From the massively popular trends nobody saw coming to the five best days on Twitter, a list of lists that sum up the past ten years
Years of the decade ranked from worst to best
Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images
10. 2016
David Bowie dies. Garry Shandling dies. Alan Rickman dies. Harper Lee dies. Prince dies. Gene Wilder dies. Muhammad Ali dies. George Michael dies. Carrie Fisher dies. Brexit referendum. Trump elected.
9. 2018
Salisbury poisonings. Last male northern white white rhino dies. Elon Musk calls diver a “pedo guy” on Twitter. Trump still president. Brexit still happening.
8. 2019
Brexit nearly happens and then doesn’t, twice. Boris Johnson becomes prime minister. Jennifer Arcuri. Jeffrey Epstein. Prince Andrew. Trump still president. Cats trailer released.
7. 2017
North Korea tests intercontinental ballistic missile. The US withdraws from the Paris climate agreement. Blade Runner 2049 flops. #MeToo. Conservatives win election. Trump still president. Brexit still happening.
6. 2015
Conservatives win general election. Christopher Lee dies.
5. 2014
First gay weddings. Transformers: Age of Extinction. Ed Miliband eats a bacon sandwich.
4. 2013
International year of quinoa. Ariel Castro kidnappings solved. Breaking Bad ends. A royal baby is born. Miley Cyrus licks a hammer.
3. 2011
Arab Spring. The Muppets host Saturday Night Live. Charlie Sheen starts ranting about “tiger blood”. Friday by Rebecca Black. Beyoncé gets pregnant.
2. 2010
Obama in power. Chilean miners freed. Kanye’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy released. Mad Men’s The Suitcase episode. Baby Monkey (Going Backwards on a Pig).
1. 2012
The London Olympics. Skyfall. Gangnam Style. Call Me Maybe. Truly, this was as good as things got.
SH
Five culturally significant meme frogs
1. Dat Boi
2. Tea lizard
3. Pepe
4. Star Wars Kermit
5. Frog and toad
EH
Seven magnificently niche BBC Four documentaries
1. Into the Wind (2017)
Writer and birdwatcher Tim Dee walks the flatlands of the Wash on a quest to capture the elusive sound of “pure” wind.
2. For Folk’s Sake: Morris Dancing and Me (2019)
To be honest this one’s been chosen purely because of the title.
3. Trainspotting Live (2016)
Not, alas, a minute-by-minute recreation of Renton climbing into the worst toilet in Scotland, but instead just live locomotion-watching from platforms around the UK.
4. All Aboard! The Country Bus (2016)
A two-hour, 40-mile bus ride through North Yorkshire, uninterrupted.
5. The Box That Changed Britain (2010)
Poet Roger McGough narrates the story of how a simple invention – the shipping container – changed the world for ever.
6. Milton Keynes and Me (2017)
Film-maker Richard Macer revisits his home town of Milton Keynes as both turn 50. Includes an interview with a roundabout enthusiast.
7. The Fig Leaf: The Biggest Cover-up in History (2011)
Investigating why fig leaves have historically been depicted in covering up our private parts.
SB
A list of the decade’s best lists
1. A scene-by-scene chronology of the most uncomfortable moment in Come Dine With Me history (“You won, Jane. Enjoy the money, I hope it makes you very happy”) Joe.ie
2. 17 Alan Partridge Quotes on Taylor Swift Pictures, Because Why Not Buzzfeed
3. Love Actually’s Problematic Relationships: A Definitive Ranking Grazia
4. Ranking the Walking Dead Characters By Whom We Want to Die Quickest Vulture
5. 17 People Who Got Unspeakably Horny Due to “Game of Thrones” Buzzfeed
SB
The five best days on Twitter
1. #Piggate (2015)
“The future PM inserted a private part of his anatomy into the animal’s mouth.”
The Mail front page carrying this unproven and since denied allegation dropped around 10pm, then British Twitter stayed up laughing about the #BaeOfPigs until the wee small hours.
2. Ed Balls (2011)
“Ed Balls”.
