Rather than study for her exams, Charlotte McDonnell (formerly Charlie) started the YouTube channel charlieissocoollike in 2007. Posting a combination of vlogs, comedy videos and challenges, Charlotte’s channel broke out when her video How To Get Featured On YouTube was featured on the YouTube UK homepage.

What began as procrastination lead to Charlotte becoming arguably the UK’s first YouTube star, being the first to hit one million subscribers in June 2011. The novelty of ‘internet fame’ led to her appearing in various mainstream media, collaborating with Doctor Who, and somehow convincing Stephen Fry to record her video outro.

By 2013, Charlotte admitted she was burned out from content creation. She would focus less on YouTube as time went on, preferring to focus on screenwriting and later Twitch. By 2019, she announced that she had quit YouTube altogether.

She made a notable return to the platform in 2023, posting a video explaining that she was trans and setting her historical content to private.

We discuss Charlotte’s video style, her appeal and rise to stardom, as well as how she would influence a generation of creators.

CHAPTERS

00:00:00 Introduction

00:01:32 Respecting Charlotte's transition and decision to private videos

00:04:14 Our history with Charlotte

00:08:34 Best Way To Get Featured on YouTube

00:14:13 How to be English

00:20:17 Alfie Days reviews the channel

00:22:18 Challenge Charlie

00:29:31 FiveAwesomeGuys

00:30:55 Charlotte's music

00:38:29 Mainstream media appearances

00:40:22 Doctor Who fandom

00:48:29 Charlotte's later YouTube work

00:51:12 What happened to charlieissocoollike

00:57:01 The clues that I was transgender

00:57:48 Recent work outside of YouTube

01:00:23 The Stephen Fry channel outro

01:02:22 Charlotte's YouTube legacy

01:06:13 Why we have missed weekly uploads

01:11:38 Lucy's subscription: Dan and Phil

01:12:49 Max's subscription: The Chair Company (HBO)

SOCIALS AND CONTACT INFORMATION

Email us at rewindtimepod@gmail.com

Watch the video feed at www.youtube.com/@RewindTimePod

We post shorts on www.instagram.com/rewindtimepod/ and www.tiktok.com/@rewindtimepod

Get more Lucy at www.youtube.com/@LucyLivinYT, www.tiktok.com/@lucy_livin and www.instagram.com/lucy.livin/, Max is at www.instagram.com/max.eagles

Dan and Phil. Phil and Dan. Dil. Phan?

We reach the conclusion (for now) of our Dan and Phil series, focusing on the pair’s collaborative channel formerly known as Dan and Phil Games.

What started as as a Let’s Play channel would develop with the boys, hosting collaborations, side projects, and tour videos. Not even Dan’s multiple year hiatus could kill the channel, with Dan and Phil resurrecting it in 2023.

This year Dan and Phil confirmed publicly they were in a relationship, using the ensuing fan and media attention to launch their podcast ‘Hard Launch’ on the rebranded ‘Dan and Phil’ channel. Since then, they’ve accompanied their podcast episodes with date vlogs, react content, and Spooky Week.

We chat through all things Dan and Phil Games, our own history with gaming content, the reaction to Phan, and everything Dan and Phil we couldn’t fit in the first two episodes.

CHAPTERS

00:00:00 Introduction

00:02:09 Our history with Dan and Phil Games

00:05:08 The main gaming video format

00:10:43 The Sims and Dil Howlter

00:15:47 Dan vs Phil

00:21:09 Collaborations with other YouTubers

00:25:37 Draw my life - Dill Howlter (parody)

00:27:12 Collaboration with charlieissocoollike

00:29:15 Spooky Week

00:31:00 Wtf is Dragon City

00:35:42 Dan and Phil Craft

00:44:27 Interactive Introverts, coming out, hiatus

00:49:08 Return of Dan and Phil Games

00:55:50 Reacting to their old videos

01:01:20 Terrible Influence Tour

01:11:59 Phan is real

01:32:43 Hard Launch podcast

01:38:01 New, outside Dan and Phil content

01:44:07 Reacting to Phan twitter and their tiktok feeds

01:46:50 Concluding thoughts on Dan and Phil

01:59:06 Lucy's subscription - Momo Art Mart

02:00:30 Max's subscription - Oasis Live 25

SOCIALS AND CONTACT INFORMATION

Email us at rewindtimepod@gmail.com

Watch the video feed at www.youtube.com/@RewindTimePod

We post shorts on www.instagram.com/rewindtimepod/ and www.tiktok.com/@rewindtimepod

Get more Lucy at www.youtube.com/@LucyLivinYT, www.tiktok.com/@lucy_livin and www.instagram.com/lucy.livin/, Max is at www.instagram.com/max.eagles

Our second episode on Dan and Phil focuses on Daniel Howell’s personal YouTube channel, formerly known as danisnotonfire.

Before launching his channel, Dan was a fan of Phil’s channel AmazingPhil, and the two became online friends. With encouragement from Phil, Dan uploaded his first video, ‘Hello Internet,’ in 2009. Dan’s storytime/sketch videos were reminiscent of creators like CommunityChannel, combined with his edgy, self-deprecating humour. It was a winning formula, and danisnotonfire would overtake AmazingPhil in subscribers by 2013.

Despite his success, Dan grew increasingly disillusioned with YouTube. His solo uploads became less frequent, although he still collaborated with Phil and appeared in their shared content and tours.

In 2019, after a period of inactivity, Dan posted the video essay ‘Basically I’m Gay’. Three years later, he followed it up with ‘Why I Quit YouTube’. Both videos offered significant insight into his personal and professional struggles, as well as explaining his absence from YouTube.

Since then, Dan has returned to YouTube on his own terms, both on his personal channel (now just ‘Daniel Howell’) and through his collaborations with Phil. He also undertook the solo world tour ‘We’re All Doomed’, which was filmed and posted on full on YouTube.

We run through how Dan’s content evolved over the years, his comedic sensibility and perspective, and how his issues with YouTube are shared by other creators.

CHAPTERS

00:00:00 Introduction

00:01:58 Our familiarity with Dan

00:04:26 Dan's early videos and comedic sensibility

00:10:38 Dan's mildly antagonistic relationship with viewers

00:18:39 Mainstream breakthrough

00:20:42 How to speak internet with Jack and Finn

00:22:51 Internet Support Group

00:24:38 Collab with Tyler Oakley - Dan and Tyler being offensive

00:26:27 Further collabs with Louise and Connor Franta

00:28:52 Correction - Dan and Phil have met Troye Sivan

00:30:35 Promoting the Amazing tour and book

00:33:50 Top Dan Memes of the Year series

00:36:37 Channel name change, less active on YouTube

00:39:59 Daniel and Depression

00:44:16 Basically, I'm Gay

00:50:48 Why I Quit YouTube

00:56:57 Cancelled YouTube Original show

01:01:07 Dan's return to YouTube

01:02:01 We Are All Doomed live comedy show

01:06:19 Overall thoughts on Dan's channel

01:09:55 Max's subscription: Below Deck Med

01:10:46 Lucy's subscription: my chungus life

SOCIALS AND CONTACT INFORMATION

Email us at rewindtimepod@gmail.com

Watch the video feed at www.youtube.com/@RewindTimePod

We post shorts on www.instagram.com/rewindtimepod/ and www.tiktok.com/@rewindtimepod

Get more Lucy at www.youtube.com/@LucyLivinYT, www.tiktok.com/@lucy_livin and www.instagram.com/lucy.livin/, Max is at www.instagram.com/max.eagles