Interview with Russell T Davies

You said you have been thinking of writing this for over ten years, why now?
It’s been boiling away in my mind for a long time, but over the past few years the world itself seems to have been boiling faster and hotter and wilder than ever. I mean, the age, today, just seems fevered - we’re either more political, or more scornful of politics, than ever. And I think, in the past, politics meant the economy to most people, but now we’re seeing that it’s our identity at stake. So I had to write this fast, before someone else did! And we’re transmitting it as fast as we can before the stuff in the script actually happens!

Why do you think it was important to base this story around one family?
That’s the heart of it. In the end, it’s a TV drama, and people tune in for characters and to see actors we love. We want to see them falling in and out of love, to see parents and children surviving what’s thrown at them, to see friendships across decades. People might talk about the politics of Years and Years, but it’s the people who will get you watching.

What challenges do you face when writing each episode years apart?
Every episode tends to move on a year, so as a writer that comes with certain problems. You can’t always cliffhang out of a story, because the next scene will be a year later! But the one-year-later device is becoming very popular in modern drama, and with widespread streaming and binge-watching, we’re all becoming very familiar it. Part of the point is to show that for a family, one year later is basically the same.

You’ve mentioned that you are not trying to predict the future with this story but what’s your favourite of the ideas you had for our society over the next 15 years?
Well my favourite is happening already, and that’s the Whatsapp group. Especially the family group. It’s transforming family life, right in front of my eyes. I’ve got nieces and nephews aged from 21 to 29, and a few years ago, much as I love them, I’d only text them twice a year, birthday and Christmas. But we opened up a family group, and now 20 or 30 texts fly between us every night. Technology has made us closer. And I’ve shown this with the Lyons family - they’re an extraordinarily close-knit bunch because they all talk to each other all the time. And I’ve dramatised that fully – I can guarantee, some of those group conversations are truly shocking!

There are some very touching and funny moments within the series, why is this an important aspect of the story?
I can’t write more than six lines without putting in a gag. Honestly, it’s in-built. It’s how I talk, too, I am hard-wired to find the joke, anywhere. My mum was the same, her running joke was to go to a funeral and say to someone, “I thought I’d been to yours". So that’s the way I write. And I think it’s very human, I think we have a laugh to survive, to cope, to express our love. And I wanted this to be a warm, hopeful series - some terrible things happen to the Lyons, but they live and they love and they find ways to survive.

What do you think the audience will think about the Lyons family?
I hope they embrace them. I hope they feel like they’ve found companions, in coping with this mad old world. And really, it’s all about the cast. How lucky am I? If you had just one of these actors you’d have a lead for a BBC One drama. But we’ve got tons of them! In a brilliant ensemble. I can’t believe we got them all, and I think people will love them.

Tell us about why Vivienne Rook is important to the drama?
The series follows the Lyons family, while in the background huge shifts in politics and the very nature of Great Britain take shape. So that rising tide needs a figurehead. It needs to be personal, it needs a name and a face and a character. Enter Mrs Rook! And when you make her one of Britain’s finest actors, then the whole idea ignites. I hope people will be fascinated by Viv. She’s a maverick, she’s a danger, she’s a wildcard. And she’s also very, very clever - much cleverer than she first appears.

How close do you think we really are from this world you created?
But I can guarantee that the real world will always be stranger, madder, darker, but hopefully better than anything we can predict.

What do you think or want the audience to take away from this story?
The characters. The people. I hope we’ve got some insights into society, and politics, and technology, but that’s irrelevant compared to good characters. And when you’re lucky enough to have Anne Reid presiding over some truly great actors as her family brood, I hope that’s the thing to remember. Life with the Lyons.

You’ve worked with Red Production Company many times before, why do you think you work so well together?
I got lucky! With Nicola and her team, we just click. Which also means never taking it easy. After all these years I’m still terrified to hand in a script to Nicola, because I’d hate to let her down. So that keeps me on my toes. And she’s created a world of trust in which you feel capable of saying anything. That’s truly creative. We’re just about to start our tenth production together, and I hope we have dozens more!

Vivienne Rook (Emma Thompson)

Businesswoman and entrepreneur, Viv’s a familiar face on modern media, always ready with a quote. But when she stands for Parliament and forms her own party, she begins an inexorable rise to power. She’s adored for speaking her mind, but what are her actual policies? And how far will she go to achieve them?

