It's official - The Handmaid's Tale has been renewed for a second season. The announcement was made overnight in New York at Hulu's Newfronts presentation to advertisers just two weeks after the series debut in the US. In Australia we'll get our first look at the show when the full first season debuts exclusively on 6 July to stream on SBS On Demand.
Watch the first episode of The Handmaid's Tale here:
The critics comments
Critics have universally loved the series, with many of them remarking on just how prescient the series seems.
"Watching the news today doesn’t necessarily create the impression that a real Gilead will arise within the next six months, but it feels far more possible than it should, and that makes The Handmaid’s Tale feel like even more of a Molotov cocktail being hurled at a too-complacent society than anyone could have intended when they started making this riveting new drama."
"The Handmaid’s Tale is a sobering reminder to hold ourselves accountable for the state of the world, when and if we can."
"Regretfully, the 30-plus-year-old work has become a story for the very time and place we're living in; this is probably the spring's best new show and certainly its most important."
I'm with her
Proving just how culturally resonant the show has become in just two weeks of airing, on Tuesday in the US at a Planned Parenthood event, former Presidential hopeful Hilary Clinton evoked The Handmaid's Tale in a speech she delivered.
"I am not suggesting this dystopian future is around the corner, but this show has prompted important conversations about women’s rights and autonomy,” Clinton said.
“In The Handmaid’s Tale, women’s rights are gradually, slowly stripped away. As one character says, ‘We didn’t look up from our phones until it was too late.’ It is not too late for us, but we have to encourage the millions of women and men who support Planned Parenthood’s mission to keep fighting.”
The Handmaid’s Tale is available to stream at SBS On Demand.
