I rather enjoyed it! Being Bristol-born it was nice to see Isambard Kingdom Brunel play such a big part in the proceedings. That even got a cheer from the mysteriously dull crowd at Millenium square. However, rather than having him quote Shakespeare I think one of his own quotations would have better summed up the proceedings: "Everyone around me seems mad, stark raving mad. The only course for a sane man is to keep out of the way and stay quiet." (NB Highly unreliable - can't find it on the Internet and don't remember my original source).
Glastonbury Tor turning into the Dark Satanic Mills was evocative if mawkish. I did like the treatment of the other kingdoms of the Isles too. They each got their own spiel before the event started (ending with a rugby victory? Really? Had none of the organisers heard of the Highland Games? Hurling? Gaelic football?). However, they were then forgotten in the highly suspect whizz through British history which seemed to bounce from 1918-1945-1964 with nary a hitch and no thought for inconvenient details like decolonisation or the secession of the Republic of Ireland.
Still in the end the Chinese Olympics had set a high standard for mass organisation. There was no way we could compete with that so nice to see something that was silly, eccentric and had Mr Bean in it. It certainly summed up Britain better than a lot of ceremonies might have.
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