Terrific news for fans of Outlander: Several favorites from seasons past will rejoin the action in the seventh season of the Starz drama that’s now filming in Scotland. Graham McTavish — who’s on HBO’s House of the Dragon — will reprise his role as Jamie’s uncle Dougal MacKenzie. Also returning is Nell Hudson as Laoghaire Fraser; Steven Cree as Old Ian Murray; Andrew Whipp as Brian Fraser, Jamie’s father; Layla Burns as Joan MacKimmie, Marsali’s sister and Jamie’s stepdaughter; and Lotte Verbeek as Geillis Duncan, Claire’s former friend-turned-enemy and a fellow time traveler. Several new actors will be joining the cast too, including Gloria Obianyo (Dune) as Mercy Woodcock, a free Black woman navigating the hardships of life in Colonial America; Rod Hallett (The Last Kingdom) as Benedict Arnold, the notorious Revolutionary soldier turned traitor; Chris Fulton (Bridgerton) as Rob Cameron, a new acquaintance of Roger and Brianna; Diarmaid Murtagh (Vikings) as Buck MacKenzie, the illegitimate son of Dougal MacKenzie and Geillis Duncan, and Roger’s ancestor, a role previously played by Graham McTavish in season five, and Kristin Atherton (Shakespeare & Hathaway) as Jenny Murray, Jamie’s sister and Young Ian’s mother, a role originated by Laura Donnelly in seasons one through three. Previously announced additions include Charles Vandervaart as William Ransom; Izzy Meikle-Small as Rachel Hunter and Joey Phillips as Denzell Hunter.
More Scots in rehab but Government slammed for 'going too slow'
28.09.2022 - 12:37 / dailyrecord.co.uk
The Scottish Government has announced a big increase in rehab placements - but has been slammed for going too slow.
The number of people in residential rehabilitation for alcohol and drug addiction went up to 218 between April and June this year, compared to 78 during the same period last year.
But the target for 2026, pledged by drugs policy minister Angela Constance, is for 1,000 to be in treatment - meaning almost five times as many as today must be placed.
Scottish Labour’s health spokesperson Claire Baker said things need to be speeded up.
She said: “Three years ago a public health emergency was declared but we haven’t seen the speed or scale of changed required. Since the declaration thousands of lives have been lost.
“We need urgent action to ensure people who suffer from addiction can access the full range of services as quickly as possible wherever they live. A failure to do so will mean lives will continue to be needlessly lost.”
Annemarie Ward, of the FAVOR addiction charity, said: “The Scottish Government is trumpeting the massive progress they have made but the reality is that they are still less than 25 per cent of the way from the target of 1,000 desperate Scots in rehab.
“I note today the opening of the Phoenix Futures family facility in Saltcoats, which is to be applauded. But we need similar establishments in every single Scottish local authority if we are to properly commit to dealing with our drug deaths emergency.”
She added: " if the stats are real then they are still 25% off but we suspect it's far more because they are counting detox and stabilisation beds as rehab."
In stats released by Public Health Scotland, the average number of placements is currently sitting at 67 per month during the current
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