Will June find safety in The Handmaids Tale?
Sunday evenings were once a time for cosy TV, where gentle dramas flourished as viewers relaxed before being forced to face the horrors of work on Monday morning. That can still be the case. BBC One recently completed the 10th series of Call the Midwife, although the channels 9pm slot has been given up to more hard-hitting fare lately, including Line of Duty and Jimmy McGoverns rather excellent Time, which completes its run at the same time as The Handmaids Tale begins its fourth season over on Channel 4. The latter is certainly far from cosy; its one of the hardest-hitting, most difficult to watch programmes of recent years. The first run brilliantly brought Margaret Atwoods acclaimed dystopian novel to life; subsequent series have come from the imagination of the screenwriters, but completely fit in with Atwoods chilling vision of a world in which a totalitarian state forces fertile women into child-bearing slavery. A fifth season has already been commissioned. Sign up to our daily newsletter The i newsletter cut through the noise Sign up Thanks for signing up! Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting...  June finds refuge on a farm  Thankfully, the project isnt bleak and desperate to work on, according to the shows star, Elisabeth Moss. The set is really fun! she laughs. Its not as serious as anyone would possibly think it is. I think we temper hard-to-watch aspects of the show so many times with other things. Its so romantic and beautiful and elegant and sad, all at the same time. As long as we are truthful and telling the story, then were doing what were supposed to be doing.  Moss has never shied away from difficult roles and is perhaps best known for playing characters who could be regarded as feminist icons  Mad Mens Peggy Olson, Detective Robin Griffin in Top of the Lake, and now June Osborne in The Handmaids Tale. I always try to choose the characters I play based on whats the best material, she explains. The character I play is obviously an important part, but its almost secondary to the actual script itself. When you get both, a really good character and a really good script, thats amazing. For me its all about what is the best material and the best script and I dont really care if its a TV show or a play or a movie or big or small, I just go for whats best.  She adds: I think Im attracted to strong, complicated characters. And I think that unfortunately weve been living in a mans world for so long, so our challenges are often overcoming the patriarchy. And thats a lot of our drama sometimes, unfortunately, so that is going be a main thrust of the story.  The opening episode picks up where the previous series left off. June is injured, but she and the other runaway women find refuge on a farm owned by Commander Keyes; his 14-year-old bride Esther keeps him sedated, enabling her to help those making a break for freedom. As June slowly rebuilds her strength, she listens to Esthers chilling stories, which detail her experiences at the hands of her brutal husband and his associates  prompting June to promise they will take their revenge. A message from the Editor:  Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you. In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper whenever you are able to do so. Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis. With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper when you can safely. You can also enjoy unlimited access to the best news from across Northern Ireland and the UK by subscribing to newsletter.co.uk  With a digital subscription, you can read more than five articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.