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

When The Testaments makes its debut on 8 April, it'll be almost nine years after its predecessor The Handmaid's Tale first arrived on screens – a launch that picked up eight Primetime Emmy awards, a raft of glowing reviews and a legion of loyal fans.

But the mood began to waver as some critics, and a portion of the viewership, took issue with the unrelenting, often nauseating amount of violence directed at its female characters, frequently described as 'torture porn'.

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

"As The Handmaid's Tale evolved – and we learned lots of lessons – we were very careful to keep track of them and then to bring them to bear on The Testaments," show creator Bruce Miller told Radio Times.

"We knew very early on that we were going to do The Testaments, so I think... and we're in the minority as men on this show, most of our department heads are female, and a lot of them come from The Handmaid's Tale – I think the biggest evolution, the biggest step forward was for us to discuss all of those things when we made the transition to say, okay, how much violence are we going to show?"

And the answer, said Miller, is "not a lot".

"I mean, if you look how much skin we show, there's almost none. And also almost no violence, it's almost all implied," he expanded. "But I think that we had those discussions out front... we just wanted to make sure that we were going forward mindfully."

For Miller, that involved following his own internal "guide".

"Because I am so squidgy about violence," he continued. "And also, even though I know they are grown women and actors, when you see them pretending to cry on screen, you cry a little inside.

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

He did, however, emphasise that "in both books, there's nothing... that hasn't happened to women, or is happening to women now".

"So we are not creating–it would be very easy to sit around and come up with horrible things to do to women, unfortunately. And we don't have to do that. We can just look to history. So none of this, you know–if, unfortunately, it's 'torture porn', so is our world."

Executive producer Warren Littlefield added that they're now "smarter producers than we were a decade ago".

"Just making six seasons of The Handmaid's Tale with Elizabeth [Moss], through all the challenges that we faced, we're better at it," he said.

Moss has returned as an executive producer for The Testaments – though there's no word on whether she'll appear on screen – which follows teenagers Agnes, the daughter of a Gilded commander, and Daisy, a convert who's recently arrived from Canada.

"The Testaments is following a different perspective in Gilead," Lucy Halliday said of how the show differs from its forerunner.

"We're looking at the lives of these very privileged – the members of the higher echelon of the Gilead society – and those girls aren't akin to that universe that was in The Handmaid’s Tale because they're in this bubble.

"And so… the extent of what was showcased in The Handmaid's tale isn't present within The Testaments, because we're following a different path, and we've got these new characters and these new stories."

While it is "still shocking and harrowing", Halliday added, "there's never a handmaid present in The Testaments".

"And I think that was key in the creation of the show, that they wanted to tell a new story that was separate from what has already been seen by the viewers," she expanded.

According to the official synopsis, Agnes and Daisy attend Aunt Lydia's elite preparatory school for future wives – "a place where obedience is instilled brutally and always with divine justification". Their bond becomes "the catalyst that will upend their past, present and future".

"Facing the prospect of being married off and living a life of servitude, they will be forced to search for allies, both new and old, in their fight for freedom and the life they deserve."

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

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