The Handmaid's Tale UK air date: Hulu responds to lack of UK release

The TV adaptation of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale is one of the most talked about shows on television right now, except it isn't on television if you live in the UK.

Whether it's US networks selling the rights to UK broadcasters or streaming services like Netflix releasing shows worldwide, we're pretty used to being able to watch big shows shortly after their American transmission now, and are spurred on to watch them by global social media discussion and reviews on predominantly UK sites.

The Handmaid's Tale is now streaming on Hulu and airing on US channel Bravo and Canadian channel Crave TV, but no deal was struck for a UK broadcast and Hulu remains unavailable to UK consumers (unless they're using VPNs of course).

Responding to a tide of questions on Twitter about whether the series will make it across the Pond, Hulu only had bad news: "Sorry for any disappointment! Expanding across the pond is part of our long-term goals. We'll share your interest in this."

It replied to another tweet: "Sorry! We don't have int'l streaming rights for our content, so our service is not available outside the U.S. currently."

Given Hulu is in competition with Netflix and Amazon Prime, which do stream in the UK, it is unlikely the show will pop up on either of these services, but a different plan could be rushed through if the series remains immensely popular.