27/07/2012 Newsnight

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to London. To the games of the 30th

Olympiad. Sheep and Shakespeare, Brunel and

Mr Bean, with humour, cliche, spectacle and surprise, the heart

in London has begun. (Bond music)

The Queen's greeted with massive applause as she, apparently,

parachutes into the stadium. And the Britain of self-

depprication, and even the cock-up, is paraded to the world. What did

it really tell us, and what did it say to the world. We have athletes

and historians to try to make sense of it here. Good evening, good of

you to join us, we are more than half way through the opening

ceremony, we are offering here the first comment and conversation of

all we have seen tonight .7 sheep was a brave way to kick off -- 77

sheep was a brave way to kick off, on landscape that looked, momently

by Hobbits, we have Shakespeare talked of by an engineer, sex

pistols, Mary Poppins, and a sense of anarchy always present and a

sense of humour, did it work, and what does it tell us about our

Britain, and the Britain we want to project to the world. We will ask

our panel what they make of it. Steve Smith first on what we think

so far. The Oscar-winning director kicked

off his Isles of Wonder spectacular with a film, a bird's eye view of

the green and pleasant land of Jerusalem, that Danny Boyle is

offering a worldwide audience, which could number a billion.

Who better to ring in the ceremony, in the stadium, than Britain's

newly-Laureled Tour de France champion, Bradley Wiggins.

Oh no, it's Wallander, not Scandinavian gloom, but this was

Kenneth Branagh in a different eulogise, dressed as the great

engineer, Brunel, and in Bradley Wiggins side burns. In dreaming the

clouds mere thought would open and show riches. The 19th century

industrialist then read from Shakespeare's Tempest.

I cried to dream again. In a, frankly, pagan moment, drummers

summoned the shades of the country's manufacturing poor from

their slumbers beneath the green hill. A potentially ticklish piece

of theatric, no-one wants to die on a grassy knoll.

But by now the Boyle production was warming to its theme. The white

heat of the Industrial Revolution. Glowing hoops of steel slowly

resolved themselves into a family geo.

Mr Bond would like to see you. Not so long ago, and not so far

from where I'm sitting, taking liberties with the Queen on film

was a bad career move. Not so tonight for 007, Daniel Craig.

evening Mr Bond. Eat that, Helen Mirren.

Good evening, your majesty. Future historians may well decide

that this was an extraordinary shaft of daylight, let in on the

magic of royalty. Of course, this is not only Olympics year, but the

Jubilee. And the 50th anniversary of James Bond at the cinema. In a

pinch-me moment, the Queen appeared to parachute into Stratford. But

surely she qualifies for the zil lane!

Cut to the Queen wearing the same outfit, good continuity. There's

If you had been watching the ceremony, and let's face, you were,

and probably still r then you would have seen Boyle all-singing, all-

dancing homage to the NHS a kind of bed pans and broomsticks.

It seemed to owe less to the current state of the health service,

and more to a sentimental view of this great institution. We think

this is what Carry On Nurse looked like, to the characters in Boyle's

And, as promised, or threatened, the coming slew of gold, silver and

bronze, was inaugurated by old Golden Balls himself, the whole

thing was like a box of chocolates, as someone once said, something for

everyone, but one or two of the treats, ever so slightly tripped

via enamel. Our guests are here to give their

first reaction in just a moment. First O'Connell is a seasoned

veteran of international spectacle, although more of the Eurovision

variety. He joins us high above in the Olympic Park. Give us a flavour

of what it felt like there, Paddy? You heard that 1948 of the

"Austerity Games". I think this is about dexterity. I have been very

moved. I know we're meant to be cynical, but as I walked here, I

headed to the pub, because obviously there is a stadium, there

is a second stadium it's called people outside without tickets. And

I looked there, as it began. And I saw the countdown, and I saw the

people watching, trying to work out what we think of ourselves, so when

the Queen was then parachuted in, apparently, when Mr Bean played

Chariots of Fire, when the 7/7 victims were themselves some how

remembered, this crowd was very caught up at all times, trying to

work out. The world's watching us, but perhaps, what do we think of

ourselves. Extraordinary scenes outside the stadium as well as

within. You mentioned the cynicism, or the scepticism, did you see

people struggling with whether they were going to mock it, make fun of

it or embrace it. Was that something you felt in the pub?

that is what people said to me. There was a Frenchman behind me, he

was having a joke with me, he later accused me of spilling my beer on

him, but there was a sense of, well show us what you've got, is it just

cynicism, or is it a thousand years, is it the inventor of the internet.

