Years and Years
2019
Original language: English
- drama
- war & politics
- sci-fi & fantasy
The story
As Britain is rocked by unstable political, economic and technological advances, members of the Lyons family converge on one crucial night in 2019. Over the next 15 years, the twists and turns of their everyday lives are explored as we find out if this ordinary family could change the world.
What it’s like
Cool, clean daylight and drab interiors dominate this British miniseries, with handheld, close-in framing that keeps the Lyons family's kitchens, hospital corridors and wind-buffeted streets feeling lived-in and uncomfortably near. The palette runs to grey-blue, washed-out beige and sodium orange, and the sci-fi edges arrive quietly: a glossy screen, a crowded refugee camp, a sudden flash of an uncanny future. Sound is restrained, mostly dialogue and ambient traffic, with an occasional sparse, tense score pushing up under the arguments. Its vibe is anxious, wry and humane, a sort of dinner-table dread that suits a long evening in or a conversation-starting binge. Pacing moves in jumps across years, so each episode lands like a fresh chapter, and the emotional register swings between sharp satire and tender family strain. Its people are scattered, prickly and slowly, painfully reaching for one another as the world shifts. Intensity is moderate: some violence, a tense and occasionally grim sequence of abuse and police brutality, sexual content and bruising political cruelty, but no gore. It is for viewers who want political drama that stays rooted in family life.
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