
The Handmaid's Tale season 6 UK release date and how to watch
The Handmaid's Tale season six will return soon
UK fans of The Handmaid's Tale are chomping at the bit to dive into the sixth and final season of the popular dystopian drama.
The series is already being broadcast in the USA, having premiered on Hulu, the American streaming service, on April 8, with the first three episodes released all at once, reports Surrey Live.
Since then, the sixth season has been airing weekly, leaving UK viewers eager to find out how and when they can tune in - here's everything you need to know about The Handmaid's Tale season six.
So, when does The Handmaid's Tale season 6 hit UK screens?
The Handmaid's Tale season six will be gracing UK screens on Saturday, May 3 on Channel 4.
Episodes from the sixth season will be released weekly on Channel 4 and its online streaming platform Channel4.com.
For those wanting a recap before the premiere of season six, seasons one to five of the Emmy-winning drama are already available to stream on the service.
The Handmaid's Tale season six will also be accessible on Prime Video from May 3 for those who subscribe to the platform.
How can you watch The Handmaid's Tale season 6 in the UK?
There are two ways to catch The Handmaid's Tale season six in the UK.
Firstly, you can tune in on Channel 4 and Channel4.com for free, although you'll need to set up an account.
Once you're logged in, you can enjoy The Handmaid's Tale on a variety of devices, including mobile phones, laptops, and tablets, among others.
Alternatively, if you're a Prime Video subscriber, you can start watching season six on the platform from May 3.
Unlike other shows such as Outlander, you won't need an additional MGM+ subscription on top of your Prime Video account to watch the show.
Episodes can be watched on a variety of devices and can be downloaded for offline viewing or streamed.
How many episodes will be in The Handmaid's Tale season 6?
The Handmaid's Tale season 6 will consist of a total of 10 episodes, making it one of the shorter seasons of the bleak series.
Both seasons two and three had 13 episodes each, while the rest of the seasons have consisted of 10 instalments.
Both Channel 4 and Prime Video will air episodes weekly, with fans having to wait patiently for new episodes.
Who is in the cast of The Handmaid's Tale season 6?
Elisabeth Moss returns as lead character June Osborne in The Handmaid's Tale season 6, who is determined to bring down Gilead once and for all.
O-T Fagbenle plays Luke Bankole, June's husband and Mayday freedom fighter, who is trying to get his daughter Hannah Bankole (Jordan Blake) back from the regime.
Samira Wiley reprises her role as the indomitable Moira Strand, who is also working to overthrow the fascist government.
Max Minghella plays Commander Nick Blaine, who remains a key part of Gilead and has conflicting loyalties.
Yvonne Strahovski portrays Serena Joy, last seen boarding a train out of Canada as she escaped with other refugees from Gilead.
Ann Dowd returns as Aunt Lydia, slowly realising the true nature of Gilead.
Bradley Whitford returns as the enigmatic Commander Lawrence, who will be leading New Bethlehem in The Handmaid's Tale.
Madeline Brewer reprises her role as former handmaid Janine, finding herself in a precarious situation once more.
Josh Charles steps into the shoes of Commander Wharton, a devout leader among the Gilead elite, while Timothy Simons plays Commander Bell.
The Good Place's D'Arcy Carden is set to join the cast in an undisclosed role, with additional new faces expected to make an appearance.
So, what can we expect from The Handmaid's Tale season 6?
The upcoming series will see June and her allies attempting to overthrow Gilead, joining forces with Mayday.
Within Gilead, Commander Lawrence will be striving to create a brighter future with New Bethlehem.
Serena Joy also seems to be embarking on a new journey as she remarries, but to what purpose?
Regardless, season six will need to align with The Testaments, which is currently in development and based on Margaret Atwood's sequel to The Handmaid's Tale.
