The Handmaid's Tale

During the christmas holidays I have been watching the television drama series of 'The Handmaid's Tale'. The series is based of the novel written by Margret Atwood which I am actually studying for my english A level and is one of my favourite book. The series follows the book very closely in terms of setting but they added much more content and other characters perspectives and backstories to make it more enjoyable.

The series is about a dystopian future where fertility and reproduction is incredibly rare so the new government has changed all of american society to the very basic, religious framework where women are reduced to their biological function, the role of the Handmaid is to be a concubine for a wealthier couple and produce children for them however to make this society possible the laws are very strict and everyone's lives are at risk as they live in a world of fear, pain, sorrow and threat. The main character is called June (her Handmaids name is Offred) and we follow her story closely as she deals with the struggles of being a walking womb, living a life of no choice and not being able to love, she is a rebellious character and is very enjoyable to watch as she defies society through her humour and sass.

The series was released this year with ten episodes in season one. There is going to be a second series which is going to be released in 2018 which will most likely not follow the book as Atwood didn't make a sequel. The series is created by Bruce Miller and is directed by several people; Mike Barker, Reed Morano, Kate Dennis, Floria Sigismondi and Kari Skogland. The cast include; Elisabeth Moss as June, Yvonne Strahovski as Serena Joy, Joseph Fiennes as the commander, Max Minghella as Nick, Samira Wiley as Moira and O-T Fagbenle as Luke. The production company is MGM Television.

The series has won and been nominated for many awards. It has been nominated for Golden Globes Awards for Best Television series - Drama, Best performance by an Actress in a television series - Drama (Elisabeth Moss) and Best performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a series, Limited series or Motion Picture made for Television (Ann Dowd who plays Aunt Lydia). The series was also very successful at the Emmys as they won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama series (Elisabeth Moss), Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Ann Dowd), Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series (Reed Morano), Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series (Bruce Miller), Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series (Alexis Bledel who plays Ofglen in episode "Late"), Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Contemporary or Fantasy Program, Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series and Outstanding Drama Series.