Muriel Deacon (Anne Reid)

Muriel Deacon (Anne Reid). Sharp as a knife. Wise, but opinionated. Proud and independent and defying the passing of time. She doesn’t sleep much. Enjoys a whisky. Her house is large, rambling and dilapidated. Mother to the late and much-missed Jennifer, she’s a devoted (and critical) grandmother to her beloved Lyons clan.

Stephen (Rory Kinnear)

Stephen Lyons (Rory Kinnear). The eldest. Lives in London while the rest of the Lyons stayed in Manchester. A financial adviser, he worked at home to bring up the kids while his wife Celeste went out to work. He’s the peacemaker, a calm, smiling man. Though he can afford to be - he’s rich. What will he become when his world is rocked?

Edith Lyons (Jessica Hynes)

The second child, she’s tough, wry, earthy, a bit of a hippy as a teenager. Always knew where to get hold of some weed. As an adult she’s become a fearless campaigner and something of an anarchist, with skills her family would find dodgy. She’s been travelling the world, but shocking events bring her home for good.

Daniel Lyons (Russell Tovey)

A housing officer in Manchester. He’s friendly, diligent and hardworking. Loves his family. Has a strong social conscience, but finds that hard to maintain in an ever-changing world. Daniels is going out with Ralph, and they’re about to get married, but maybe Daniel said yes too soon...

Rosie Lyons (Ruth Madeley)

The youngest Lyons, spirited, sharp, born with spina bifida. Single mother to Lee and Lincoln, by two different dads. Works as a chef manager in a local comprehensive school. She’s great fun and binds the family together, but Rosie will never forgive her dad for walking out on the Lyons family when she was young.

Celeste Bisme-Lyons (T’Nia Miller)

Married to Stephen. Chief Accountant, smart, stylish. A marvellous snob. Exasperated by modern technology. But she’s a proud mum to two daughters, Bethany and Ruby, and they have a comfortable life in a nice house in Barnsbury. One day, that life will feel like a distant dream.

Ralph Cousins (Dino Fetscher)

Primary school teacher. Always on his phone. Ralph’s the fun one, Daniel’s his straight man. They’ve been together for 18 months, married two years later. The end comes quicker and more brutally than Ralph could ever have predicted, and he takes a terrible revenge.

Viktor Goraya (Maxim Baldry)

Ukrainian refugee. Tortured in Ukraine for information about his friends. Nevertheless, he’s a kind, smiling man, a great survivor of his hardships, always looking for the positive side. Full of strength and laughter, Viktor is a source of great joy to Daniel, and will become the love of his life.

Bethany Bisme-Lyons (Lydia West)

Bethany Bisme-Lyons (Lydia West). Daughter to Stephen and Celeste. A brilliant student, Bethany is shy, quiet, withdrawn. But her introspection hides her secret passion. She’s obsessed with transhumanism, the culture of integrating humans with technology. But her ambition is in danger of taking her too far.

Ruby Bisme-Lyons (Jade Alleyne)

Daughter to Stephen and Celeste. Ruby’s fun and great company, enjoying everything the 21st Century has to offer. She’s a bit spoilt, unaware that her world is about to come crashing down.

Lee Lyons (Noah Wride, Blake Woods, Callum Woolford and Adam Little)

Rosie’s first-born son, his dad now lives in Slough with a new family, though that doesn’t cause Lee any grief. He’s a nice, home-loving lad, but as the estate he lives on gets rougher, Lee finds himself going outside the law.

Lincoln Lyons (Jett Moises, Aaron Ansari & Aiden Li)

Rosie’s half-Chinese son. Lincoln is born in episode one. And as he grows up and watched the Lyons family changing around him, his story, over the next 15 years, is set to be the most radical and exciting of all.

Cast and Crew

Vivienne Rook - Emma Thompson
Muriel Deacon - Anne Reid
Stephen Lyons - Rory Kinnear
Daniel Lyons - Russell Tovey
Rosie Lyons - Ruth Madeley
Edith Lyons - Jessica Hynes
Celeste Bisme-Lyons T’Nia Miller
Bethany Bisme-Lyons Lydia West
Ruby Bisme-Lyons - Jade Alleyne
Lee - Callum Woolford
Lincoln - Jett Moises, Aaron Ansari and Aiden Li
Ralph Cousins - Dino Fetscher
Viktor Goraya - Maxim Baldry

Nicola Shindler - Executive Producer
Michaela Fereday - Executive Producer & Head of Production
Russell T Davies - Executive Producer, Creator & Writer
Karen Lewis - Producer
Simon Cellan Jones - Director, Executive Producer
Lisa Mulcahy - Director

KS

Related Programme Information

• Episode one
• Episode two