The Handmaid's Tale UK release date announced, coming to Channel 4

The series adapts Margaret Atwood's eerily prescient 1985 novel exploring government abuse of women's bodies

The Handmaid's Tale will finally air in the UK.

A new adaptation of Margaret Atwood's eerily prescient 1985 novel made waves in the US when it Hulu last month, with Channel 4 now announcing it has acquired the show to air in the UK later this month.

The book sets itself in the fictional Republic of Gilead, an authoritarian theocracy which comes to power in the US. Women here are treated as nothing more than wives, servants, or breeders, referred to as "handmaids".

Offred (Elisabeth Moss) is one of these women denigrated and exploited for her fertility in ongoing efforts to repopulate the country, though she still fights for her freedom and for the husband and child snatched away from her.

Moss is set to star alongside the likes of Samira Wiley (Orange is the New Black), Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare in Love), and Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls).

Jay Hunt, Channel 4’s Chief Creative Officer said: "The Handmaid’s Tale is a chilling and frighteningly topical exploration of a world where women are subjugated. I'm delighted that Channel 4 viewers will get to see this critically-acclaimed take on a classic novel."