We sat and watched the Olympic Opening Ceremony on televison last night, along with a few million other people in the United Kingdom. Due to the fact that much of the information about the opening ceremony had been kept tightly under wraps, we had very little idea of what was to come.
We knew that Danny Boyle, the film director, was running the whole show and that there had been some fairly late publicity mentioning a set piece based on England's green and pleasant land, but little else had leaked out.
The opening set up, featuring what was described as a representation of Glastonbury Tor (The circular mound of green with a path winding up it) complete with a tree on the top was used very effectively as a transition piece between the green and pleasant land and the coming of the Industrial Revolution titled "Chaos").
The top of the Tor opened to let workers from the Industrial Revolution exit it. Huge smoking mill chimneys grew out of the ground and a grimy, noisy, smoky atmosphere ensued. Out of this the five olympic rings were manufactured (rather a smart touch) and as they ascended into the night air they threw off sparks.
There were certain highlights which took the audience fancy. The Mr Bean sequence was one such item, but I think the piece de resistance had to be the collection of the Queen by none other than the current James Bond, and delivery to the Olympic Stadium by helicopter, with the Queen and James Bond parachuting into the arena!
The real queen featured in the sequence at Buckingham Palace, whilst the change over to a stunt double was so skilfully handled that it was only when she bailed out of the helicopter (a live sequence) that you began to wonder how this had all been done!
The culmination of all this was the delivery of the Olympic Torch by what seemed to be a jet speedboat, driven by David Beckham, and the eventual lighting of the Olympic "beacon".
A very entertaining evening which proved that we Brits can lay on a magnificent spectacle!
Well Done Danny!
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