For months, we’ve been lamenting over the fact that Brits have cruelly been denied the chance to watch Hulu’s adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. “What did we do to deserve this?” we asked, furiously googling ‘ways to watch The Handmaid’s Tale in the UK’. “It’s not fair!”
Well, quite. And, thankfully, it seems as if the TV gods have taken pity on us at last, as it’s now been confirmed that the star-studded show is coming to a terrestrial television channel near you soon.
Oh yes – Channel 4 (home of First Dates, Gogglebox and Married at First Sight) has confirmed that it has acquired acclaimed The Handmaid’s Tale from MGM Television, and it will begin airing episodes later this month.
The show, as we’ve previously revealed, forces us to envisage a future where women find themselves under attack by a totalitarian and misogynist society.
They take to the streets with placards and banners in a desperate bid to defend their rights (sound familiar?), but to no avail; instead, they find themselves annexed as property of the state – and fertile females are forced into a life of sexual servitude and surrogacy for the good of mankind.
Sound familiar?
As one of the few remaining fertile women, Offred (Elisabeth Moss) is a Handmaid in the Commander’s (Joseph Fiennes) household, one of the caste of women forced into sexual servitude as a last desperate attempt to repopulate a devastated world.
In this terrifying society where one wrong word could end her life, Offred navigates between Commanders, their cruel Wives, domestic Marthas and her fellow Handmaids – a society where anyone could be a spy for Gilead – with one goal: to survive and find the daughter that was taken from her.
Jay Hunt, Channel 4’s chief creative officer said: “The Handmaid’s Tale is a chilling and frighteningly topical exploration of a world where women are subjugated. I'm delighted that Channel 4 viewers will get to see this critically-acclaimed take on a classic novel.”
The 10-part series was created for television by Bruce Miller (The 100), who serves as the series’ showrunner. Executive producers are Miller, Warren Littlefield (Fargo), Daniel Wilson, Fran Sears and Illene Chaiken. The Handmaid’s Tale is produced by MGM Television and internationally distributed by MGM.
As well as Moss and Fiennes, the show also stars Samira Wiley, Yvonne Strahovski, Alexis Bledel, Madeline Brewer, Ann Dowd, and more. Reviews have been overwhelmingly positive – and the show has already been renewed for a second series, suggesting it takes a slightly different direction to Atwood’s original book.
We’re forever indebted to you, Channel 4.
Images: Hulu
undefined
By signing up you agree to occasionally receive offers and promotions from Stylist. Newsletters may contain online ads and content funded by carefully selected partners. Don’t worry, we’ll never share or sell your data. You can opt-out at any time. For more information read Stylist’s Privacy Policy
Thank you!
You’re now subscribed to all our newsletters. You can manage your subscriptions at any time from an email or from a MyStylist account.