We recently re-subscribed to HBO for the new season of The Last of Us, and given how crazy expensive HBO is, I wanted to get Max (ha! see what I did there?) value out of it, so I went looking for other series to watch while the sub is active. That’s how I stumbled onto Years and Years. It’s a one season, 6 episode BBC show about, basically, the downfall of the way of life we’re all accustomed to in the West, and specifically in the UK.
The story starts in 2019, rapidly advances to 2024, and ends in 2028 or 2029. In it, the US starts a trade war and tanks the world economy. Russia invades and conquers Ukraine which causes a huge refugee issue, which leads to countries closing their borders. Climate change is wreaking havoc, and a pandemic grips the world. The governments start clamping down on the press, and sifting the truth from all the lies becomes more and more challenging.
Sounds familiar, right?
Here’s the kicker. The show came out in 2019. It really creeped me out how accurately the writers anticipated all the bad things that were about to happen. The only major thing they got wrong was how fast it would happen. In real life it’s all progressing more quickly than it did in the show. The show posits Trump being re-elected in 2020, and Pence (who is referred to as a Trump puppet) in 2024, so they got that wrong and STILL bad stuff is happening faster in real life than it did in the series.
Years and Years follows the lives of the Lyons family: Muriel and her 4 grown grand-children, their partners and their kids. All are living fairly comfortable (and in some cases VERY comfortable) lives as the story begins, but with all the upheaval happening that doesn’t last. The family tries its best to roll with the punches with limited success. One of my favorite lines is when a character says “I miss the days when the news was BORING.” Don’t we all, friend. Don’t we all.
I don’t want to go into too many details because that would ruin the fun (?) of watching and comparing this fictional future to our messed-up present. Personally I was just fascinated. And a little depressed. As mentioned, it’s on HBO in the US and maybe on the BBC in the UK? Not sure about that last bit.
His Dark Materials is worth a watch, I think you might enjoy that one. We also watch the Great Pottery Throwdown, not sure that one would be up your alley. We just like watching creative people using a medium that doesn’t get as much time as some of the others in the competitive competition genre (looking at you, cooking people). I still watch Game of Thrones, so much good writing and story telling there. Gloria hates it though, mainly because of the unnecessarily graphical nature of the sex and violence. For me, that’s part of what makes it so good, that it often makes me REALLY uncomfortable. What entertainment does that any more to a fat old lady that is hard to shock or surprise? Not much.
I have watched both His Dark Materials and Games of Thrones in the past. Considering a re-watch of the latter, actually.
Last night I started something called The Regime starring Kate Winslet as the dictator of an un-named European country. Only 1 ep so far so not yet formed an opinion. I guess “government going straight to hell” is a genre, now!!