Outlander's Sam Heughan on character return: 'The audience will gasp'

One of the surprising things that unfolds in that much-anticipated ninth episode, though, is the fact that Jamie (Sam Heughan) feels the need to apologise to Laoghaire (Nell Hudson).

Speaking about Jamie's decision to mend bridges with Laoghaire in season 7 part 2's premiere episode, Heughan exclusively told RadioTimes.com: "He's an honourable man. He feels a sense of duty.

"And I also feel like there's still... despite their rather tumultuous, kind of crazy history that they've had together, there's still a part of him that remembers the young Jamie and the young Laoghaire."

Heughan went on: "He knows deep down that she's hurting. He wants to help her, he wants to make sure that she's OK, but also Joni – he's got a very soft place in his heart for her. Obviously, they lived together for some time. So he has a sense of duty and he's a good man, and I think he's putting a lot of things to rest.

"He's made his home in America now, but there are certain things that he feels that he should put away. And it's great to see Nell [Hudson] come back. She's a character that I think fans love to hate. And as soon as she walks on screen, I think you'll be able to hear the audience gasp.

"But yeah, a really fun sort of chapter to revisit and to have all these great characters. But as you said, it is bittersweet saying goodbye to some of our favourite characters and some of our favourite locations as well."

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It's certainly been a roller coaster ride between Jamie and Laoghaire over the years, with the pair having married and divorced, making Laoghaire one of the most contentious characters in Outlander, to say the least.

The ninth episode's title of Unfinished Business certainly does seem to tie up a couple of loose ends, but, of course, this is only the first episode in part 2 – so there's plenty more drama to come.

With an inflated season comprising of 16 episodes, Outlander season 7 is set to finish unfolding over the coming months, marking the show's penultimate season before its eighth and final outing.

While it's a sad fact that the hit series is ending with season 8, there's prequel series Blood of my Blood to look ahead to, and it seems as though there's some suitable interest in another Outlander spin-off.

Recently, Outlander star David Berry revealed just what happened with the rumoured Lord John Grey spin-off, but did admit that he's still very much keen to do it.

Berry told Deadline: "I’m still prepared to do it... Matt [B Roberts] and Maril [Davis], executive producers on Outlander, have also expressed a lot of interest in doing it.

"So I guess it really depends on finding a network for it and audience interest in moving forward and doing a spin-off."

Outlander season 7 part 2 premiered on MGM+ in the UK on Saturday 23rd November and is also available to stream on Starz in the US. You can buy Diana Gabaldon's books on Amazon.

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