Is it people, is it places, can you possibly punk your leader? You took

the Queen and you apparently showed her in a helicopter. We know the

Chinese couldn't do that, with all the Communist Party, but what we

don't know, I suppose, is whether we did have a single message, and

you have got lots of very bright people. But let me tell you, as I

walked to your Newsnight studio, there are people in the road

sharing their laptops with each other. They are gathering around,

they want to see something, for goodness sake, at least it's not

Liberty, that's what I heard! -- LIBOR, that's what I heard.

Let's get on to the question of message, what did we take away, how

did we do and what did it all mean? In the Newsnight living room, we

were told the best place to see it was from the living room. We have

the former Paralympic swimmer, and the singer song righter Mika, the

columnist, Grace Dent, and critic Laurie Penny, who thinks the whole

thing is a waste of money and Dan Jones. We will come to that in a

second, let's quick off with the message, you said you were watching

it and enjoying t you found it odd? I found it a little bewildering,

historically was a mish-mash and jumble, everything mashed up

together. We had the Industrial Revolution, Shakespeare, the

Internet, everything thrown in. It struck me as a foreigner's eye view

of British history. To watch it as a native of these Isles felt very

confusing. Did you understand how the history was chosen. We started

in the green and pleasant land, presumably so we could then play

Jerusalem, and then there was this very selective look at history of

100 years? It was a choreographed history, certainly, It felt like

the greatest hits, Now That's What I Call History 57. I don't think

there was a narrative, I don't think there was a point in looking

for a serious narrative, it wasn't an exposition rather than that.

