Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

The Handmaid's Tale UK air date: Hulu responds to lack of UK release

It is hoping to expand across the Pond

Christopher Hooton
Thursday 27 April 2017 15:44 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The TV adaptation of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale is one of the most talked about shows on television right now, except it isn't on television if you live in the UK.

Whether it's US networks selling the rights to UK broadcasters or streaming services like Netflix releasing shows worldwide, we're pretty used to being able to watch big shows shortly after their American transmission now, and are spurred on to watch them by global social media discussion and reviews on predominantly UK sites.

The Handmaid's Tale is now streaming on Hulu and airing on US channel Bravo and Canadian channel Crave TV, but no deal was struck for a UK broadcast and Hulu remains unavailable to UK consumers (unless they're using VPNs of course).

Responding to a tide of questions on Twitter about whether the series will make it across the Pond, Hulu only had bad news: "Sorry for any disappointment! Expanding across the pond is part of our long-term goals. We'll share your interest in this."

It replied to another tweet: "Sorry! We don't have int'l streaming rights for our content, so our service is not available outside the U.S. currently."

Given Hulu is in competition with Netflix and Amazon Prime, which do stream in the UK, it is unlikely the show will pop up on either of these services, but a different plan could be rushed through if the series remains immensely popular.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in