The Handmaid's Tale: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

The Handmaid's Tale is the story of life in the dystopia of Gilead, a totalitarian society in what was formerly the United States. Facing environmental disasters and a plunging birthrate, Gilead is ruled by a twisted fundamentalism in its militarized ‘return to traditional values'. As one of the few remaining fertile women, Offred is a Handmaid in the Commander's household, one of the caste of women forced into sexual servitude as a last desperate attempt to repopulate the world. In this terrifying society, Offred must navigate between Commanders, their cruel Wives, domestic Marthas, and her fellow Handmaids – where anyone could be a spy for Gilead – all with one goal: to survive and find the daughter that was taken from her.

Series details

• Title: The Handmaid's Tale
• Format: Scripted
• Language: English
• Genres: Drama, Science-Fiction
• Premiere date: 2017-04-26
• Final broadcast date listed: 2025-05-27
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Web channel listed by TVmaze: Hulu
• Network country: United States
• Typical episode runtime: 52 minutes
• TVmaze community rating: 7.4/10
• TVMaze ID: 16579
• IMDb ID: tt5834204
• TVDB ID: 321239

Cast and credited roles

• Elisabeth Moss — June Osborne / Offred
• Yvonne Strahovski — Serena Joy Waterford
• Ann Dowd — Aunt Lydia
• Max Minghella — Nick Blaine
• Samira Wiley — Moira Strand
• Madeline Brewer — Janine Lindo / Ofwarren
• O.T. Fagbenle — Luke Bankole
• Amanda Brugel — Rita Blue
• Joseph Fiennes — Commander Fred Waterford
• Bradley Whitford — Commander Joseph Lawrence
• Ever Carradine — Naomi Putnam
• Sam Jaeger — Mark Tuello

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 2017-04-26; final listed air date 2017-06-14; episode order: 10.
• Season 2: premiered 2018-04-25; final listed air date 2018-07-11; episode order: 13.
• Season 3: premiered 2019-06-05; final listed air date 2019-08-14; episode order: 13.
• Season 4: premiered 2021-04-27; final listed air date 2021-06-16; episode order: 10.
• Season 5: premiered 2022-09-14; final listed air date 2022-11-09; episode order: 10.
• Season 6: premiered 2025-04-08; final listed air date 2025-05-27; episode order: 10.

Source and licence

Adapted from The Handmaid's Tale on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.