Outlander’s ‘life-changing’ impact in tourism

OUTLANDER star Sam Heughan said the hit TV show has been “life-changing” for the Scottish tourism industry.

Speaking ahead of the launch of the sixth series early next year, Heughan, 41, said the time-travelling show spawned an interest in Scotland and helped boost visitor numbers. Heughan said: “Outlander has spawned an interest in Scotland, it’s created a film studio that wasn’t there before.

“It’s been life-changing for the tourism industry and also for our careers.

“Scotland is always at the heart of Outlander – I’ve always said it’s like another character in the show.”

Filming of series six of Outlander was held up for months by the pandemic, but Heughan suggested the show would be better than ever when it returned.

Heughan said: “It’s a shortened season of eight episodes, but the episodes are much longer – the first episode runs for around an hour and a half. That extra time spent with the characters means they are really strong episodes and there are a whole load of new characters coming in.”

The actor and his Outlander co-star Graham McTavish, 60, were speaking at the launch of their new book, a spin-off from travel show Men in Kilts.

The pair developed the new show when the pandemic brought production on Outlander to a halt.

McTavish said he had an idea to make a series of films about clans to sell on DVD to clan members living abroad back in 1991 – but no-one was interested at the time.

He said: “It’s so lovely to be talking about something like that 30 years later that has actually come true.”