Set five years after The Handmaid's Tale, The Testaments delves deeper into Gilead and marks the beginning of the end for the regime.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Guardian
34 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Beth: Channel 4's first ‘digital drama' is so snoozy that no young people will watch it
In 1964, Andy Warhol shot the Empire State Building then turned it into an art film called Empire, which is more than eight hours long. I was reminded of this last Christmas when I let my nine-year-old niece choose what to watch on TV. She went straight to the YouTube app and pressed play on a video comparing US and UK chocolate bars. It went into such a tremendous amount of detail that I was mesmerised, not by the content but by how brazenly boring it was. It went on for what felt like hours. It might still be going on now. I wonder if this is what television natives get wrong about YouTube. In all the discussions about disappearing attention spans and 'second screen' viewing – ie scrolling on your phone while leaving a single brain cell free to drool at whatever product placement Emily in Paris has just dropped into the 'plot' – there is an assumption that online content has to be short and snappy. That might be more true of TikTok or Reels, but YouTube is a place that chews up time then swallows it. Do I know this because I have watched lengthy self-produced documentaries about complete strangers' walking holidays? Look, in the 60s, it would have been art. This is what Beth, Channel 4's 'digital original drama', is trying to contend with. TV has long been worried about the internet coming for its audience, and it's true that you are about as likely to get a young person watching live terrestrial TV as you are to get them to pick up the phone and have a conversation with you. How can old-fashioned television begin to compete? Should it even bother trying? Channel 4 is giving it a go. It has already made Hollyoaks a 'streaming-first' soap, sticking episodes online a day before they appear on E4. Now it is trying a new approach with drama. Beth will appear on YouTube in three 15-minute chunks from Monday 9 June, and on the actual telly as a single 45-minute episode, making it the skorts of the screen: why be one thing when you can be two? Beth is about a glamorous couple called Joe and Molly, played by Nicholas Pinnock and Abbey Lee, who are going through IVF treatment. We see the buildup to a much desired pregnancy, skip forward to the birth, then jump to a few years later, for reasons that would definitely spoil it if they were to be revealed here. This is a family drama. There are brief fantasy sequences, of the children the couple might have, and discussions about what it means for Joe, a Black man, and Molly, a white woman, to have a child who resembles them both. It is also a low-key thriller. There are tensions between the couple, both obvious and implied. Their IVF doctor is overfamiliar and too tactile. Molly's mother is disproportionately rattled by a child's simple drawing. To add to the genre pile-on, Beth is being billed as science fiction, but knowing this doesn't do it any favours, because without that knowledge, it looks like a straightforward, if slightly stagey, drama for almost the entire duration. If you do know that it is science fiction, you're left to constantly anticipate exactly when the science fiction will kick in. For me, that undermines the more weighty emotional scenes, because as Joe and Molly endure both hope and devastation, a nagging voice in my head is wondering if they are going to turn out to be aliens. It's good that it doesn't patronise viewers by assuming they won't have more than five seconds of focus to spare. In fact, it's so far from giddy that it is almost sedate. Nor does it go for the endless stretch that can afflict online content, where the time restrictions of traditional TV mean nothing, and you watch a man chew a Curly Wurly for what seems like many days. But that does mean that, ultimately, Beth feels like a one-off television drama, albeit one with an eyebrow-raising pivot towards the end. I can't see what makes it so specifically digital. If one of the existential issues facing TV is how to get young people to pay attention to it, then a meditative drama about IVF, identity and parenthood isn't necessarily going to solve the problem. But if the idea is to win back some of the older eyeballs who have been distracted by, let's say (just plucking this out of thin air) an in-depth documentary about a niche ultramarathon, then it might be on to something.


