When is Years and Years set?
The BBC1 drama will look at a fictional future Britain, but when exactly does is take place?
If you think the present is scary, it’s absolutely nothing compared to the near future. At least, the future depicted in Years and Years, the new BBC1 drama from former Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies.
Through the eyes of the Lyons, a family from Manchester, the show will explore a society that gets increasingly “madder”, especially thanks to populist leader Vivienne Rook (Emma Thompson).
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But how far into the future does the drama reach? Here’s your guide to the years of Years and Years...
When is Years and Years set?
The first episode starts in 2019. It’s society as we know it, but instead of Nigel Farage or Boris Johnson, the key populist leader is Vivienne Rook.
However, the show is then shot forward half a decade after one of the Lyons's gives birth to a baby boy. This means the majority of episode one is set in 2024.
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Years and Years will continue to jump forward in time in later episodes, but not always by the same amount. "It jumps five years ahead [in episode one] and then every week goes forward another year or so,” Russell T Davies told RadioTimes.com at the BFI and Radio Times TV Festival.
Davies has also said that viewers can expect the drama to reach 15 years in the future, 2034 by the end of the series.
“It starts in 2019 and goes forward 15 years,” he explained. “So you see where we’re heading. History and society seems to be mad at the moment, it seems to be quite a fevered time. So it’s trying to capture that, it’s trying to guess where we’re going.”
Years and Years is on Tuesdays at 9pm on BBC1 from 14th May
