By Neela Debnath

Copyright dailyrecord

One of the stars of Outlander has opened up about the huge audience reaction to one major scene in the hit Starz series, which comes after Sam Heughan shared an exciting update and Caitríona Balfe made a confession about the show’s ending . Mark Lewis Jones, who played the initially stern Tom Christie in seasons six and seven, opened up on his character’s story arc and how fans responded to the character. The 61-year-old Welsh star told Reach Screen Time exclusively: “I got a great response. They really took to the Christies as it were. “Tom Christie was a brilliant part to play because he started off here and ended up here, he had that massive shift and professing his love [to Claire Fraser].” The actor elaborated: “He starts off being the most awkward, stiff, stoical kind of character, who doesn’t have any room for frivolity and massively strict religious stuff. Then, breaking down and confessing his love. So again, it was a gift really.” Jones explained how he’d done an Outlander convention and discussed the scene with fans: “It was great to talk about that, the kiss, about confessing his love. They’d all kinda of warmed to Tom by this point.” Tom’s arc was underscored by tragedy from his wife’s infidelity and his incarceration after Culloden to the murders of his children Malva (played by Jessica Reynolds) and Allan Christie (Alexander Vlahos), and ending with him falsely confessing to his pregnant daughter’s killing to save Claire (Balfe). “Ultimately gives his life,” Jones explained, saying this was a big part of Tom’s redemption and why fans had grown fond of the character. The star, whose list of credits ranges from Star Wars and Game of Thrones to Gangs of London and The Crown, revealed he’d previously auditioned for Outlander’s very first series but admitted he couldn’t remember which part he’d gone up for. He also went on to pay tribute to Heughan and Balfe, hailing them as “captains of the ship” on Outlander and warmly welcoming newcomers to the set. Jones said how the Outlander acting and producing duo were “ such lovely people” and added “it just made it a really lovely experience”. Heughan and Jones go back years after the pair ran together for charity a couple of times, prior to Jones landing Tom Christie in Outlander. “So Sam and I had done a couple [of marathons] together. We’d first met through that and so when I turned up [on Outlander], I had someone I already knew,” he said. The star is now busy on various other projects, with his brand-new English and Welsh thriller Y Golau: Dŵr (The Light in the Hall: Still Waters) out on BBC iPlayer this week. He will also be appearing in season two of Welsh drama Dal Y Mellt, while IMDb lists his upcoming projects as Henry House and Uncle. Outlander: Blood of My Blood airs on Fridays on Starz in the USA and on Saturdays on MGM+ via Prime Video in the UK Outlander season 8 will air on Starz and MGM+ via Prime Video in early 2026 Y Golau: Dwr is streaming on the BBC iPlayer now