New Statesman
2 hours ago
- New Statesman
Bruce Springsteen faces the end of America
Photo montage by Gaetan Mariage / Alamy When I met Patti Smith soon after Donald Trump's first victory, she said she'd ended up next to him at various New York dinners over the years, back in the Seventies, when he was pitching Trump Towers. 'We were born in the same year, and I have to look at this person and think: all our hopes and dreams from childhood, going through the Sixties, everything we went through – and that's what came out of our generation. Him.' Smith's sing-song voice was in my head at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool on one of the final nights of Bruce Springsteen's Land of Hope and Dreams tour. Springsteen was born three years after Trump and will also have sat at many New York dinners with him. Those with half an eye on the news would be forgiven for thinking that Bruce has been lobbing disses at the president from the stage between his hits, but his latest show is heavier than that: a conscious recasting of two decades of his more politicised music, with a four-minute incitement to revolution in the middle. Here is a bit of what he says: 'The America I love and have sung to you about for so long, a beacon of hope for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration. Tonight we ask all of you who believe in democracy and the best of our American experiment to rise with us, raise your voices, stand with us against authoritarianism and let freedom ring. In America right now we have to organise at home, at work, peacefully in the street. We thank the British people for their support…' Clearly few in the US are speaking out like this on stage, and Trump has responded by calling Springsteen a 'dried-out prune of a rocker (his skin is all atrophied!)' and threatening some kind of mysterious action upon his return. Springsteen, the heartland rocker, was never exactly part of the counter-culture, though he did avoid Vietnam by doing the 'basic Sixties rag', as he put it, and acting crazy in his army induction. Yet he has become a true protest singer in his final act. He wears tweed and a tie these days, partly because he's 75 and partly, you suspect, to convey a moral seriousness. When I last saw him, two years ago, I thought I saw some of Joe Biden's easy energy. Well, Bruce still has his faculties. The feeling is: listen to the old man, he has something to say. Springsteen's late years have been something to behold. At some point in the last decade he stopped dyeing his hair and started to talk in a stylised, reedy, story-book voice. The image of the America he seemed to represent shifted back from Seventies Pittsburgh to Thirties California: the bare-armed steelworker became the Marlboro Man, and in 2019 there was a Cowboy album, Western Skies, with an accompanying film in which he was seen on horseback. His autobiography Born to Run revealed recent battles with depression. And it is depression you see tonight in Liverpool – in the wince, the twisted mouth, the accusing index finger; in his entreaty to Liverpool's fans to 'indulge' his sermon against the American administration, delivered night after night, to scatterings of applause. It is a depression I recognise in older American friends who fear they're going to the grave with everything they knew and loved about their country disappearing. But depression is also the stuff of life, of energy. Springsteen has been particularly angry since the early Noughties, since the second Bush administration, but this is his moment somehow, and his song of greedy bankers – 'Death to My Hometown' – is spat out with new meaning in 2025, an ominous abstraction. The father-to-son speech in 'Long Walk Home' feels different in this politically charged world: 'Your flag flying over the courthouse means certain things are set in stone/Who we are, what we'll do and what we won't'). A furious version of 'Rainmaker' ('Sometimes folks need to believe in something so bad, so bad, they'll hire a rainmaker') is dedicated to 'our dear leader'. As much as I admire Springsteen and seem to have followed him around and written about him for years, the Land of Hope and Dreams tour made me realise I hadn't fully known what he was for. When I saw him in Hyde Park in 2023, the first 200 yards of the crowd were given over to media wankers like me, with the paying fans at the back: every single person I had ever met in London was there, mildly pissed up and whirling about with looks of mutual congratulation. Springsteen had become, to the middle classes and above, a global symbol of right-thinking, summed up by his long stint on Broadway at $800 a ticket. His dull podcast with Barack Obama was the American version of The Rest Is Politics with Rory Stewart and Alastair Campbell: men saying stuff you want them to say, to confirm what you already think about stuff (Obama was in awe of Bruce). Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe Politics was easy for Springsteen when politics consisted of external events happening to innocent people, rather than something taking place on the level of psychology, in a movement of masses towards a demagogue. The job he adopted, back in the Seventies, was to set a particular kind of American life in its political and historical context: to tell people who they were, and why they mattered. His appeal as a rock star always lay less in his words than in how sincerely he embodied them: his extraordinary outward energy, his mirroring of his audience, his apparent concern with others over himself. After 9/11, someone apparently rolled down a window and told him, 'We need you now,' so he wrote his song 'The Rising' from the viewpoint of a doomed New York fireman ascending the tower. A recent BBC documentary revealed he'd donated £20,000 to the Northumberland and Durham Miners Support Group during the strikes of 1984 – rather as he donated ten grand to unemployed steelworkers in Pittsburgh the previous year. His self-made success and songs about freedom were the Republican dream, but when Reagan tapped him up for endorsements it was a right of passage for Springsteen as a Democrat rocker to rebuff them (I'm pretty sure they tried to play 'Born in the USA' at Trump rallies too). He is quoted as saying that the working-class American was facing a spiritual crisis, years ago: 'It's like he has nothing left to tie him into society any more. He's isolated from the government. Isolated from his job. Isolated from his family… to the point where nothing makes sense.' Now, Trump has taken Springsteen's people (the Republicans were doing so long before Trump), and the interior life of the working man that Springsteen made it his job to portray has been exploited by someone else. 'For 50 years, I've been an ambassador for this country and let me tell you that the America I was singing about is real,' he says, possessively, on stage. Springsteen, like Jon Bon Jovi, sees his fans as workers. The distances travelled, the money spent, the babysitters paid for: that's what the three-hour gigs are all about. It is part of the psyche of a certain generation of working-class American musician to consider themselves in a contract with the people who buy their records. It is not a particularly British thing – though time and again I am impressed by the commitment required to see these big shows, especially when so many punters are of an age where they would not longer, say, sleep in a tent: £250 a night for a hotel, no taxis to the stadium, a huge Ticketmaster crash that leaves hundreds of fans outside the venue fiddling with their QR codes while Bruce can be heard inside singing the opening lines of 'My Love Will Not Let You Down'. Yet the relationship between a rock star and his fan is not a co-dependency: the fan is having a night out, but the rock star needs the fan to survive. It is hard to underestimate the psychological shift Springsteen might be undergoing, in seeing the working men and women of America moving to a politics that is repellent to him. He has not played on American soil since Trump's re-election and it is likely that this kind of political commentary there will turn the 'Bruuuuuce' into the boo. A Springsteen tribute act in his native New Jersey was recently cancelled (the band offered to play other songs, and the venue said no). Last week, a young American band told me they won't speak out about the administration on stage because they're not all white and they're afraid of getting deported. It is the job of the powerful to do the protesting, and, like Pope Leo, Springsteen's previous good works will mean nothing if he doesn't call out the big nude emperor now. The Maga crowd will still come to see him, of course, and yell the 'woah' in 'Born to Run' just as loud as everyone else does – perhaps because music is bigger than politics, or perhaps because politics is now bigger than Bruce. Though his political speeches in Liverpool (it's UK 'heartland' only this tour: no London gigs) feel slightly out of step with a city that has its own problems, it seems fair enough for Springsteen to be telling the truth about America to a crowd who's enjoyed their romantic visions of the country via his music for 50 years. But their own personal communion is suspended tonight, and the song 'My City of Ruins' has nothing to do with 9/11 any more: 'Come on… rise up…' In the crowd, a very old man is sitting on someone's shoulders. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band play Anfield stadium, Liverpool, on 7 June 2025 [See also: Wes Anderson's sense of an ending] Related


