Reeling in the Years: How the 2010s are different to any other decade

JOE spoke to the show's producer about what fans can expect this season and what makes the 2010s so unique.

Reeling in the Years is back on our screens for its sixth season on Sunday, a season which will tackle the 2010s. One of RTÉ’s best-loved shows, its first episode will be focused exclusively on 2010 - the year when Ireland was hit by freezing weather, the Aviva Stadium was opened, Love/Hate began and the Rubberbandits had a hit with 'Horse Outside'. There was also the volcanic ash cloud in Iceland, the Chilean miners' rescue and the EU-IMF bailout, all of which should make for a packed episode. JOE had the opportunity to speak to the show's producer John O'Regan, who would neither confirm nor deny whether this man slipping on the ice on the Six One News will make an appearance. He did reveal, however, that later episodes of this season will look back on former US President Barack Obama and the Queen's visits to Ireland, Ireland's marriage referendum, Brexit, Donald Trump's election as US President and lots, lots more. Safe to say it was a busy and somewhat tumultuous decade. During JOE's conversation with O'Regan, he elaborated on how the 2010s are different from any other decade the show has covered. He said: "[There are] words that we didn't have 10 years ago. There are words like "selfie". Nobody knew what a selfie was 10 years ago. What was an "emoji"? We didn't have the word emoji. "There are words... that have changed meaning. A "drone" meant something different 10 years ago to what it means now. An "influencer" means something different." O'Regan hypothesised that the reason for our rapid change in vocabulary is the rise in personal technology - apps and platforms like Instagram, Snapchat and Netflix. "Think of the phone you had in 2010. I probably had a Nokia. It might have been able to take photos," O'Regan explained. "You look at the proliferation of personalised technology since then - smartwatches, wearables." According to O'Regan, it has even changed the way he makes Reeling in the Years. "When I started making Reeling in the Years 23 years ago, I would get CDs, I'd record them onto a cassette and I'd go off on my walkman and I'd walk or I'd jog. I would go through 30, 50 songs. "I progressed from that. I got a Discman. I could play the CDs directly. Great. "Then I got an iPod. Now I have a phone on which I'm speaking to you now, using video technology that when I was watching RTÉ television in single-channel land in Cork when I was a kid was something you could only ever see on Star Trek. "So I can compile my own personal playlists, and I can stream them on a device that is also a telephone, a computer and a television and it's that size [he gestures at his mobile]. That's an indication of what has happened in 10 years." Reeling in the Years 2010 to 2019 airs on RTÉ One from Sunday, 11 April at 8.30pm. It will also be available on the RTÉ Player. Check out the trailer for the new season below. Clip via RTÉ