Why HBO’s 6-Part Sci-Fi Miniseries Is a Rare Show Where Every Episode Is Great
A family through upheaval
Years and Years is a co-production between HBO and the BBC. It centers on the Manchester-based Lyons family as the world changes dramatically over 15 years, beginning after one fateful night in 2019.
The series moves quickly through that period in six episodes. Montages set to Murray Gold’s score show major global events, while scenes of the family’s daily life reveal how the upheaval affects them.
Vivienne Rook’s rise
Emma Thompson plays Vivienne Rook, a controversial businesswoman who enters politics and forms the independent Four Star party. The party’s name refers to the censored expletive that brought Rook attention on television.
Rook becomes prime minister amid public frustration, using notoriety and showmanship to build support. The story tracks how she moves from a television outburst to 10 Downing Street, and how ordinary people such as the Lyonses help make that rise possible.
Davies and Doctor Who
Russell T Davies created Years and Years and revived Doctor Who in 2005. The two series share a character name: Vivienne Rook also recalls Vivien, a reporter in Doctor Who’s “The Sound of Drums,” played by Nichola McAuliffe.
In that episode, Vivien warns the prime minister’s wife about her husband, who is the Master. She is killed, but a scheduled email to Torchwood is intercepted by the Tenth Doctor and alerts him to the threat.
An idea tested in Torchwood
Davies developed ideas for Years and Years while working on the 2009 Doctor Who spinoff Torchwood: Children of the Earth. In The Writer’s Tale, he described developing a family drama about a world falling apart.
Davies also wrote that he used parts of the then-unproduced story in the Torchwood finale. There, the Torchwood family races through England while trying to avoid soldiers acting on orders from the UK’s extremist government.
Key points
- Years and Years follows the Lyons family through 15 years of upheaval in six episodes.
- Emma Thompson plays politician Vivienne Rook, who rises to become UK prime minister.
- The series shares a character-name link with Doctor Who and drew story ideas from Torchwood: Children of the Earth.
- Russell T Davies created Years and Years and revived Doctor Who in 2005.