Outlander won't return to screens until 2020

The Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe drama kicked off its most recent series in autumn 2018 but US network Starz – which makes Outlander – has decided to hold its next batch of episodes back until the new year.

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That means Droughtlander will continue until 2020.

It may not be the news viewers were hoping for but network execs have attempted to explain their logic. Speaking at the Television Critics Tour in Beverley Hills, Chief Operating Officer Jeffrey A Hirsch said:

"Everything we do is based on delivery, trying to have something on the air to serve that premium female audience,” he told journalists, as reported by Entertainment Weekly. “We have some shows coming before like Power that serve the general market. It’s more about scheduling around that digital experience."

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Outlander fans are familiar with the waiting game. While series one was split between August 2014 and and April 2015, with series two following exactly a year later, viewers were forced to wait nearly 18 months – a period nicknamed Droughtlander – for series four, which kicked off in September 2017, reuniting the drama's two key characters Jamie and Claire who had been split in time for 20 years.

Series five is expected to continue their journey in 18th century North Carolina and is based on author Diana Gabaldon's fifth book, The Fiery Cross.