The Testaments, the spin-off series from The Handmaid's Tale, has finally confirmed its UK release date. Based on Margaret Atwood's 2019 novel, the show is set in the dystopian theocracy of Gilead and will premiere on 8 April on Disney+ in the UK. The first three episodes will be released on that date, followed by weekly episodes.
Set 15 years after the events of The Handmaid's Tale, the series is described as 'a coming of age story that finds a new generation of young women in Gilead grappling with the bleak future that awaits them'. Among the young women is June Osborne's daughter Agnes, played by Chase Infiniti, who was taken from June at the beginning of the original series.
The synopsis explains: 'The series follows young teens Agnes, dutiful and pious, and Daisy (Lucy Halliday), a new arrival and convert from beyond Gilead’s borders. As they navigate the gilded halls of Aunt Lydia’s (Ann Dowd) elite preparatory school for future wives, a place where obedience is instilled brutally and always with divine justification, their bond becomes the catalyst that will upend their past, their present, and their future.'
The cast includes Ann Dowd, Chase Infiniti, Lucy Halliday, Mabel Li, Amy Seimetz, Brad Alexander, Rowan Blanchard, Mattea Conforti, Zarrin Darnell-Martin, Eva Foote, Isolde Ardies, Shechinah Mpumlwana, Birva Pandya, and Kira Guloien. The show is executive produced by Warren Littlefield and Elisabeth Moss, with Bruce Miller as showrunner.
Speaking about the show last year, Miller said: 'It's about Mean Girls growing up Gilead. I mean, it really is about what it's like to be young and full of energy when the country is trying to turn you into something awful... It's all about [how] you cannot take the 14-year-old out of a 14-year-old girl. Not in any universe.'
