Years and Years: Russell T Davies' Uncanny Dystopian Vision of Modern Britain

A Family Under Siege in a Shifting World

Back in 2019, Russell T Davies took a hard look at Britain’s future in his miniseries Years and Years. The show isn’t just another gloomy take on dystopia—it’s a punchy, personal story that follows the Lyons family through chaotic twists of fate, politics, and technology. It all kicks off in present-day Manchester, but things rapidly spiral as the years pass. The Lyons clan—made up of Daniel (Russell Tovey), Stephen (Rory Kinnear), Edith (Jessica Hynes), and Rosie (Ruth Madeley)—aren’t superheroes or politicians. They’re just regular people dealing with job losses, tech that’s changing too fast, disappearing money, and a society that seems to get crueler year by year.

What sets this series apart is how the everyday collides with the epic. Things like smart home gadgets that never quite work right and headlines full of doom become personal as political disaster edges ever closer to their doorstep. There’s heartbreak, new relationships, sudden tragedy, and a constant edge of uncertainty—something that feels all too real for anyone who’s watched the evening news lately. Underneath all that, the show’s big question is: how do ordinary people survive when the world they know falls apart?

Vivienne Rook and the Crumbling Facade of Democracy

While the Lyons family anchors the series, the real shock waves come from Vivienne Rook, played by Emma Thompson. Rook is a media-savvy firebrand whose rants about everyday frustrations quickly snowball into a full-blown political movement. Thompson’s razor-sharp performance makes Rook chillingly convincing; you get why people would follow her, even as her policies veer toward the terrifying. Watching her ascent from a TV personality to a raging force in Parliament can feel uncomfortably familiar in today’s world, where blunt outrage sometimes wins out over facts and reason.

The show leans into a nightmare vision of the UK, but always with an eye on day-to-day life—housing crises, gig economy instability, the lure and threat of new tech, and the erosion of trust between neighbors. The director team, Simon Cellan Jones and Lisa Mulcahy, keeps things gripping, blending the Lyons' kitchen squabbles with images of street protests, digital surveillance, and chilling government announcements. Anne Reid as the family matriarch adds heart, pushing the idea that even as systems collapse, people still fight for their loved ones—sometimes against impossible odds.

The show aired on BBC One in 2019 and scored early praise for never pulling its punches.
It landed strong performances from its central cast, with Emma Thompson and Russell Tovey earning Critics' Choice nominations.
Fast-forward to 2025, and a whole new audience could stream it on Netflix, just as Davies’ themes became even more relevant in light of recent global crises.

Years and Years is more than just a “what if” story. It’s a warning shot—a look at how technology, politics, and family might collide in ways we’d rather not imagine, but probably should. Anyone interested in where our world could be headed—or already is—will find something here that sticks with them.