Years and Years is the latest drama from Russell T Davies, which is currently airing on BBC One. Russell T Davies has said in interviews that Years and Years was inspired by the current political situation, including the rise of figures like Donald Trump, Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson. The BBC series is also inspired by classic comedies and dramas like Cold Feet according to Davies. Related articles Years and Years on BBC location? Where is it filmed? Where is it set? Years and Years on BBC: How the Lyons family are related What inspired Russell T Davies to write Years and Years? Speaking to an audience at the BFI & Radio Times Television Festival, Davies spoke of how the election of Donald Trump as US president inspired him to write Years and Years. He said he sent an email saying: “If he gets into power tomorrow, I should write this now.” However, he later revealed that in the time it took to write Years and Years, the real political situation kept getting “madder” than anything he could imagine. He said: “I could have sat there at a laptop typing for a million years and I would never have come up with Donald Trump standing in a gold room with 1,000 hamburgers. Russell T Davies has said Vivienne Rook was inspired by Nigel Farage (Image: BBC) “Life is far more insane than anything you can invent, so I just try to catch up!” A major character in Years and Years is Vivienne Rook (played by Emma Thompson), a business entrepreneur who uses an entertaining series of TV appearances to build herself political clout. In describing the inspiration behind the character to the Radio Times, Davies mentioned not only Trump but Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage. He said: “She’s very aware of what she’s doing. It’s that modern trickster who knows how to play the media machine – it’s Trump, it’s Johnson, it’s Farage. Related articles Years and Years release date: When does it start? How many episodes? Years and Years on BBC cast: Who is in the cast of Years and Years? Nigel Farage was among Russell T Davies' inspirations for writing Years and Years (Image: GETTY) “In fact, by the time this interview sees print, Boris Johnson might be Prime Minister. “It’s absolutely possible. Why? Because he’s so entertaining, because he’s so funny. “This is what Trump is. The whole world has been Apprentice-d.” Although these figures have a part to play in inspiring Years and Years, none of them appear in the series. Russell T Davies has been speaking about his inspirations for Years and Years (Image: GETTY) Davies has said this was a conscious choice because: “It’s about people dealing with those issues, but it’s not about the issues themselves. It’s about how to survive.” Alongside these political issues, Davies has said he took inspiration from character-led series like Cold Feet, the original Upstairs Downstairs and particularly Our Friends in the North, a 1996 BBC drama set from the 1960s to the ‘90s. Speaking of this series, Davies said: “I wanted to take something like that. “But instead of taking it from World War II or the Sixties, push it into the future to see where we’re going.” Years and Years airs Tuesdays at 9pm on BBC OneAll rights reserved for this news site express.co.uk and under his responsibility