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Years and Years

Love, anarchy, technology & a terrifying future in the dazzling new drama from Russell T. Davies.

Russell T. Davies (Queer as Folk, Doctor Who, A Very English Scandal, Torchwood, Cucumber) has done it again.

His newest work Years and Years is an inspiring, confronting work that peers dangerously into the near future like an episode of Black Mirror. And what we see is initially terrifying. But at its heart is an extended Manchester family, the Lyons.

What begins in 2019 travels forward like a finale of Six Feet Under, initially to 2024 and along with it the technological, social and economic changes.

The Lyons include financial advisor Stephen Lyons (Rory Kinnear) and wife Celeste (T’Nia Miller), brother Daniel (Russell Tovey) a gay housing officer working with asylum seekers and husband Ralph Cousins (Dino Fetscher), sister Rosie Lyons (Ruth Madeley) who has spina bifida, sister and political activist Edith (Jessica Hynes). There is also elderly matriarch Muriel (Anne Reid) and a handful of teens.

And then there is outspoken and aspiring MP Vivienne Rook (Emma Thompson) who is cut from the Trump / Hanson / Johnson cloth of sprouting outrageously-populist stuff, often based in little fact, but tapping into grass-roots anger.

“Israel & Palestine? I don’t give a f***!” she bleats, as she underlines concerns over local garbage and parking concerns.

Life for the Lyons is spiralling out of control. The banking system is under pressure, climate change is unstoppable, fake news abounds, Trump is re-elected in 2020 and teenager Bethany (Lydia West) decides she is ‘trans-human’ (I won’t spoil it for you).

When they are not gathered together the family frequently communicates in a group phone / Facetime / Skype chat. Sometimes they even watch TV this way from separate locations. Amongst other tech changes are an Alexa-like assistant known as ‘Signor’ and VR skins you can wear in the real world.

But all of that counts for very little when a cataclysmic event disrupts Muriel’s birthday gathering. It’s all so feasible as to be chilling viewing. Anarchy, fear and passion follow.

Over subsequent episodes we will watch how lives are impacted at the same time as Vivienne Rook begins a meteoric rise in British politics.

Davies writes with a visionary voice and conceptualises in a way few writers can successfully pull off. There is smart dialogue, bold ideas, dark humour, diversity, and the human condition as his plaything.

Amongst the standout cast are Russell Tovey as the gay but frustrated husband, Ruth Madeley as a fearless, life-affirming woman and Emma Thompson as an utterly-convincing (and scary) right-wing populist politician.

Years and Years is unlike anything else around right now. And while it provokes and paints a bleak future forward, there is always the hope that family endures.

Years and Years begins with a double episode 8:30pm Wednesday on SBS.

18 Responses

  1. I have enjoyed every episode of this show! It’s great to watch and I am looking forward to the remaining episodes!

    Does anyone know if there is a Season Two coming of this show next year, or was it only made for one season?

    1. Me too. I thought it was excellent.

      My wife was less impressed, but predictably it was because she missed some great visual parts due to being unable to take her eyes away from her dumbphone!

  2. I’m not sure if it’s a little hat tip to his time in charge of Doctor Who but there was a character in an episode with the name Vivienne Rook albeit different spelling.

    1. I liked it overall but agree with you mickche that it was a bit all over the place (rushed in parts and people didn’t react realistically – like when the daughter got the phone implants and the mother was a bit bland in her reaction). But the run on the bank scared me. Can’t wait for them taking turns waiting in line for 3 days to get some potatoes!

    2. I completely agree. While I’ll stick with it, I found particularly in the first episode, a lot of the dialogue was written as if the character was giving a speech, rather than chatting to their partner / sister.

  3. Russell T. Davies has done some groundbreaking tv over his career so I’ll be sitting down for this one soon. Especially with your review of it David.

      1. Yes, you certainly steered us in the right direction with Chernobyl and Lambs of God David. Thank you for the review of Years and Years I will be watching.

        1. Thank you David. Yes, I recall those ratings but alas not on FTA. Thoroughly enjoyed ep1 last night (had too much viewing Wednesday night I was balancing ABC, SBS, 9 and 10 at the 8.30/8.40 crossover mark and I even recoded a show on a USB!). Wednesday night has always been overloaded with what I want to watch! Will continue to watch. Lots of laughs amongst the seriousness of some plot lines.

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