Last Friday saw the opening ceremony of the thirtieth modern Olympic Games, aka London 2012. Directed by Danny Boyle, the extravaganza saw James Bond interact with the Queen(!) and Paul McCartney see us out for the evening. This is your last chance to see the acclaimed ceremony in full for free via BBC iPlayer.
Soon-to-be Olympic time trial gold medallist Bradley Wiggins opened the ceremony, the beginning of a spectacle rarely seen on these shores. Seen by an approximate worldwide audience of just over 1 billion people, Boyle delivered a smorgasbord of British cultural history and heritage - as ridiculous as it was thrilling.
Music-wise, a huge variety of British music was on offer - surprisingly featuring the likes of Fuck Buttons and Blanck Mass, as well as contemporary pop acts such as Rizzle Kicks, and the classic bands like Queen and Pink Floyd. Among the performing artists were Dizzee Rascal and Arctic Monkeys, the latter of whom covering The Beatles in a nod to the eventual closing performance by Macca.
Arguably the best moment of the ceremony was the footage of Daniel Craig (as James Bond) meeting the actual Queen, escorting her to the opening ceremony, flanked by corgis. Then parachuting out of a plane together into the Olympic Stadium. PARACHUTING OUT OF A PLANE TOGETHER. So that's why the new film's called 'Skyfall'. Watch the sequence embedded above.
The Olympic opening ceremony is available to watch on BBC iPlayer till 00:49, 4 Aug '12.
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