Coming hot on the heels of the disturbing real-life rollback of reproductive rights in the States, the award-winning dystopian drama returns this month in the US for a third season. Having left Margaret Atwood’s seminal source material far behind at the end of season one, the show’s writers are now plotting a path for our protagonist June entirely under their own steam. The action picks up 10 minutes after the final scene of season two – here’s what to expect …

1. They have dialled back the ‘torture porn’

Even some ardent fans of the show abandoned season two, unable to endure its unremitting brutality, from the fake public executions to the drowning of two young lovers. Showrunner Bruce Miller has taken that on board. “We listened to the feedback, and in terms of it being too harsh, I agree. June went through a really tough year last year, and in the end she triumphed, but it was really hard,” he says. This season, the on-screen brutality has been reduced. “So much of this season is about hope,” says Elisabeth Moss. “It’s radically important to have that for the world right now, and for our audience, to show that there is hope and that there is a way out.”

2. There is a resistance in Gilead

The tagline for this season is Blessed Be the Fight, and our protagonist is gearing up to take on the barbaric, oppressive Gilead regime. “June’s struggle has been a very personal one until now – for survival for herself and her unborn child, and for Hannah,” says the show’s producer Warren Littlefield. “But having got Nicole [June’s daughter in Gilead] out, it now becomes about being an active part of the resistance; what does it take to align forces to fight the Gilead regime?”

3. We travel to Washington DC, where the oppression is worse

The show’s 2019 Super Bowl advert previewed some of the most eerie scenes from the series so far: the Washington Monument replaced with a cross, thousands of Handmaids assembled in front. Washington DC is still the centre of power in Gilead – “Gilead on steroids,” says Littlefield – and the regime in the capital, where June, Fred and Serena all spend time, is more fundamentalist, orthodox and restrictive.

4. New depths of religious fervour means more extreme uniforms

The red robes of the Handmaids have achieved significance well beyond the story, co-opted by protesters in the US, Brazil and beyond, campaigning against restrictions on women’s reproductive freedoms. In Gilead’s capital, the uniforms are even stricter, with all women’s mouths (bar those of the Aunts) entirely covered by veils, and Handmaids’ mouths pierced closed, with three rings through the lips. “Gilead claims that a vow of silence has been taken by the most devout Handmaids,” says the show’s producer, Kim Todd.

5. Even Aunt Lydia has her limits

A fearsome enforcer of Gilead’s oppressive regime for the past two seasons, Aunt Lydia, we shall see, has limits to her adherence. “The creepy thing about Washington, other than the veils, is that everyone seems to be so in compliance,” says the actor behind Lydia, Ann Dowd. “People have either given up or it’s like in North Korea, where you don’t even dare step out of line. This is not Aunt Lydia’s thing. She doesn’t believe in these extra, more extreme steps. She just wants to go home.”

The Handmaid’s Tale starts on Hulu on Wednesday 5 June in the US and on Channel 4 in the UK on Sunday 9 June