Dougal marries Maura, that's canon," Roberts said. "I thought a really cool twist would be that he's forced to do it, and he hates the Grants, we've heard him say it." When his sister Ellen (Harriet Slater) absconds from her arranged marriage to Malcolm Grant (Jhon Lumsden), their begrudging siblings are forced into a last-minute wedding to save the family alliance. "We thought the twist would be fantastic, and then we can build on that relationship because they're really good together."

But every interaction has to make sense within the social and logistical realities of the period. Families are spread across the Highlands, which means creating opportunities for encounters can require careful plotting. "You want to revisit characters that you've already seen that were great together, but getting them together in story is different," he said. "It's not quite as easy, especially with where everybody lives."

Rory Alexander as Murtagh Fraser, Jamie Roy as Brian Fraser, and Hermione Corfield and Julia Beauchamp.Sanne Gault - STARZ

There's also the risk of not getting carried away. Fans know very little about Claire's parents, Henry and Julia Beauchamp, played by Jeremy Irvine and Hermione Corfield. But having room for backstory doesn't mean every gap needs to be filled. "There is a lot of freedom in telling what happens to get them there," Roberts explained. "With Henry and Julia, you have to be much more careful because you want to make sure you're not exploding something. When you put them in a story, oddly enough, it's very similar to Murtagh, because Murtagh lived in our story and he dies in the books. Everything he touches after he lives, you go, 'Is this, are we blowing anything, should he be around? What's the trickle down effect of it?'"

The emphasis on relationship dynamics also underscores another difference between the two shows. While Outlander followed Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie (Sam Heughan) across continents, Blood of My Blood is set entirely in Scotland. That anchor gives Roberts and his team a more controlled setting over the course of the season. He has described the first season as an opportunity to show Scotland "in all its glory," but it's also a chance to examine the Fraser and MacKenzie families in greater detail than before. "That's what we started to do more," he said. "There's more to come, and then you can start exploring those different kinds of relationships."

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