‘Years and Years’ Is Far More Terrifying Than Any Other Dystopian Drama

Novelist Ian McEwan recently said, “As to why we tend to imagine the future in the darkest terms, I think it’s simply because our social reality, our political reality, is not giving us a great deal of hope.” 

This perhaps explains why we’re currently in a golden age of dystopian TV. In the last month alone, we’ve had three new twisted tech stories from Black Mirror, the Lord of the Flies-inspired teen hit The Society and the return of totalitarian nightmare The Handmaid’s Tale.

This week sees HBO (in conjunction with the BBC) get in on the action with Years and Years, a time-shifting six-part family drama which may well be the most worryingly prescient of the lot.

It’s the brainchild of Russell T. Davies, a man no stranger to doom-mongering having written apocalypse-averting drama The Second Coming and dozens of Doctor Who and Torchwood episodes. But his latest creation isn’t dealing with messianic miracles or villainous cyborgs. This time around he’s envisioned a more grounded near-future in which Donald Trump’s presidency, the U.K.’s withdrawal from the E.U. and China’s increasing global power gradually brings the breakdown of modern society.

And it doesn’t take long for the post-millennial anxiety to take hold. “I don’t think I could have a kid in a world like this… Because if it’s this bad now, what’s it going to be like in 30 years’ time, 10 years, five years?” ponders middle sibling Daniel (Russell Tovey) as he holds his new-born nephew for the first time in the opening scene.

As with much of Davies’ work, this state-of-the-nation address isn’t exactly subtle. But it neatly establishes an inspired Up-esque sequence which whizzes through several years in just a few minutes, taking in birthdays, marriages and various significant news reports including the death of The Queen and the extinction of butterflies. 

By the time we settle in the year 2024, things are the same but slightly different. Some changes are played for laughs. Youngest sister Rosie (Ruth Madeley) discovers her initially promising date enjoys his robotic housemaid for slightly more perverted purposes; and in a darkly comic Final Destination-inspired scene, the development of drone technology has disastrous consequences for one poor decapitated MP.

But for the most part, Years and Years‘ glimpse into the next decade is a wholly unsettling one. Society’s obsession with all things digital has inspired a more fervent belief in transhumanism, with the implanting of mobile phones into human limbs fast becoming the must-have cosmetic procedure. The funeral industry has been revolutionized by a body-dissolving process which older brother Stephen (Rory Kinnear) wryly compares to ‘boil in the bag.’ And perhaps most disturbingly, those overused Snapchat face filters can now be worn physically in real life.

Sure, it seems unlikely that such developments will occur in such a short space of time. But whereas the tech advances in Charlie Brooker’s world appear light years away, the mod cons on display here largely seem like the logical next step. And there are some that are already taking shape: just ask Nancy Pelosi how worried we should all be about the rise of deep fakes. 

It’s not just the technology that feels unnervingly credible, either. Career politician Viv Rook (played with zeal by Emma Thompson) shows just how easy meaningless soundbites, proud ignorance and unashamed prejudice shows can lead astray a public entirely disenchanted by the status quo.

Apropos of nothing, Donald Trump also gets a second term as U.S. President before being replaced by Mike Pence, a period which results in a trade war with China and the repealing of both same-sex marriage and legal abortion. Elsewhere, Hungary goes bankrupt, the Far Right takes control of France and Ukraine outlaws homosexuality. 

In fact, it’s these more conceivable moments that often makes Years and Years such a horror show. The man versus machine debate may still seem like the stuff of sci-fi. But losing your entire life savings overnight in the wake of a major banking collapse? Well, that’s a very imminent concern – and the second episode kicker which resembles a scene from a George A. Romero movie perfectly captures the mass panic that would inevitably ensue.

Political instability plunging the pharmaceutical industry into chaos. The near-Biblical effects of global warming. Brexit, immigration and even the Flat Earth movement. These timely and divisive issues are all addressed with largely distressing results. Oh, and there’s also the prospect of a nuclear war – potentially instigated here by Trump bombing a fictional island in a chilling scene which evokes traumatizing 1980s drama The Day After. 

Admittedly, the further Years and Years progresses through the 2020s, the more preposterous its scenarios play out: even the Mission Impossible franchise would balk at the fifth episode’s super-spy plotline, while the finale leans a little too far into Davies’ Time Lord past. Overall, though, its exploration of how today’s headlines can affect tomorrow’s everyday life feels relevant, urgent and terrifyingly all-too-believable.  

Jon O’Brien (@jonobrien81) is a freelance entertainment and sports writer from the North West of England. His work has appeared in the likes of Billboard, Paste, i-D, The Guardian, Vinyl Me Please and Allmusic. 

Stream Years and Years on HBO