Daily Mirror
3 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Must-see TV this week: Love Island returns, Lee Mack and Sally Bretton reunited
Another summer of love begins, with Maya Jama reprising the helm of Love Island on ITV2 this week. Over on the BBC, however, another fan-favourite show is set for its own comeback. From gripping dramas and explosive rows to enlightening and thought-provoking shows, this week of TV is sure to pander to everyone. Presenter Maya Jama is returning to screens this Monday, June 9, as she reprises hosting duties on ITV2 's Love Island. Expect bombshells and surprises pairings ahead. Meanwhile, the BBC is treating viewers to another round of The Gold, with Hugh Bonneville and Charlotte Spencer, and Not Going Out, starring Sally Bretton and Lee Mack. But on Channel 4, Jamie Oliver advocates for more inclusive schools to help neurodivergent children. Streaming platforms also have plenty of choices this week, including Sir David Attenborough 's love letter to the sea and Netflix 's deep dive in Astroworld - the festival that spiralled out of control in 2021, triggering backlash against rap star Travis Scott. The Gold Sunday 8th, BBC1 Hugh Bonneville and Charlotte Spencer team up as DCS Brian Boyce and DI Nicki Jennings for The Gold's second season as their characters deal with the aftermath of the Brink's-Mat robbery, in which £26 million worth of gold bullion, diamonds and cash were stolen from a warehouse. Though some of the thieves were convicted, Brian and Nicki realise the criminals only had half of the stolen goods. The discovery triggers a high-stakes journey into organised crime and international money laundering as the police embark on a string of desperate manhunts to finally close the longest and most expensive investigation in the history of the Metropolitan Police. Our Yorkshire Shop: A Victorian Restoration Sunday, C4 This series takes viewers to the heart of the Yorkshire Dales, in the picturesque village of Masham - where a determined group of locals take on the ambitious challenge of restoring their village shop to its former Victorian glory. With no previous experience in building restoration, villagers roll up their sleeves and learn on the job - from line plastering to fending off animal infestations. Motivated by 94-year-old Elsie, their emotional anchor, the group are guided both in spirit and style, delivering a heartwarming celebration of local heritage. Ocean with David Attenborough Sunday, Disney + At the age of 99, Sir David Attenborough presents Ocean, a powerful documentary highlighting the critical state of the world 's oceans. Through stunning visuals and groundbreaking underwater footage, this film exposes destructive practices like bottom trawling and emphasises the urgent need for marine conservation. Released ahead of the UN Ocean Conference, Ocean serves as a wake-up call and David's most personal message yet. And it's already become the highest-grossing film in the UK and Irish box-office, earning £570,000 on its opening weekend in cinemas. Jamie's Dyslexia Revolution Monday, C4 Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver shares his personal journey with dyslexia in this compelling documentary as he takes a stand for neurodivergent children. Highlighting the challenges faced by thousands of children with dyslexia in the UK, Jamie fiercely advocates for a more inclusive and supportive education system. Through interviews with experts, educators, families and even familiar celebrity faces, the film sheds light on systemic issues affecting dyslexic children and calls for meaningful change to help them thrive academically and beyond. Beth Monday, C4 Written and directed by photographer and budding filmmaker Uzo Oleh, this tense three-part science-fiction thriller is Channel 4 's first-ever digital original drama. Nicholas Pinnock and Abbey Lee star as Joe and Molly - a couple whose lives are upended when their newborn daughter, Imogen, bears no resemblance to her father. What begins as a domestic drama spirals into paranoia, identity crises and eerie revelations as Joe's world starts to unravel. Through their story, this hard-hitting show explores mistrust, modern parenthood and the fear that something has gone horribly wrong. Love Island Monday, ITV Maya Jama returns to host the twelfth season of the iconic ITV2 dating show, promising more drama, more bombshells, plenty of break-ups and even more make-ups in celebration of its tenth anniversary on screens. Set at the iconic sun-soaked Mallorca villa, a fresh batch of singletons embark on a quest for love and a jaw-dropping £50k cash prize. Expect