‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Sees Big Behind-the-Scenes Change Ahead of Final Season 6

The Handmaid’s Tale is making a major change for its final season. Writer and executive producer Bruce Miller is stepping down as showrunner after five seasons, passing the torch to Eric Tuchman and Yahlin Chang. Miller has been the showrunner since the show premiered in 2017.

Miller is stepping down as showrunner in order to devote more time to other projects, according to a report by Variety. He is not going far – he is developing a screen adaptation of The Testaments, the sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale by author Margaret Atwood. Miller will remain on staff on The Handmaid’s Tale as a writer and executive producer, but the day-to-day showrunning duties will be overseen by Tuchman and Chang, both of whom are writers and executive producers with long histories on the show.

Chang first joined the production in 2018 as a writer and co-executive producer, then upgraded her titles in 2019. Tuchman has been with the show since the beginning in 2017, then got promoted in 2019 as well. Both have extensive credits on other shows, but have not worked together in the past. Tuchman has an overall deal with MGM.

The Handmaid’s Tale is one of Hulu’s most successful original series, and is one of the definitive dramas of its era. It is an adaptation of Atwood’s 1985 novel by the same name, though it has made a few changes from the source material. In many cases, storylines and characterization have been extended to fill out the show’s long format, and this has included some major additions to the lore that have surprised long-time fans.

Meanwhile, the success of the TV show spurred Atwood to revisit her original novel and expand on it in her own way. In 2019 she published her follow-up book The Testaments, which was well-received by critics and fans. Fans expected it to be adapted for TV from the start, and sure enough, MGM announced plans to adapt the book as soon as it was published.

The Testaments picks up years after the events of the original book, introducing some new characters and revisiting some familiar ones. Miller is known for working closely with Atwood on The Handmaid’s Tale, so fans can likely count on him to do the same with The Testaments. While this may also provide some continuity between The Handmaid’s Tale and its sequel, it means the original series will end with a change in the staff. The Handmaid’s Tale Season 6 is expected to premiere in 2024. There’s no word yet on when The Testaments adaptation will go into production.