Disney+ has announced that The Testaments, the Hulu Original drama series and next chapter in The Handmaid’s Tale universe, has been renewed for a second season. Season 1 is now streaming on Disney+ in the UK, with the season finale set to arrive on Wednesday 27 May.
The renewal comes as the series continues to build momentum across Hulu and Disney+. According to Disney+, The Testaments has reached more than 45 million hours streamed globally to date, with viewership growing week on week. The series is also Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes at 88%.
Set in the world of Gilead, The Testaments follows Agnes, a dutiful young girl raised inside the regime, and Daisy, a new arrival from beyond its borders. Their lives become intertwined within Aunt Lydia’s elite preparatory school for future wives, where obedience is enforced brutally and faith is used as justification.
The series is based on Margaret Atwood’s Booker Prize-winning novel of the same name and follows on from The Handmaid’s Tale. Bruce Miller created the series and serves as showrunner and executive producer, with Warren Littlefield, Elisabeth Moss, Steve Stark, Shana Stein, Maya Goldsmith, John Weber, Sheila Hockin, Daniel Wilson, Fran Sears and Mike Barker also among the executive producers.
Season 1 stars Ann Dowd, Chase Infiniti, Lucy Halliday, Mabel Li, Amy Seimetz, Brad Alexander, Rowan Blanchard, Mattea Conforti, Zarrin Darnell-Martin, Eva Foote, Isolde Ardies, Shechinah Mpumlwana, Birva Pandya and Kira Guloien. Elisabeth Moss also returned in a surprise guest appearance, reprising her role as June Osborn, a major treat for longtime fans of The Handmaid’s Tale.
For Disney+, the renewal gives The Testaments room to grow beyond the shadow of The Handmaid’s Tale while still drawing on one of television’s most recognisable dystopian worlds. The series has the built-in weight of Atwood’s story behind it, but its focus on a younger generation inside Gilead gives it a different kind of tension as Agnes and Daisy begin to understand the system that has shaped their lives.
Season 1 of The Testaments is streaming now on Disney+ in the UK, with the finale on Wednesday 27 May.
Nikki Murray is a UK-based writer, screenwriter and founder & editor of CultureCues, covering film, television, music and pop culture. Her work focuses on storytelling and the moments shaping modern entertainment.