'The Handmaid's Tale' renewed for 5th series

Hulu has renewed The Handmaid's Tale for a 5th series. Based on Margaret Atwood's novel of the same name, the television show stars Elizabeth Moss as June, a woman trying to survive in a dystopian world where most women are infertile, and so forcibly enlist fertile women to bear their children.

The series, which also stars Alexis Bledel, Joseph Fiennes, Yvonne Strahovski, Samira Wiley, Ann Dowd and Max Minghella, follows the characters as they attempt to either escape or uphold the misogynistic societal values of Gilead (formerly America). In recent years, both the novel and the television series have become a symbol to represent women's rights worldwide.

Speaking to Variety, showrunner Bruce Miller said that season four would focus on environmentalism.

“Sustainability and environmental issues underpin a lot of the storyline of infertility,” he noted. “That is the underpinning of everything that Gilead uses as an excuse for its misogyny. This is a show that has its basic foundations resting on environmental stories.”