The Testaments showrunner reveals the “lessons” learned from The Handmaid’s Tale

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The new series, The Testaments, premieres on April 8th, nearly nine years after the successful launch of The Handmaid’s Tale. The original series won eight Primetime Emmy Awards, received widespread critical acclaim, and built a dedicated fanbase.

However, the initial positive reception started to fade as some critics and viewers expressed concern over the excessive and disturbing violence aimed at the show’s female characters, which some labeled as gratuitous and exploitative.

How did its creator reckon with that particular issue – and any others – heading into the sequel?

Bruce Miller, creator of The Handmaid’s Tale, explained to TopMob that they closely documented the lessons learned from the first series and intentionally used those insights when creating The Testaments.

From the beginning, we planned to create The Testaments. As one of the few men working on the show – most of our department heads are women, many of whom also worked on The Handmaid’s Tale – the most important change was having an open conversation about how much violence to depict as we moved forward.

And the answer, said Miller, is “not a lot”.

We actually show very little skin, and the violence is mostly suggested rather than directly shown,” he explained. “We had open conversations about this from the beginning – we just wanted to be thoughtful and deliberate in our approach.

For Miller, that involved following his own internal “guide”.

I’m very sensitive to violence,” he explained. “And even though I know these are just actresses playing roles, seeing them pretend to cry always gets to me a little bit.

“So any of those things have an impact on me. I think that I am very sensitive about that.”

However, he stressed that everything depicted in both books has either happened to women in the past or is currently happening to them.

It’s sadly easy to imagine terrible acts against women, but we don’t need to invent them. History is full of examples. The disturbing reality is that the horrors seen in fictional ‘torture porn’ are already reflected in the world around us.

Warren Littlefield, an executive producer, noted that producers now have more experience and make better decisions than they did ten years ago.

He explained that creating six seasons of The Handmaid’s Tale, starring Elizabeth Moss, and overcoming the difficulties along the way, has made them more skilled at their work.

Margaret Atwood is back as an executive producer for the series The Testaments, but it’s currently unknown if she’ll also be acting. The show centers on the stories of two young women: Agnes, the daughter of a high-ranking official, and Daisy, a recent Canadian immigrant.

According to Lucy Halliday, the new show, ‘The Testaments,’ offers a fresh take on the world of Gilead, differing from the original series in its point of view.

As a movie buff, what really struck me about this show is how it focuses on the super-privileged – the top dogs in Gilead. And honestly, these girls? They don’t really fit into the bleak, oppressive world of The Handmaid’s Tale. They’re living in a totally different bubble, shielded from the worst of it.

Halliday acknowledged the story remains disturbing, but clarified that no Handmaids are actually present within the events of The Testaments.

She explained that a major goal in making the show was to create a fresh, original story, something viewers hadn’t seen before.

The story follows Agnes and Daisy as they attend Aunt Lydia’s strict boarding school, designed to prepare young women for marriage through harsh discipline and religious teachings. Their close friendship sparks a chain of events that will dramatically change everything about their lives – their memories, their current situations, and what’s to come.

With the threat of forced marriage and a life of servitude looming over them, they’ll have to seek help from friends and allies, both familiar and new, as they struggle to gain their freedom and build the lives they want.

The Testaments will be premiering on Disney+ in the UK on Wednesday 8 April 2026.

Don’t forget to add The Testaments to your watchlist on the TopMob: What to Watch app! Download it today for daily TV suggestions, exclusive features, and more.

Authors

Abby RobinsonDrama Editor

Abby Robinson is the Drama Editor at TopMob, where she writes about TV dramas and comedies. Before joining TopMob, she worked as a TV writer for Digital Spy and a content writer for Mumsnet. She has a degree and a postgraduate diploma in English Studies.

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2026-04-07 03:13