But this was a Britain as never seen before - no simple Merchant Ivory fantasy, but a 21st century land of status updates, soap operas and a suburban red brick house with a single sulphur street light outside.Īt one point Frankie Goes To Hollywood's 'Relax' was booming out. We may have to wait a while longer to see if the London Olympics do the same for this host nation. Beijing was China announcing that it was not only the present but the future. The multicultural France team that won the World Cup they hosted in 1998 changed that country's self-image for good. It's only a sideshow to the real stuff, no? It can feel too grandiose when people claim that sport can help shape new national identities. But to those lucky 80,000 in the stadium and millions watching on television, there was something else, something not always felt: genuine pride in the little pieces of all of us that were being shown to the world. It should have been jingoistic, or cliched, or obvious.
London olympic opening ceremonies series#
Unfurling in front of us was a whirlwind series of collective historical, cultural and social memories - the NHS, ska and rave, the Industrial Revolution, the Windrush, Great Ormond Street, the invention of the internet - which had Britons looking at each other and saying, hold on - that was us too, wasn't it? Watching it as a native was a strange and, for many, an increasingly emotional experience.
London olympic opening ceremonies free#
London could never hope to match it, and so was set free to do something entirely original. This one did it for you.įour years ago Beijing had produced a night aiming to shock and awe the watching world with an unforgettable display of pyrotechnics and ostentatious expense. Opening ceremonies, traditionally big on pretension and po-faced, usually require a little mickey-taking to be endured. Hold on - that's the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang! There's 40 Sergeant Peppers! Was that a two-second clip from Kes I just spotted? In the first three minutes alone we had Radio Four's shipping forecast, The Wind in the Willows's Mole and Ratty, Pink Floyd's flying pig and the EastEnders drum intro.ĭid the rest of the world understand it? You barely had time to worry before another cultural reference hit you. There was a 60ft Voldemort, flying half-bird-half-bikes, flash-mob house parties and David Beckham driving a speedboat through a firework waterfall on Tower Bridge.
There were skipping suffragettes and an army of Isambard Kingdom Brunels. There was Mr Bean playing Chariots of Fire, on a keyboard, with one finger. Save the surprise? They barely stopped coming. What no-one expected was that it would be quite so gloriously daft, so cynicism-squashingly charming and - well, so much pinch-yourself fun.įrom the moment the Red Arrows roared overhead to paint the town red, white and blue at 20:12 to Bradley Wiggins's unheralded yellow-shirted parade and the appearance of dancing NHS nurses - actual, real nurses - this was a constant swooping rollercoaster of noise, searing colour and what on earth was that?
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