'Terrifying' BBC series is more relevant than ever and it's a 'must-watch' for fans

A "terrifying" dystopian drama has been branded a "must-watch" by fans and is more relevant now than ever.

Years and Years, created by Doctor Who writer Russell T Davies, first aired on the BBC in 2019, starring the likes of Emma Thompson, Rory Kinnear, Russell Tovey, Lydia West, and Jessica Hynes.

It follows a family in Manchester as they come to terms with the world around them changing in ways they can't control, living through a migrant crisis, technology taking over, and politicians at their worst.

Set over a 15-year period, it brings some of our worst fears to life, while also leaving viewers heartbroken and in tears.

Playing a right-wing politician, Emma's character Vivienne opens the series by saying she "doesn't give a f**k" about the Israel-Palestine conflict, and goes on to debate whether voters need to take IQ tests.

One storyline follows a refugee fleeing persecution in Ukraine, only to be deported from the UK after living in migrant camps. Before the treatment of the people living in those camps is exposed, Years and Years shows the harrowing journey desperate people in small boats make to cross the Channel - particularly poignant as Nigel Farage threatens to deport illegal migrants while far-right protests erupt across the country over hotels housing asylum seekers.

Another aspect of the show follows a teenager wanting to identify as transhuman and turn herself into data, before being given access into what other people can see on their screens and discovering crime through her clandestine ways.

The series scored an impressive 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, and was branded a "must-watch" by fans, with several having watched it in recent months.

One wrote, "Definitely a must-watch! I got so attached to the characters and their story."

"One of the most brilliant series I've ever seen," another said, while a third commented, "This was a fantastic series. I don't usually like sci-fi or near-future but this was superb. I'm still thinking about it almost 4 years later."

One fan wrote: "A very realistic and therefore terrifying cautionary tale of where we might be going in the near future. Or, Black Mirror done right."

Someone else said: "Quite simply one of the best things I've ever seen. I don't know how anyone can criticize it at all. Not only does it present a scary, near-future scenario that is uncomfortably realistic, but beyond the doom and gloom, it provides realistic hope and beauty at the end. I'm stunned by this series."

Creator Russell previously spoke about how he'd been thinking of writing Years and Years for more than a decade, telling the BBC: "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!"

He added: "I can guarantee that the real world will always be stranger, madder, darker, but hopefully better than anything we can predict."

The synopsis for the series teases: "Years and Years, by Russell T Davies, is an epic saga that takes an ordinary family and catapults them through the next 15 years.

"As society changes, faster than ever, the Lyons will experience everything we hope for in the future, and everything we fear.

"They'll fall in and out of love and grow old, fall apart and come back together, while constantly looking forward.

"Each episode propels us a year or two ahead, following the lives of Daniel, Stephen and his wife Celeste, sisters Rosie and Edith, Gran Muriel and the family's children, as they navigate a world made unstable by politics, the economy and technological advances.

"But this isn't a dark, fearful show. It's full of wit, warmth, and hope.

"Years and Years is about family. It shows how we survive against the backdrop of a political world in which you can't tell right from left any more.

"The tone is fierce, funny, heartbreaking and, ultimately, shows one family's determination to survive the future."

Years and Years is available to stream on Netflix now.