Russell T. Davies is no stranger to securing good casts for his TV work, but his latest, Years And Years, might just be the strongest yet. Emma Thompson is heading the acting side, along with Jessica Hynes, Rory Kinnear, Ruth Madeley, T’Nia Miller, Anne Reid and Russell Tovey.
With six episodes written by Davies, Years And Years sees Britain rocked by unstable political, economic and technological advances and we follow the Lyons family as their complex lives converge on one crucial night in 2019. Then, over the next 15 years, the twists and turns of everyday life are explored as we find out if this ordinary family could ever change the world.
Thompson will be Vivienne Rook, an outspoken celebrity turned political figure whose controversial opinions divide the nation. She’s a new breed of politician, an entertainer, a rebel, a trickster, and her rise to power leads us into an unknown future. Sound like anyone in power right now?
Rory Kinnear is Stephen Lyons, a financial advisor and the family’s peacekeeper married to Miller's Celeste, an ambitious and opinionated accountant.
Tovey is on as Daniel Lyons, a hard-working housing officer and Stephen’s brother, while Hynes plays their sister Edith, radical, dangerous and calculating with a secret life. The last of the siblings is the heavily pregnant Rosie (Ruth Madeley), with Anne Reid's Muriel presiding over the family as imperious grandmother to the Lyons.
Simon Cellan Jones will direct the show and act as another executive producer, and the cameras just started rolling in Manchester. We'd expect it to hit the Beeb next year, and given that HBO is co-producing the show, Years And Years will also make it over to the States.
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