The ten-part series, which stars Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men), Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare in Love) and Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls), is the story of life in the dystopian Gilead, a totalitarian society in what was formerly part of the USA.

Gilead is ruled by a twisted fundamentalist regime, where women are treated as property of the state. Moss plays Offred, a Handmaid in the Commander’s (Fiennes) household, and one of the few remaining fertile women in a state with a plunging birth rate. Offred belongs to a caste of women forced into sexual servitude in a desperate bid to repopulate a world facing environmental disasters.

Offred has one goal: to find the daughter that was taken from her. To do this, she must navigate between Commanders and their cruel Wives; domestic Martha’s and fellow Handmaids, as any of them could be a spy for Gilead.

Jay Hunt, Channel 4’s Chief Creative Officer said she was “delighted” that the channel would be bringing the series to the UK, adding, “The Handmaid’s Tale is a chilling and frighteningly topical exploration of a world where women are subjugated.”

The Handmaid's Tale starts on Sunday 28 May at 9pm on Channel 4.