From Moviefone
With “Outlander” launching its third season Sept. 10 — much to the relief of the show’s diehard fans, who have dubbed the agonizing 16-month wait between seasons “Droughtlander” — Moore joined Moviefone to discuss the making of the newest episodes, the challenges of the new season’s constant hopping through time and countries, and the pleasures and pains of keeping the series’ central lovers Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie (Sam Heughan) apart.
Moore also reflected on his long involvement with “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” which celebrates the 30th anniversary of its Sept. 28, 1987 premiere this month, including his experience with “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry and his favorite personal contributions to the “Trek” mythos.
More from the interview after the jump
Moviefone: What were the big challenges for you in the new season of “Outlander” on both a storytelling level and on a production level?
Ronald D. Moore: The production challenges were much bigger. The scope of the season is so big. Traveling through the different time periods –- not just 20th century to Scotland, but also ’40s, ’50s, and ’60s in the 20th century. And then all the Scottish stuff. Then pivoting the show in the middle, and going to South Africa, and the ships, and then Jamaica. It was very complicated production-wise. That was easily the biggest challenge.
In terms of story, actually, this was an easier book to adapt than the prior season was, so that laid out pretty well. Just in terms of story, probably [the most challenging aspect] was figuring out what the Claire/Frank story was going to be. That took the most thought, because it wasn’t really in the book, so we constructed it from various other books and backstories, and things that were suggested but maybe not clearly defined.
Was it at all worrisome keeping your two leads apart for a length of time in the story?
Not to me. I kind of felt like, every week, the audience is going to be saying, “I can’t wait for them to get back together.” But good. You want to build that yearning and that desire, so that when it happens, it has a big emotional payoff. I feel like if we they had gotten back together after one or two episodes, it’d be nice, but it’d be kind of like an “Okay -– great.” Holding it as long as we’ve held it, I think that builds the suspension and tension.
What do you think it did for the characters to leave them apart for so long, in the ways you were able to explore them?
It’s nice to see them in isolation from each other, because so much of the show is about them together. Splitting them up allows you to sort of see them interact with other people more, and sort of explore them in a different way, so that the relationship between the two of them isn’t front and center.
So you can do things: Jamie’s relationship with his family gets a little bit more time. His relationship to John Grey and Murtagh, and Willie -– you open up all these other doors that, when it’s just Claire and Jamie, that sort of dominates everything else. There’s plenty of that to play in the show, so it was nice to have a one stretch of time where we could do other things.
Read the full interview here
Great interview! I didn’t realize all the hard work, creative thought and planning, future thinking that went into a show production.