Russell T. Davies’ miniseries Years and Years is Black Mirror with a heart

The easy pitch for the new HBO / BBC co-production Years and Years might be “What if Black Mirror, but a family drama?” But the more accurate pitch might be “What if Black Mirror, but with a full and beating heart?” That isn’t intended as a slam on Charlie Brooker’s anthology series about dystopian futures. It’s more of an appreciation of what creator Russell T. Davies has been able to achieve with his six-episode limited series, premiering Monday, June 24th on HBO. (Its run on BBC One recently concluded.) Years and Years begins in 2019, with a focus on the complicated intergenerational Lyons clan: Muriel (Anne Reid), her grandchildren Edith (Jessica Hynes), Stephen (Rory Kinnear), Daniel (Russell Tovey), and Rosie (Ruth Madeley), and... Continue reading…