| Reeling in the Years | |
|---|---|
Logo |
|
| Genre | History |
| Opening theme | Reelin' In the Years |
| Country of origin | Ireland |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 48 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | John O'Regan |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | RTÉ One |
| Picture format | PAL |
| Original airing | 1999 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Reeling in the Years is a historical documentary series broadcast in Ireland by RTÉ. Each episode, approximately 25 minutes long, looks back at the news and events of a particular year, from 1962 to 2009. The programme uses news archive footage, along with subtitles as the means of narration, to recount notable Irish and international events of the time. Music from the particular year is also played over the footage, with occasional scenes of live performances or music videos, generally (but not exclusively) by an Irish artist. Each decade takes at least eight months to make.[1]
The programme runs on RTÉ without advertisements during it. The theme tune for the series comes from Steely Dan's 1972 hit "Reelin' In the Years". The series was voted "most popular home-produced TV programme ever" in a poll of Ireland's Top 100 television programmes conducted by the RTÉ Guide in 2008.[2] In 2008, a DVD entitled Reeling in the 80s was released for the Irish market, with follow-up DVDs Reeling in the 90s and Reeling in the 70s released in 2009 and 2010, respectively.
Contents |
There have been five series of Reeling in the Years, each focused on a different decade:
The 1960s series does not cover 1960 or 1961 because these years pre-date the official launch of Telefís Éireann, the television arm of the national broadcaster. It was felt, presumably, that there would be too little archive material from which to make an engaging programme about these years. Indeed, the episodes covering the first half of the 1960s are characterised by extensive use of photographs and posters, as opposed to film and video footage, in order to represent various historical events.
All five series are marked by a knowing attitude, where certain stories that seemed inconsequential at the time are remembered because they have taken on significance in the present day. This has gained the programme a reputation for being very funny. An example is seen in the 1987 episode: Taoiseach Charles Haughey discusses what he would do if he were to win money in the newly-formed National Lottery. Haughey, whose lavish lifestyle was later revealed to have been funded by "donations" from businessmen, exclaims, "I might keep a bit for myself!".
In recent years, Reeling in the Years has been used regularly by RTÉ One as a filler programme during the summer months and the Easter and Christmas periods.
RTÉ has included written summaries of the series on its online database with some audio/visual footage included.
| 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s |
| 1970 | 1980 | 1990 | 2000 | |
| 1971 | 1981 | 1991 | 2001 | |
| 1972 | 1982 | 1992 | 2002 | |
| 1973 | 1983 | 1993 | 2003 | |
| 1974 | 1984 | 1994 | 2004 | |
| 1975 | 1985 | 1995 | 2005 | |
| 1976 | 1986 | 1996 | 2006 | |
| 1977 | 1987 | 1997 | 2007 | |
| 1978 | 1988 | 1998 | 2008 | |
| 1979 | 1989 | 1999 | 2009 |
In the past, RTÉ had said that, because of the number of clips from external companies used in the series, it would be infeasible to release it on VHS or DVD. It claimed that securing "video clearance" for each clip and song would make any release prohibitively expensive. RTÉ did consider releasing an altered version of the programme which would only contain the images and music that they owned the rights to, but that "the programme would only be half as good then, it wouldn't be anything like the shows that went out on air, and we'd end up disappointing people."[3]
However, in October 2008, RTÉ announced that they would be releasing a DVD of a cut-down version of the 1980s material. Reeling in the 80s[2][4] is an altered version of the programme which contains only the images and music that the producers were able to secure rights to, and it runs to about 150 minutes (versus 240 minutes for the original series).[5][6] It does, however, contain some original material that has been unearthed since 1999, and which has greater significance now, such as footage of Taoiseach Brian Cowen.
Reeling in the 90s was released on 13 November 2009[1] and Reeling in the 70s was released in November 2010.
|
||||||||