'Outlander' season 4: Turning Scotland and Slovakia into America

The plot of “Outlander” season 4 will mostly be based in the American colonies. While filming is almost complete, the cast and crew haven’t travelled to the US to film these scenes. Instead, locations in Scotland and Slovakia have been used to depict scenes of North Carolina. In a recent interview, Showrunner Ronald D. Moore and cast members Sam Heughan (Jamie) and Caitriona Balfe (Claire) talked about the filming, and working with Maria Doyle Kennedy (Aunt Jocasta).

In an interview posted on YouTube, Moore explained that the landscape and the terrain is the most important factor while selecting a location to film. There are sections of Scotland that apparently do look like North Carolina. The scouting team and the producers had to make sure the trees, the foliage, and the ground cover matches with the locations in US in the story.

One specific location that they found for Fraser’s Ridge does look like North Carolina, according to Moore. There were, however, some problems. The rivers in Scotland are not similar to the rivers in North Carolina. The cast and crew had to go to Slovakia to shoot these river scenes, as well as scenes of Blue Ridge Mountains.

Apart from the filming locations, what helps the audience understand that they are in a different world are the sets and the costumes. The buildings in the American colonies are made of wood, instead of the stone houses and castles of Scotland.

Co-executive Producer Maril Davis particularly praised Production Designer Jon Gary Steele and his team for creating this new world in Scotland. Davis said that she is disappointed that they couldn’t film in North Carolina, but she said that the experience of filming season 4 has been “fabulous.”

Talking about Kennedy, the new addition to the show, Balfe said that it is always good to have a fellow Irish woman on the set. The actress said that it has been “great” working with the new cast member.

Heughan also said that Maria is an “incredible actress” to work with. Talking about his character, Heughan said that meeting his last relative is a huge moment for the Scotsman. Aunt Jocasta is the sister of Jamie’s mum, so she looks and sounds like Jamie’s mum. He added that Aunt Jocasta has a lot of qualities that are similar to Colum (Gary Lewis) and Dougal (Graham McTavish).