Muriel (to her family): “It’s our fault. This is the world we built. Congratulations, cheers all.”
Written by Russell T. Davies
Directed by Simon Cellan Jones (episodes 1-4) and Lisa Mulcahy (episodes 5 & 6)
When this show begins it's in the first half of 2019 and it largely centres on the Lyons family. A family that comprises of great grandmother Muriel Deacon (Anne Reid) and her adult grandchildren and great grandchildren. It's a show where the realities of Brexit, Trump, nuclear disaster, immigration, and the wrong people getting all the power have the most devastating and life changing of consequences as our main protagonists and their friends and lovers navigate through the six episodes of this event series. With that, let's look at the Lyons in a bit more depth then, shall we?
First of all, there's housing officer Daniel (Russell Tovey) who started the series off being married to teacher Ralph Cousins (Dino Fetscher) before falling in love with Ukranian immigrant Viktor Goraya (Maxim Baldry), resulting in Ralph shopping Viktor into the immigration crowd and a series of disasters as Daniel's desperate fight for Viktor's freedom cost him his life by the end of the fourth episode. I can see why people who ascribe to the "Bury Your Gays" trope might not have appreciated this turn of events and while I would've rather the show not have killed Daniel off, I did like that in spite of one member's later actions, Viktor is still a part of the Lyons family by the time we get to the last scene of this very series. While Tovey was excellent as Daniel, it was Baldry who was quite the revelation as Viktor and one can hope he lands another few high profile gigs after this series.
Then there's activist, Edith (Jessica Hynes). For the first episode she was largely away from the events of Britain, travelling overseas protesting and getting radiation poisoning as a result. The show didn't waste time bringing into the mix with her family from the second episode onwards and we got to see how she was able to relate to her estranged family while also being something of a positive influence on her niece. We also saw a nice relationship between Edith and Fran (Sharon Duncan-Brewster) as the two got into a few political scraps, including the downfall of the series main antagonist. Unfortunately we did see Edith bite the bullet in the last episode but it was done in a rather emotional way, including a plot device that even Steven Moffat himself would've been proud of. Needless to say, Edith's spirit really will live on if this last episode is anything to go by.
Oldest son and banker, Stephen (Rory Kinnear) and by the end of this one, the least favourite of the Lyons to be honest. In the six episodes here, we saw his marriage to Celeste Bisme-Lyons (T'Nia Miller) fall apart as he left her for another woman, Elaine (Rachel Logan) while getting involved in the darker side of the country's downfall, thus cementing his own to a point. I do feel that by the final, he was perhaps a little too easily forgiven by everyone and a lot of his overall was a bit disappointing if believable compared to his siblings. Then there was his kids - youngest daughter Ruby (Jade Alleyne) had little to do but oldest daughter, Bethany (Lydia West) certainly got plenty to do as her obsession with physically upgrading herself through technology was quite scary to watch in parts, even if it did play a vital role in changing things around for the better. Like Maxim Baldry, the show did uncover a great new talent in Lydia West, who will next be seen in Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss's upcoming Dracula series.
As for youngest sibling Rosie (Ruth Madeley). On the show we saw a wheelchair bound woman determined to make a life for herself, raising two children Lincoln and Lee, navigating through financial disasters and being forced to live in a closed off zone but like her older sister, the finale gave her one of the best moments to shine as she made her own stand against the oppressive system. Like her siblings the show didn't shy away from her love life with the first episode seeing her briefly date a guy played by Noel Sullivan who had a sex robot named Keith before eventually settling down with the more mild mannered Jonjo Aleef (George Bukhari) towards the end of the series. Often, Rosie would be portrayed as the sibling taken the least seriously by the rest of them, but Rosie really came into her own and Madeley is another actor I do hope we get to see more of in other projects.
Then there's Muriel Deacon herself. The matriarch of the series and if this show doesn't cement Anne Reid as a treasure, I don't know what will. Russell T. Davies really does know how to write matriarchal characters and with Muriel, he truly excelled himself here. She got virtually all the best dialogue throughout the series and was a rock to each of her family members while also having little problems with calling them out as well. She's given a beautiful speech in the last episode stemming from the use of those self service machines in supermarkets leading to bigger problems along with her biting commentary on the type of people you need to watch out for in power. If I had to pick a favourite character in the show overall, it's got to Muriel Deacon.
As for our main antagonist (or was she a pawn in a much scarier picture?) herself, Vivienne Rook - needless to say that Emma Thompson played a blinder with this role. Over the course of six episodes, we saw Vivienne's gradual rise to power, charming her way to the top, spouting some pretty nasty sentiments while at the same time also appearing on live television to do the Tragedy dance steps with Lee Latchford-Evans when she wasn't sending innocent people to their deaths with her harmful rhetoric and dangerous actions. The finale did see her downfall while also hinting at her replacement being potentially worse as even death wouldn't allow Edith from wanting to get even with the woman who nearly destroyed Britain. I really hope that Thompson takes on some more villain roles and that she also works with Russell T. Davies again in the future.
- The series was dedicated to Russell T. Davies partner, Andrew Smith who sadly passed away in 2018. There's a dedication to him during the last episode.
- At some point Dermot O'Leary has become a news presenter. There's also cameos from Lee Latchford-Evans Alexander Armstrong to name a few familiar faces that pop up here.
- Episode 3 focused on the funeral on the Lyons father, a brief introduction to another sibling, also called Steven (Craig Gazey) and the reveal of some funerals boiling the bodies to fluid.
- The show's version of Alexa was called Senior and it was one of a few marvels in this series along with self cooking meals to name a few.
- Needless to say as a Doctor Who fan, there were times where it felt like RTD took his Harold Saxon/Master and Turn Left story arcs and retooled them for a 2019 audience.
- Chronology: 2019 to 2034 and barely anyone aged in that time. Even Muriel must have made it into her 100s as well.
Years & Years is definitely one of the most politically charged programmes that Russell T. Davies has been involved in over the last few years and easily one of his best as well. It's a rip roaring engaging series with a fantastic group of characters, the scary possibility that the events we witnessed actually being a stark reality in the not too distant future with some truly fantastic performances and beautifully charged character moments and dialogue throughout. I hope this goes down with US viewers as well as they get to watch the series next week on HBO.
Rating: 9 out of 10
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