3. Olympics Opening Ceremony (2012)
It has become a cliched centrist dad “Wasn’t it great in the good old days” totem, but on Twitter over two hours, a nation gradually shifted from the self-deprecating cynicism that this would inevitably be terrible, to a swelling sense of national joy that this was, in fact, brilliant.
4. Puddle Watch (2016)
Thousands watched a live stream of people trying to cope with a massive puddle in Newcastle upon Tyne. As it became more and more famous, people began to rock up with surfboards and lilos to perform for the worldwide internet audience. Twitter even put it up on the big screen in its office. Who knew standing water could be so gripping?
5. Covfefe (2017)
The US president gifted the world a new word when he tweeted at midnight “Despite the constant negative press covfefe” leading to hours of joyous speculation about what the hell the “leader of the free world” was on about.
MB
Five massively popular trends no one saw coming
1. The popularity of Ed Sheeran
Everyone has to start somewhere but if, in 2010, you had met the guitar tech for Nizlopi (the one-hit wonders behind JCB Song), you would struggle to guess he would become the most streamed British artist of the decade.
2. True-crime podcasts
In 2010 it seemed like podcasts were good for banal chit-chat but not much else. Then came blockbuster true-crime podcast Serial, and now everyone has given up on music to listen to rehashed US legal cases in a forensic level of detail.
3. The staying power of indie bands
The death of guitar music has been prophesied consistently throughout the decade: but the Wombats’ last three records have all gone Top 5 and the Kaiser Chiefs have a headline show at The O2 next year. Proof that if you continue releasing music and don’t #MeToo anyone, your fanbase can just keep growing.
4. The Bake Off boom
Imagine someone telling you at the decade’s start that the most successful TV format of the decade would be a competitive baking show interspersed with dry history lessons about 17th-century boulangeries hosted by Mel and Sue from the 90s, and later by Vince Noir from the Mighty Boosh.
5. The “yee-haw agenda”
An amorphous mix of memes, cultural theory and music videos about gay black cowboys that culminated in a Billy Ray Cyrus and Lil Nas X collaboration topping the charts for half of this year.
SW
Five times famous people tried (and failed) to get down with grime
1. Mick Jagger gives Skepta a guest spot on England Lost
Proof that if your godawful slice of harmonica blooze has lyrics that sound like sixth-form poetry, a guest verse from Skepta won’t save it. It will make you sound a bit desperate.
2. Cher Lloyd ft Ghetts, Dot Rotten and Mic Righteous
X Factor reject attempts genuine cred by hopping on to a shoddy EDM beat and paying Ghetts to spuriously rap: “I swear, whoever came up with this idea: genius.” X Factor reject fails.
3. Michael Gove quotes Stormzy
When Gove echoed Stormzy’s “I set trends, dem man copy” on Twitter in November, he did have a point. He did create a trend: mouthsicking.
4. Robbie Wiliams appears on Dizzee’s Goin’ Crazy
The biggest loser from the hammy 2013 collaboration between Dizzee Rascal and Robbie Willliams? Dizzee. Farewell, grime authenticity.
5. Pizza Hut ft DJ Vectra
The top grime DJ teamed up with Pizza Hut to show how a pizza box could be turned into a turntable. Not exactly what the genre kneaded.
AD
Five things Ed Sheeran has ruined (not including music)
1. Tomato ketchup
Heinz rebranded it Tomato Edchup after superfan Sheeran wrote in to offer to star in its advert. Pass the HP.
2. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Daniel Craig? Cool. Harry and Wills? Meh. Ed Sheeran as a Stormtrooper? Set blasters to kill.
3. Game of Thrones
At least we found out in season eight that Sheeran was flamed alive by a dragon.
4. Property prices in Framlingham, Suffolk
Sheeran bought out his neighbours for more than £3m after they complained about planned works.
5. Drinking in Birmingham
The Eagle n Tun, featured in Sheeran ft Stormzy’s Take Me Back to London, is to be demolished in 2020. Coincidence? Doubt it.
RP
Five cultural moments that meant too much
Read more: www.theguardian.com
