SummarySpanning 15 years, Vivienne Rook (Emma Thompson) rises from vocal celebrity to controversial MP. The effect of her policies to British society are reflected in an ordinary Manchester family that includes Daniel (Russell Tovey), Stephen (Rory Kinnear) and his wife Celeste (T’Nia Miller), sisters Rosie (Ruth Madeley) and Edith (Jessica Hynes), and ... Read More
Years and Years
Season 1 Premiere:
May 14, 2019
Metascore
Generally Favorable
78
User score
Generally Favorable
7.8
My Score
Drag or tap to give a rating
Hover and click to give a rating
Where to Watch
Not available in your country?
ExpressVPN
Get 3 Extra months free
$6.67/mth
All Seasons
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
78
83% Positive
20 Reviews
20 Reviews
13% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
4% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Dec 4, 2019
100
[Russell T Davies] aerates the heaviest, most fraught issues (from the insidious nature of tech, to income inequality, to the rapidity with which events can become both ancient history and rapidly repeated) with wit and optimism, so that they are no longer a burden, to us or the narrative, but grist to the mental and dramatic mill.
Jun 21, 2019
100
On top of the nuanced work from Davies and Jones, the six-part series boasts outstanding performances. Looking through the opposite end of the telescope at present (and controversial) history is often a recipe for disaster, but Years and Years is magnificently agile in the creativity it uses to make it all cohere.
Jul 3, 2019
85
What Davies has done, essentially, is combine a family soap opera with elements of "Black Mirror."
Jun 24, 2019
80
The anxious thrill of watching Years and Years comes not only from seeing the future unfurl in front of you, but also from watching how it ripples through the lives of this very modern, delightfully fractious family. ... Thompson is brilliantly menacing as Rook, communicating her absolute self-certainty, along with just enough ambiguity to make you wonder if power is everything she’s after.
Jun 28, 2019
75
What makes this series effective is that not-too-distant horizon. It doesn't play out 50 years from now, but next year, then a few years after that, and then a few beyond that. Viewers can see the roadmap, and by always keeping them within the realm of the plausible, the ambient anger and confusion feels plausible, or familiar. ... A compelling — and timely — new series.
Jun 24, 2019
67
Propulsive in its storytelling (thank goodness this is only a six-episode series, or hoo boy could it have gone off the rails), filled with terrifying montages of horrific prospective history (Mike Pence is president! All the butterflies are dead!), and featuring a super weird and largely unsuccessful blend of teens’ obsession with technology, “Years and Years” offers plenty of stimulus to keep you moving through it, but through four episodes, it’s too obsessed with its premise to find the best means of delivering its message.
Jun 21, 2019
30
[Years and Years] is too close to reality to be funny, or blackly funny, or even absurdly funny. It is clever, in the worst sense of the word, and offers a cast of characters who are less fleshed-out humans than mouthpieces for all that cleverness and the unstartling conceit of creator/writer Russell T Davies.
User score
Generally Favorable
7.8
84% Positive
53 Ratings
53 Ratings
6% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
10% Negative
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
Jun 28, 2019
9
There is such an uncomfortable feeling of immediacy in this tale of where we are all headed if we stay on our chosen path. It’s a mirror you can’t turn away from. But as we do in today’s 24/7 onslaught of world news and events, the characters seem to forget the previous news item to make room for the next. This is a horrifying and riveting series with top-notch acting, constructed in the way that only the British seem to be able to get right. For U.S. viewers who have experienced all the “inside looking out” cautionary tales in the Trumpian era, this series offers a chance to view ourselves through other countries’ eyes... and it ain’t pretty. You will no doubt be left with much to ponder for quite some time to come. Highly recommended.
Jun 5, 2025
4
Bonkers. So bad it's almost good. Some genuinely funny moments. It's like a terminally online lefty's fever dream. Unlikable cast of characters. A rambling plot with a bunch of disconnected stuff that happens with very little narrative payoff. Granted there's some perspicacity in those beats. But it's hard to take seriously with such clunky, pontificating dialogue.
Production Company:
- Red Production Company
- Home Box Office (HBO)
- BBC Television
- British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Initial Release Date:May 14, 2019
Number of seasons:1 Season
Rating:TV-MA
Awards
Online Film & Television Association
• 3 Nominations
Critics Choice Awards
• 3 Nominations
Broadcasting Press Guild Awards
• 2 Nominations
