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The Handmaid’s Tale is back on TV in the UK – how to watch season 5 on Prime Video and Channel 4
It’s going to be another wild and emotional ride through Gilead
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Your support makes all the difference.Those who can still remember vividly the final scene in the previous season of The Handmaid’s Tale will be pleased to know that season five of the award-winning dystopian drama series is finally here in the UK. The show is back, and for the first time ever, it will also be streaming on Amazon Prime Video at the exact same time that it airs on Channel 4.
Season five of The Handmaid’s Tale started airing on the streaming service Hulu in the US more than a month ago, on 14 September, and there are now only three more episodes to go, so watch out for spoilers if you’re watching the series in the UK.
We’re getting close to the end of the saga, which is set to conclude with its sixth season. It’s been a wild and emotional ride through Gilead for the audience, with violence, torture, sexual abuse and psychological trauma being present themes in every season, and yet we keep returning to see how June Osborne’s (played by Elisabeth Moss) story unravels.
The first season was based on Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel (£7.39, Amazon.co.uk), but since then the show writers have expanded the world beyond June’s perspective, and we’re looking forward to tuning in each week to see what happens next.
Below we’ve rounded up when and where exactly you can watch The Handmaid’s Tale now that it’s back on in the UK, including on Prime Video and Channel 4.
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The Handmaid’s Tale season five UK release date
Channel 4 previously had the exclusive rights to broadcast the new season in the UK, meaning you could either watch the latest episodes as they aired or catch up afterwards on All 4.
But for the first time in the history of The Handmaid’s Tale, you can now watch it on Amazon Prime Video at the same time that it airs on Channel 4, following Amazon’s acquisition of MGM, the global distributor of The Handmaid’s Tale. That’s right, no more ads, if you have a Prime Video subscription.
Season five started airing on Channel 4 and Amazon Prime Video on Sunday 23 October in the UK. You can tune in every Sunday at 9pm to catch each episode as its listed online on Prime Video or live on TV. Meanwhile US viewers will still only be able to watch the show on Hulu.
Watch The Handmaid’s Tale season 5 on Prime Video
Where to watch The Handmaid’s Tale in the UK
If you want to watch season five of The Handmaid’s Tale on Amazon Prime Video without the ads, you’ll need an Amazon Prime subscription. A regular membership costs £8.99 per month and a student membership £4.49 per month. But if you haven’t been an Amazon Prime member in the last 12 months, you can also sign up for a 30-day free trial, which gives you all the perks of a Prime membership, including access to its exclusive Prime Day sale.
With the new The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Emmy-winning drama Euphoria and other cinematic gems on offer, you might just decide to keep your membership after the trial period.
If you’re not a Prime subscriber but still want to watch the show without adverts, you can sign up for All 4+. It costs £3.99 per month or £39.99 annually, but if you already have Prime, you might as well take advantage of the membership. Don’t mind the ads? It’ll also be live on Channel 4.
Both Amazon Prime Video and All 4 have seasons one to four in their back catalogue, so you can catch up while waiting for the next episode to air.
How to watch the series in the US
For our US readers, The Handmaid’s Tale has been airing on Hulu, and it’s almost at the end of its run. A basic membership costs $6.99 per month. The streaming service isn’t available in the UK – despite other services such as Disney+ and Apple TV being offered internationally. According to Hulu, the service doesn’t work “with anonymisers or proxy services”, but this landscape changes regularly.
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