Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe both appeared at this year’s New York Comic Con to preview the highly anticipated new season of Outlander. New arrivals Tom Christie (played by Mark Lewis Jones) and his family could very well be the biggest threat to the Starz show’s enthralling central couple to date.
Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire Fraser (Caitriona Balfe) face the biggest challenge to their relationship yet in the upcoming sixth season of Outlander.
The fantasy-romance series will be returning to Starz at the start of next year and introduce some new members of the Fraser’s Ridge community, the Christies.
Speaking at this year’s NYCC, Heughan revealed the family patriarch Tom Christie is a figure from Jamie’s past who could ruin his marriage to Claire.
He teased: “We have this family, the Christies, that arrive at the Ridge and they initially are integrated into the new community.
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“But very soon we start to see a lot of the history that’s been between Tom and Jamie really get under the skin of everyone.”
Tom hasn’t been glimpsed in the television adaptation of Diana Gabaldon’s books so far.
However, he’s set to become a major figure in the series going ahead as Jamie and Tom’s intense feud is slowly unveiled.
Heughan suggested their history together could even threaten Jamie’s bond with his time-travelling wife, Claire.
The Outlander star confirmed: “They’re fantastic. Mark Lewis Jones is just incredible.
“Alex, Jessica; they’re just a weird little family on our screens. So you’re going to love and you’re going to hate them.”
He also revealed Jamie’s promise to allow all walks of life on the Ridge could come back to bite him in season six.
Although the Christies appear to be upstanding citizens when they first arrive, their ulterior motives and terrible secrets will soon be uncovered.
The twisted family could also become major antagonists for the Frasers going forward.
Tom makes an appearance in Diana Gabaldon’s seventh book, An Echo in the Bone, which will form the basis of the confirmed seventh season.
Starz has yet to confirm an exact release date for season six, but the network has assured fans it will be coming their way at the start of next year.
Outlander season 6 will premiere in early 2022 on Starz.