The forthcoming series is closely linked to The Handmaid's Tale, though perhaps not in the manner you might anticipate.

In short, yes. Margaret Atwood published her novel The Testaments in 2019, riding the wave of success from the Hulu TV series led by Mad Men and Top of the Lake star Elisabeth Moss, reports the Mirror.

The novel arrived more than 30 years after Atwood's groundbreaking 1985 work The Handmaid's Tale, and went on to jointly claim the Booker Prize alongside Bernardine Evaristo's Girl, Woman, Other.

The Testaments' showrunner Bruce Miller recently told The Hollywood Reporter: "This is a sequel to Handmaid's Tale, the show."

The Testaments novel takes place 15 years after the events of The Handmaid's Tale, incorporating key moments from the TV series, most notably the birth of baby Holly/Nichole.

The TV adaptation of The Testaments, however, shifts the timeline to approximately four years after the events of The Handmaid's Tale series finale, in which June Osborne (played by Moss) spearheaded a rebellion in Boston.

Discussing his adaptation of The Testaments for television, Miller explained: "There are parts of the [Testaments] book that take place very far in the future, and we want to save those things for far in the future; they're goals we're working towards."

Miller added that The Testaments TV show is currently centred on a "compact bit of the story" revolving around the young women of Gilead in search of husbands.

The programme will also include flashbacks to Aunt Lydia's (Ann Dowd) existence before Gilead's emergence, reflecting the novel which illuminates The Handmaid's Tale antagonist and her origins.

Following the conclusion of The Handmaid's Tale series finale, Aunt Lydia was depicted as growing increasingly disenchanted with Gilead and its leadership.

This planted the foundations of her uprising as she now occupies a fresh position of authority at an all-girls academy, where she is preparing the next generation of Wives for Commanders.

From her new role, Aunt Lydia will be monitoring everything, including Agnes MacKenzie (Chase Infiniti) and Daisy (Lucy Halliday).

Dowd hinted about Aunt Lydia: "She keeps it entirely secret, but keeps track of what goes on. So when the time comes, all the evidence is there."

There have already been indications that The Testaments TV programme could extend to five seasons, though this will depend entirely on its success and audience figures.

Considering the ambitions for multiple seasons of The Testaments, it's probable the TV programme will deviate from the source material similarly to how The Handmaid's Tale series did.

The Testaments premieres on Disney+ and Hulu on April 8