A night to remember: London's Olympic Games opening ceremony. Pic: LOCOG
With an estimated viewing audience of 28 million Britons and one billion people globally, film director Danny Boyle’s three-and-a-half hour opening ceremony has been described as the most eccentric opening of the Olympic Games ever.
Highlights of the evening included the Queen’s comical cameo appearance alongside Daniel Craig and seemingly parachuting into the stadium from a helicopter.
Britain’s Industrial Revolution, which featured actor Sir Kenneth Branagh as Isambard Kingdom Brunel – the engineer whose designs revolutionised modern engineering – was wonderfully illustrated.
Boyle’s dedication to the National Health Service was a lovely touch with hundreds of dancing nurses and glowing hospital beds that spelt out the name of the Great Ormond Street children’s hospital.
David Beckham piloted the Olympic Flame in a speed boat on its final leg along the Thames, before handing it over to Britain’s greatest Olympian, Sir Steve Redgrave, who carried it into the stadium.
Other highlights included Sir Paul McCartney, The Arctic Monkeys and even Mr Bean!
However, the first day of the Olympic Games hasn’t been a great start for Team GB as Mark Cavendish missed out on gold to Kazakhstan’s Alexandre Vinokourov in the men’s cycle race.
Check out the map below for information on the big screens showing live Olympic coverage in your area.
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