'Outlander' season seven is expected to return in 2024. Here's everything you need to know.

• "Outlander" has aired eight episodes of season seven so far. The Starz drama is now on a hiatus.

• The second half of the season is expected to land on screens sometime in 2024.

• Stars Sam Heughan and Caitríona Balfe will return, alongside fan favorites from earlier seasons.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for "Outlander" season seven.

Another Droughtlander has arrived, but there's some light at the end of the tunnel this time around as the team behind the Starz drama already has a return date for the second part of season seven penciled in.

As audiences may already be aware, the current season is the show's longest since season one, consisting of 16 episodes. While the first eight have now aired, the second half will be arriving sometime in 2024.

In the recently aired midseason finale, Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire (Caitríona Balfe) finally made the journey back to Scotland after an unexpected turn of events during the second battle of Saratoga, while Brianna (Sophie Skelton) and Roger (Richard Rankin) dealt with the discovery that their son had been kidnapped and likely taken through the standing stones at Craigh na Dun.

From which cast members you can expect to see in the remaining episodes to details on the Diana Gabaldon books the episodes will be based on, keep reading for everything we know about the second part of "Outlander" season seven.

The second part of "Outlander" season seven is expected to air sometime in 2024.

Season seven was given a supersized 16-episode order after season six was truncated as a result of delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Eight episodes of season seven have aired so far, with the remaining eight scheduled to air sometime in 2024.

Speaking to Insider, executive producer Maril Davis said that a return date has actually been set, but the team behind the show won't be sharing the details just yet.

"I've been told but I can't tell you guys yet," she said. "I don't know when that's going to be announced. It's kind of out of my hands but hopefully won't be too long."

The remaining episodes of season seven have already been shot.

Given the current strikes in Hollywood that have put a pin on almost all productions, "Outlander" fans will be pleased to learn that the second part of season seven has already been shot.

The cast and crew returned to the set in Scotland to begin filming both parts of the season back to back in April 2022 and confirmed via an announcement on Twitter that filming had concluded in February 2023.

Heughan also shared the news with his Instagram followers, alongside a photo of himself and Balfe smiling while holding a clapperboard.

"That's a WRAP!!! 220 shooting days, a whole year of Outlander," he wrote. "THANK YOU to our amazing crew who have worked so hard and to our brilliant fans…we CANNOT WAIT for you to see season 8 @outlander_starz."

The episodes will be based on the events of the seventh and eighth "Outlander" novels by Diana Gabaldon.

Since it began airing in 2014, the romance drama has roughly adapted one book a season.

However, since season six was shortened, the first part of season seven actually covered some events from Diana Gabaldon's sixth "Outlander" installment, "A Breath of Snow and Ashes," as well as the events of the seventh, "An Echo in the Bone."

Davis confirmed to Insider that the second part of the season will continue to wrap up the events of "An Echo in the Bone" before launching into the action of the eighth book, "Written in My Own Heart's Blood."

That will allow the writers to fully dedicate the show's eighth and final season to the ninth book in the series, "Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone."

Sam Heughan, Caitríona Balfe and the rest of the main cast are all expected to return for the new episodes.

"Outlander" wouldn't be "Outlander" without its two main stars and it would be impossible to think of the show continuing without them so, of course, Sam Heughan and Caitríona Balfe will be returning.

The pair, who have both held the additional role of executive producers since season five, play 18th-century Scottish warrior Jamie Fraser, and his time-traveling and devoted wife Claire Randall Fraser, respectively.

In addition, audiences can expect to see the couple's daughter, Brianna MacKenzie (Sophie Skelton), and her husband, Roger MacKenzie (Richard Rankin), back on screen. Their new acquaintance, Buck MacKenzie (Diarmaid Murtagh), and adversary, Rob Cameron (Chris Fulton), will likely make an appearance given their importance to Brianna and Roger's storyline.

Young Ian (John Bell), Lord John Grey (David Berry), and the recently reintroduced William Ransom (Charles Vandervaart) will also likely be back.

As for the Hunter siblings (Izzy Meikle-Small and Joey Phillips), Davis hinted that we might not see so much of them, telling Insider: "We've left them behind for a little bit but we are going to come back to them."

Audiences can also look forward to seeing some fan favorites from the show's earlier seasons.

It was announced in late 2022 that several characters not seen since the show's early days will rejoin the action in the show's seventh season.

These include Dougal MacKenzie (Graham McTavish), Laoghaire Fraser (Nell Hudson), Brian Fraser (Andrew Whipp), Joan MacKimmie (Layla Burns), Ian Murray (Steven Cree), and Geillis Duncan (Lotte Verbeek).

Deadline reported that Jenny Murray, Jamie's sister will also make an appearance, but she will be played by Kristin Atherton, instead of Laura Donnelly, who originated the role.

Given that some of the returning characters are dead, audiences may be wondering how exactly they will be written back into the story. While flashbacks are possible, showrunner Matthew B. Roberts hinted at another option.

"One of the many joys of our epic story is the element of time travel which allows us to revisit some of our favorite characters in different times and places," he said in a statement at the time.

This will be the penultimate season of "Outlander" after it was announced the eighth season would be its last.

In January 2023, Starz confirmed the show would be returning for one final run after season seven.

"For nearly a decade 'Outlander' has won the hearts of audiences worldwide and we're pleased to bring Claire and Jamie's epic love story to a proper conclusion," said Kathryn Busby, Starz's original programming president, in a statement.

Like "Game of Thrones," another much-loved TV drama adapted from a long-running series of books, "Outlander" will likely end its run on television before the final novel is released.

However, fans won't have to say goodbye to "Outlander" for good, as a prequel series has been greenlit. Titled "Outlander: Blood of My Blood," it will focus on the love story between Jamie's parents, Brian and Ellen.

While pre-production began earlier this year, there's no news yet on casting or when it might air.

Read the original article on Insider