With Elisabeth Moss already aboard to star, the new TV adaptation of Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel The Handmaid's tale is now adding Joseph Fiennes, who will play Commander Fred Waterford.
Atwood's story is set in an unspecified, dark future where a totalitarian society known as Gilead (once part of the United States) has embraced a twisted religious fundamentalism as the way to combat environmental chaos and a dropping birthrate. The leaders consider women to be property of the state, and fertile women are highly valued while being treated essentially as sexual slaves. Moss' Offred is the "handmaid" at Waterford's estate and is part of the effort to repopulate the world.
She has to find a way to survive in a world of cruel leaders, domestic servants and spies, while also searching for the daughter that was taken from her. It's the sort of story that still has resonance in today's religiously split world and hopefully a TV series will offer the length and depth to explore it in ways a film can't.
With Bruce Miller serving as creator, head writer and show-runner, the series will kick off shooting in Toronto this autumn for a 10-episode first season. It's backed by US streaming service Hulu, so it'll air there in the US next year. As for a UK channel? The production company is MGM Television, so it'll likely be shopped to oulets here, especially with the lure of Fiennes back on scripted TV.