The Independent's journalism is supported by our readers. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn commission. Why trust us?
The Handmaid’s Tale season six is coming soon – here’s what to know
June leads the rebellion against Gilead in the sixth and final season
It feels like the longest time since we last saw Elisabeth Moss’s June board a train to Hawaii with baby Nichole. Fleeing the growing unrest in Canada and walking straight into an inevitable (and slightly awkward) encounter with Serena Joy, the season five finale left things on an excruciating cliffhanger.
Now, after nearly three years, The Handmaid’s Tale is almost back for its sixth and final season, and we’re expecting a thrilling and explosive end to the long-running series. With the adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s sequel The Testaments already looming in the background, it’s likely season six will start laying the groundwork for what comes next.
June is on a mission to take down Gilead, but will she succeed in the season finale? Set to premiere in early April in the US, here’s what to expect from season six, plus when you can watch it in the UK.
‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ season six UK release date
While the first three episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale’s sixth season will premiere in the US on Tuesday 6 April, a UK release date has yet to be confirmed. Still, we can make some educated guesses as to when it will arrive.
In previous years, episodes have aired on Channel 4 several months after their US debut. Seasons one and two both aired in the US in April and were subsequently released in the UK a month later in May. Season four premiered in April in the US, but wasn’t released in the UK until June. The most recent season was released in September in the US, but it didn’t air on Channel 4 and Amazon Prime Video in the UK until October. Season three is the only outlier, airing four days after its US broadcast.
Whenever The Handmaid’s Tale has been released in the US in April, the show has come to UK shores the following month in May, but we can’t be sure. Hopefully, it won’t be too long, however.
Channel 4 previously had the exclusive rights to broadcast The Handmaid’s Tale 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 drama’s history, for season five, UK viewers were able to watch it on Prime Video at the exact same time it aired on Channel 4, following Amazon Prime Video’s acquisition of MGM, the global distributor of The Handmaid’s Tale.
Where to watch ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ in the UK
We’re expecting The Handmaid’s Tale season six to be released on both Amazon Prime Video and Channel 4. The latter confirmed at the start of the year that it would be returning to Channel 4, though didn’t provide a release date.
If you want to watch it without the ads, you’ll need an Amazon Prime subscription. A regular membership costs £9.99 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 free next-day delivery.
If you’re not a Prime subscriber but still want to watch the show without adverts, you can sign up for Channel 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 whenever it releases. Just Amazon Prime Video has seasons one to five in its back catalogue if you want to catch up before the season premiere.
What is ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ season 6 about?
Fairly cryptic, Hulu says in the official synopsis for the sixth and final season of The Handmaid’s Tale that June’s “unyielding spirit and determination pull her back into the fight to take down Gilead. Luke and Moira join the resistance. Serena tries to reform Gilead while Commander Lawrence and Aunt Lydia reckon with what they have wrought, and Nick faces challenging tests of character. This final chapter of June's journey highlights the importance of hope, courage, solidarity, and resilience in the pursuit of justice and freedom.”
In the trailer, we also see June pulling together an army of handmaids to rebel against Gilead. “For years we've been afraid of them,” Moss’s June says in the trailer. “Now it's time for them to be afraid of us. This is the beginning of the end.”
Season six’s showrunner Yahlin Chang also revealed in an interview with TV Insider that the upcoming adaptation of The Testaments will also be teased in the sixth season. “There will be cliffhangers for The Testaments,” she said. “Any fans that are left wanting more are going to get more in The Testaments, which will be great for them. But [The Handmaid’s Tale] does conclude – in some very satisfying ways – many of the storylines, but not every single one.”
Want more recommendations? Here’s where you can watch The White Lotus in the UK