Taking on Vivienne Rook

HBO, the BBC and French channel Canal+ have teamed up to distribute Years & Years, a limited series about a famous celebrity who becomes a powerful politician.

Two-time Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson ( far right) is to play the leading role in this British family drama that takes place against a political backdrop.

The actress is to play Vivienne Rook, a celebrity and politician known for her controversial opinions.

Described as entertainer, rebel, and trickster as well as a divisive political figure, Rook appears to be in power for at least some of the time the 2019 series takes place.

It follows the fortunes of the Lyon family over a 15-year period as they deal with political, technological and economic uncertainties visited upon them and the nation as a whole.

Family members include financial adviser Stephen (Rory Kinnear from Skyfall) and his driven accountant wife Celeste (T’Nia Miller, BBC comedy thriller Witless), Stephen’s brother and housing officer Daniel (Russell Tovey, Quantico), crafty sister Edith (Jessica Hynes, Bridget Jones’ Baby), pregnant Rosie (Ruth Madeley, Cold Feet) and matriarch Muriel ( Anne Reid, Bleak House).

The state-of-the-nation drama was written by Russell T. Davies who also wrote Doctor Who and A Very English Scandal.

Thompson won her two Golden Globes and Oscar awards for the James Ivory 1992 British romantic drama film Howards End and the Ang Lee 1995 Jane Austen adaptation Sense and Sensibility. – AFP-Relaxnews