Not many novelists can call The Handmaid’s Tale author Margaret Atwood their mentor, and not many novels get a recommendation from Barack Obama, but Naomi Alderman and her bestselling book The Power have already scooped both accolades. So imagine our excitement at the arrival of the adaptation of Alderman’s alternative reality thriller – which is coming to our screens on Friday 31 March, featuring a star-studded cast.

Check out the trailer here – and book yourself in for an action-packed evening… on the sofa.

What’s the story?

“Every revolution begins with a spark…” The series follows a group of teenage girls around the world as they learn to harness a newly granted superhuman power: to generate electricity using only their hands. Now far superior physically to men, the young women’s relationships as well as their outlooks on life are completely transformed.

Even more drastically, their abilities are changing the global order of things. The series explores just how different, or just how similar, the world would be if women were no longer the “weaker” sex. Will any of the women will be corrupted by their newfound power? 

The interconnected storylines ratchet up the drama even further: there’s the relationship between a violent London crime boss and his daughter, an attempted political coup in Moldova, and a journalist in Nigeria chasing down the story of his career… and that’s just for starters.

With its mix of gender politics, nail-biting jeopardy and adventure, we think the show shares a similar alchemy to The Handmaid’s Tale, which was so compelling in print and on screen.

Who’s in it?

The ambitious plot is matched by an impressive cast, with Toni Collette (Knives Out) at the helm, playing Margot Cleary-Lopez, a compassionate Seattle mayor and mother of three whose career is poised to take off stratospherically as part of the changing world order.

John Leguizamo (The Menu) is her husband, while Auliʻi Cravalho, who memorably voiced the heroine in Disney’s animated feature Moana, plays the role of Jos, Margot’s daughter.

You’ll also recognise Eddie Marsan (The Thief, His Wife And The Canoe) in a creepy turn as a London gangster and Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) as a Nigerian journalist who breaks the news about the new powers and proves an ally to one of the girls.

Ria Zmitrowicz (Three Girls), Daniela Vega (A Fantastic Woman), Rob Delaney (Catastrophe) and Alice Eve (Bombshell) are also among the cast.

Who’s behind it?

Fittingly, The Power author Naomi Alderman was the creative lead behind the all-women writing team. She was joined by Sarah Quintrell, who has written for His Dark Materials and The Trial: A Murder In The Family; Claire Wilson (The Little Drummer Girl, Rocks); Raelle Tucker (Supernatural, The Returned) and more.

And the series was also directed by a stellar line-up of female directors, including Neasa Hardiman (Happy Valley), Lisa Gunning (editor of films including Fifty Shades Of Grey and Seven Psychopaths), Shannon Murphy (Killing Eve) and Ugla Hauksdóttir (Hanna).

When is Prime Video’s The Power on TV?

The first three episodes of The Power will be available from Friday 31 March in Apps & Games > Prime Video. New episodes will then be released weekly every Friday until the finale on 12 May.

How to watch Amazon Prime Video with Virgin TV

Prime Video is available to all Virgin TV customers with a V6 box, powered by TiVo^®. Simply sign up to Amazon Prime Video via their website, and you can log in on the box. And because Prime Video is fully integrated into TiVo^®, you can search without even going into the app. Just select Search & Discover from the Home menu and type in the name of the show or movie you’re after.