twists, turns, unexpected pairings and shock dumpings, cryptic Love Island lingo and more Casa Amor turmoil. Which couple will tackle the journey hand-in-hand? And who will call it quits? Shardlake Monday, ITV C.J. Samsom's Tudor mystery novels come alive in this gripping four-part series. Arthur Hughes (The Innocents, The Archers) stars as brilliant barrister Matthew Shardlake, dispatched by Thomas Cromwell (Sean Bean) to investigate a murder at a remote monastery. As secrets unravel, Matthew and his companion Jack Barak (Anthony Boyle) navigate an intricate web of lies and political intrigue - but can Matthew really trust his companion? With atmospheric settings and compelling performances, this period drama offers a fresh take on historical crime storytelling. The Yorkshire Vet: At Home With the Greens Tuesday, Channel 5 Yorkshire Vet star Peter Wright offers a heartwarming new glimpse into the lives of fan favourites Steve and Jean Green, known as Britain's longest-standing farmers. This spin-off series invites viewers beyond the surgery and into the farm, where the couple balance rural life with their passion for animals. Expect tender moments, behind-the-scenes insights and the same down-to-earth charm that made the original series a staple for animal lovers across the UK. Trainwreck: The Astroworld tragedy Tuesday, Netflix This harrowing documentary revisits the 2021 Astroworld Festival disaster, where a crowd surge led to ten deaths and numerous injuries during a Texas-based festival launched by US rap star Travis Scott. Through exclusive interviews with survivors, paramedics and festival staff, the film examines the events leading up to the tragedy and its aftermath. It delves into questions of accountability, safety protocols and the impact on the victims' families, providing a sobering look at one of the most devastating concert incidents in recent history. Speed Cameras: Out to Get Us? Wednesday, C5 This investigative documentary explores the proliferation of speed cameras across the UK. Traveling from Nottinghamshire to Wales, it examines whether these devices are genuine safety tools or revenue-generating machines. Featuring insights from traffic officers, drivers and the pioneer who introduced speed cameras to Britain's roads in 1990, the programme questions their effectiveness and future. It's a wild ride through Britain - but with less potholes. Flight 149: Hostage of War Wednesday, Sky Documentaries & NOW This gripping documentary uncovers the shocking truth behind British Airways Flight 149, which landed in Kuwait mere hours before Iraq 's 1990 invasion. What really happened to the passengers and crew held hostage by Saddam Hussein 's forces? With first-hand testimonies, classified documents and a decades-long silence finally broken, this film lays bare a chilling and unflinching tale of government secrets, human endurance and political betrayal. It's a must-watch for fans of true stories where the stakes are life and death - and the answers still sting. DNA Journey with Ancestry Thursday, ITV The hit ITV series, DNA Journey returns for a gripping fifth season. This time round, new celebrity duos set off on an emotional journey across history, uncovering jaw-dropping family secrets and unexpected connections. Jo Brand and Julian Clary, Fay Ripley and Hermione Norris and Sam Thompson and Marvin Humes are taking on the challenge. With laughter, tears and twists in every episode, DNA Journey continues to prove that our past holds the key to who we really are. Olivia Attwood: The Price of Perfection Thursday, ITV2 In this immersive documentary series, Love Island alum Olivia Attwood investigates the lengths individuals go to achieve physical perfection in today's image-obsessed society. Drawing from her own experiences with cosmetic procedures, Olivia explores the booming beauty industry, meeting people who have undergone extreme transformations and embedding herself with patients and practitioners to try some of them out herself - including salmon sperm injections. The series delves into the true psychological and physical costs of chasing perfection, offering a candid look at the intense pressures stemming from modern beauty standards. Not Going Out Friday, BBC1 Lee Mack's long-running sitcom returns for its 14th series, continuing to deliver laughs with witty dialogue and relatable scenarios. The show follows the misadventures of Lee and his wife Lucy (Sally Bretton) as they navigate the challenges of family life. With a time jump moving the story six years ahead, the couple adjust to a new home in the countryside while their children are away at university. The series remains a staple of British comedy, combining sharp humour with heartwarming moments.