Love Changes Everything: Revenge and Redemption in Years and Years

In the finale of Russell T Davies’ 2019 serial Years and Years, Edith Lyons makes a moving final speech as she prepares to transfer her consciousness to the cloud, a water-based storage facility designed to preserve each and every moment of her existence: ‘I’m not a piece of code. I’m not information, all these memories. They’re not just facts. They’re so much more than that. They’re… my family… my lover. They’re my mum, my brother who died years ago. They’re love. That’s what I’m becoming: love. I am love.’ The redemptive power of love – and in particular, familial love – is a key theme in Davies’ drama. However, just as his often dystopian vision of the future is laced with positive developments such as cures for spina bifida and macular degeneration, the narrative also highlights love’s potential downsides. Daniel Lyons’ passionate affair with Ukrainian refugee Viktor Goraya ultimately leads to acts of vengeance from both his abandoned ex-husband, Ralph, and embittered brother Stephen, who needs someone to punish when Dan and Viktor’s story ends in tragedy. This chapter examines Davies’ depiction of love’s power to harm and to heal, providing some of the series’ darkest, yet most powerful and affecting moments.