Years and Years (TV series)

Did You Know?

• The series aired on BBC First in the Netherlands and Belgium, and on Canal+ in France.
• The character Vivienne Rook shares a name with a journalist in the Doctor Who episode 'The Sound of Drums'.
• The series received three nominations at the 10th Critics' Choice Television Awards.

Synopsis

The six-part series centers on the Manchester-based Lyons family: housing officer Daniel, married couple Stephen and Celeste, single mother Rosie, and activist Edith, overseen by grandmother Muriel. Their lives converge on a crucial night in 2019, then accelerate over fifteen years as Britain faces political upheavals, economic instability, and technological advances.

Cast and characters

Rory Kinnear plays Stephen Lyons, a financial advisor; Jessica Hynes plays activist Edith Lyons; Russell Tovey plays housing officer Daniel Lyons; Ruth Madeley plays Rosie Lyons, a single mother with spina bifida; T'Nia Miller plays Celeste Bisme-Lyons, an accountant; Anne Reid plays grandmother Muriel Deacon; Emma Thompson plays Vivienne Rook, a politician. Other cast include Dino Fetscher as Ralph Cousins, Maxim Baldry as Viktor Goraya, Lydia West as Bethany Bisme-Lyons, Jade Alleyne as Ruby Bisme-Lyons, and Sharon Duncan-Brewster as Fran Baxter.

Production

In June 2018, the BBC announced Russell T Davies would write the series, described as an epic drama over 15 years. Emma Thompson joined the cast in October 2018, alongside Rory Kinnear, T'Nia Miller, Russell Tovey, Jessica Hynes, Lydia West, Ruth Madeley, and Anne Reid. Filming began in Manchester on 22 October 2018 and ended on 17 March 2019, with locations including Trafford Park and Altcar Training Camp. The first episode was edited on its air date to include a radio news broadcast referencing the death of Doris Day.

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an 89% approval rating from 66 critics, with an average score of 7.30/10. The critical consensus describes it as a scathing critique of the present with a nihilistic projection of the future, leavened by humour and investable characters. On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 78 out of 100, indicating generally favorable reviews.