Years and Years Review

Dystopian fiction is a popular genre in the UK. Former Doctor Who showrunner, Russell T Davies offers up his take with the BBC/HBO miniseries Years and Years.

Years and Years follow the Lyons family during a turbulent 15 years. During this time frame the world suffers from political and economic upheaval, technological advances, and environmental disaster. Whilst this goes on the Lyons go through their own issues involving romance, employment, and their own identities.

Years and Years is pretty much Murphy’s Law: The Show. Everything that can go wrong will go wrong. Davies takes all the fears and issues that are affecting the world and puts them all in one show. Events that happen in the show were Chinese complete their artificial islands in the South China Sea, a second banking crisis which causes a Great Stump, the Northern Ice Cap completely melt away, animal populations massively decrease, antibiotics become less effective, and nations around the world fall to extremists. Riding off the back of this chaos was Vivienne Rook (Emma Thompson) whose Four Star Party rise to power in the UK.

Davies explored these Murphy’s Law/Chaos Theory ideas in the Doctor Who in the episode “Left Turn.” That episode was set in an alternative timeline where the Doctor dies which leads to every disaster he has prevented happening. Davies expanded on these ideas for Years and Years.

As a piece of dystopian fiction Years and Years was a unique and refreshing take. Most dystopias have a simple hook like what if no children are born (Children of Men and Greybeard), ecological disaster (Blade Runner) or simply be a critique of totalitarianism (1984). Many dystopias are set after these events and show the aftermath. Years and Years was different for a few reasons. The series shows how Britain becomes a dysfunctional society and there were many technologies such as robotic implants, artificial intelligence, genetically engineered food, and stem cell-based medicine.

Despite the chaos the show has a message that the human race would continue and adapt to these changes. One of the Lyons, Edith (Jessica Hynes), states this when she’s speaking with her younger sister, Rosie (Ruth Madeley.) This idea gives the series similar to the 2011 film Perfect Sense where humanity kept adapting when facing various crisis.

Years and Years was a ground-level dystopia – we see how these events through the eyes of an ordinary family. Some events are at a distance like the American Supreme Court revoking gay marriage and Roe vs. Wade, others hit closer to home. The treatment of foreigners affects Daniel (Russell Rovey) whose partner was a Ukrainian refugee, leading to him getting deporting and travelling across Europe. Stephen (Rory Kinnear) and his family get affected by the banking crisis, losing everything, resulting in Stephen taking numerous jobs just to survive. And Rosie and Stephen’s wife, Celeste (T’Nia Miller) lose their jobs because of advancing technology.

The series sometimes acted like it was Ken Loach doing sci-fi. It showed the consequences of these technologies on ordinary people. Britain turns into a place where most people end in low-skill, low-pay jobs despite their education. It’s a country where rich and poor neighbourhoods were separated from each other and the government has a draconian immigration policy.

Years and Years does use a few ideas from other dystopian media. The immigration policies, especially by the end of the series were like the ones in Children of Men, and the Four Star party was basically Norsefire in the V for Vendetta film – parties that used various crises to gain power. Even Murray Gold’s haunting choir music was a lot like the theme for the anime classic Ghost in the Shell, a film where the lines between humanity and technology blur.

Davies wanted to make a show that was a warning by showing the worst-case scenario. In the final episode the family matriarch (Anne Reid) makes a powerful speech where she states the human race allowed itself into this ruin and asks ‘where were you’ when this happened. On screen she was speaking to her family but she was really speaking to the audience.

Due to the show’s look at issues of employment and environmentalism, there was a left-wing slant and it could turn off some audience members. Edith was a left-wing activist who protested around the world and many of new medical and cybernetic enhancements in the show could only be afforded by the rich. In the show Spain was praised by the characters for having a socialist government that allowed immigrants. Vivienne Rook was basically a Trump substitute. She was a businesswoman turned politician who uses nationalism and unconventional campaigning techniques to win power. At the beginning of the sixth episode Rook copied some of Trump’s infamous press conferences where she calls the media ‘fake news’ and bans a major media institution from her events.

Years and Years has been compared to Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror. Both are sci-fi shows that look at dark possibilities. The area Years and Years was most like Black Mirror was through the character of Bethany (Lydia West.) Bethany was Stephen and Celeste’s oldest daughter and wants to be transhuman. Throughout the series she sets out to find ways to enhance body with robotic attachments, including getting illegal surgery and applying for a government. These are the kind of ideas that Brooker would explore in his show.

Years and Years was more than a sci-fi show – it was also a family drama. Most of the episodes focus on the characters as they try to cope with the changing world. They look for new jobs, start their own businesses, and have affairs. They are our surrogates to this world. One of the touching storylines involved the relationship between the Lyons’ Grandmother and Celeste who were hostile to each other, but as the series progresses they grow to love and care for each other.

Even though the show was mostly dark and serious Davies allowed for some moments of dark humour. This happened in the first three episodes when it showed the impact of technology on people, such as a robot maid having other uses.

Whilst the show was great for the most part, the final two episodes stumble. This was due to Davies looking at governmental conspiracies involving Rook’s personal interests. The Lyons end up getting drawn into the grander scheme of things which goes against the theme of show. There were hints that there are bigger, shadowy forces that were really in control. It was this element of the show that it could have done without.

There was some sequel-bait at the end of the final episode, but the problem of a sequel is the further into the future Davies goes the harder it is to predict what could happen. The show could end up dating itself really quickly if Trump doesn’t get re-elected or the UK has an election before 2022.

For fans of dystopian fiction Years and Years is a real treat as it looks at how things can go from bad-to-worst for us.