What about you? I loved it, I saw a narrative, I'm sorry to be dragged

away from it. I felt emotional from the moment I got here when the Red

Arrows went over the studio. I felt emotional seeing the Suffragettes

coming on and the time given to the NHS, the whole thing with the Queen

and James Bond, I've really enjoyed this. To say there wasn't a

narrative. It has been a slight mess at times, with people running

on and off, that is what we do in Britain. Sometimes it is a bit of a

chaos, but there is a message there. The message at the moment, for me,

is just how kind the British people are. They have all went out and

done that for free. So many people have given their time. What do you

make of the spectacle, the choreography of what we saw. There

was that sort of dependance on video and live, was the balance

found? Actually, I personally loved it, I thought it was funny, full of

heart, I thought it was full of all the right things that it needed to

be. Especially after Beijing. I think that the videolinks were

probably the star, but they were so good because they were made

relevant, by all the theatre that happened inbetween. What's so good

about it was that actually it was anarchy but it was functional

anarchy. This mass, bizarrely, you had thousands of people on this set,

but it felt more human than any other Olympics ceremony I have ever

seen. There was everyone, there was no stars showing up for the fact of

showing up, everyone that came had a part. James Bond, Mr Bean, the

Queen, everyone had a reason for being there. It took its time. I

think it was really charming. I think theatrically it was really

impressive, it was disarming. I wasn't prepared to enjoy it and

find it funny. I did. The Chinese did a spectacle that was clinical

and beautiful, and choreographed to the most minute precision, and you

know, they did all this beautiful stuff with orchestrated concrete

blocks, and we did it with NHS beds and a lot more heart. It was

completely a success. There were a lot of political messages coming

through, we saw the NHS, the Suffragettes, the immigration, what

was your take on that? I thought this was brilliant, actually, I

have to say, I was deeply surprised by it. I thought it was, what

surprised me was how dark it was, essentially. You did have at one

stage Voldemort coming on and attacking the NHS, it is not that

subtle. There was all the messaging at the start, the green and

pleasant land, the singing of Jerusalem, then the Industrial

Revolution, the dark and fiery, and the choosing of the Shakespeare

quote, that was very interesting. The bit that was read out was a

quote from Caliban, who is obviously the slave character in

The Tempest, it was one of the most perfect bits you could have chosen

to read out at the beginning of the Olympic ceremonies, "be not afraid

this Isle is full of noises, so when I woke I cried to dream

again.", I thought it was very deep, intellectual and dark. It was

brilliant fun. I was disappointed when the athletes came on. I was

like, oh no, it's sports. We are playing the middle bit, where it

was a sort of Mary Poppins, children jumping on the hospital

beds, and quite interesting, in a number of parts, I know, in London

what I see on the social websites, people started chanting NHS, it

became a political moment. Would you have seen this as a left-wing

message coming through? I think it has been done very cleverly. I

think the spectacle has been staged so that anybody can see what they

want to see in it. I think a lot of people were very heartened by the

inclusion of the NHS. This is something a lot of people are proud

of in Britain. When we have been having a lot of messaging about

British pride wha, Britain is about, suddenly we have -- and what

Britain is about, suddenly we have something nearly everyone is proud

of in Britain, the National Health Service, which is under attack at

the moment. Under financial pressure. It is kind of like it is

the biggest sociocultural thing to shout about. This health service is

a perfect global platform to shout about it in the way they did. I

liked that a lot. I will come to you Rachel, Laurie was saying she

was disappointed when the sporting bit came on. Oh yeah, this is about

sport, I forgot. There was even a sense when we saw the chariots of

fire, and Mr Bean pushing through, that it is a country that doesn't

want to take itself too seriously. Is that a message as a sportwoman

you want to take away right now? think it is good that they are

showing all different sides, but obvious low, as a sports person --

obviously as a sports person we see the Olympics and the Paralympic as

the pinnacle of a person's career. You have worked very hard to get

there. To an athlete the opening ceremony isn't about comedy, and

fun, it is about realising that you have become an Olympic athlete, I

have become a Paralympic athlete, the moment where they walk out is

where it really hits you, wow this is what I have trained all that

time for. Would you liked to have seen a little bit more sparkle,

maybe even finesse, rather than that sort of fallback, if you like,

on to a very British trait of humour? I think it had the mix of

both. You had all the music, and you had a lot of sparkle within

that. That kind of brought out a lot of the atmosphere for the crowd

to really get behind, and hopefully start now supporting the athletes

and really get them going. Then the comedy was for the other people,

sat at home, who maybe aren't into the sport. This opening ceremony

allowed everybody to get involved, because it had all the different

contrast. When it played for laughs, Grace, it was also playing to our

exports. Mr Bean is probably the easiest character to export around

the world, because you don't need language, right? There is no

denying how important Mr Bean is around the world. He there is no

denying that, we can't get away from that! I think it is just, but

it is true, he is everywhere you go, people know him. To me, I saw Rowan

Atkinson, I thought amazing, he is a bit of a national treasure sure.

When he started to do the Mr Bean bit it lost it for me, I was never

a fan. The crowd loved it. It lost it for you because? Personally

because, a little bit corny. I have never been the person to sit down

on a bank holiday and watch a Mr Bean special, there is a lot of

people in the audience that watch Mr Bean. The point is, this is

about showing the underdog as well, we are very good at helping losers,

and I'm wondering whether you know that is necessarily the message we

want to project now? I think there were lots of profoundly moving and

very funny moments. I thought it was an opening ceremony that hung

together. I didn't think there was a lot of sport in it, I was

surprised by that. Quite often with the opening ceremony of a sporting

event you would have a sporting motiff, but at the same time it is

bigger than sport, it is the greatest party on earth. I just

felt things were sort of jumbled, there were great bits you could

"cherrypick", I loved the bit about the NHS, that was Danny Boyle

sticking his neck out. That was important and historically the most

impressive moment in T we had a quick run through of green and

pleasant lands, the industrial heritage of East London. But that

NHS bit would have really resonated with a lot of people. Sticking his

neck out because he would have upset people with that? A lot of

people. He is also pointing out what an important part of British

history that has become. I don't think a lot of people would

necessarily always look to 1948 and think about it as history. The last

games were 1948, the establishment of the NHS. Was it, would you take

away a left-wing reading of British history. It wasn't a celebration of

Thatcherism, it wasn't, it was quite selective in the, if you like,

its protest movements more than anything else? Absolutely, even the

Queen, her part of it was to play the site kick of Bond. I think

plaudits to Elizabeth II, what a sense of humour, and game approach

to T to take part in that. I think that was really the wow moment in

the way as well. It is sort of a left-wing approach, but I didn't

think it was overbearingly so, so much that it would have turned

people off. It was an inclusive ceremony. Inclusive was something,

interestingly enough, was what Danny Boyle spoke about earlier. He

said he wanted an intimacy about it, and not just spectacle, what about

the music, Mika, there were a few areas where you thought you were

going to get a tune, and you got, dare I say it, a medley. Did that

jar for you, or did it work? actually think the music was quite

good, given the circumstance, often with Olympic ceremonies the music

can come across as extremely corny. The world were a lot of songs in

that mash-up, it was constantly changing. I think dizzy rascal

probably had the most sustained presence during that thing. It was

subsequently a bit of a pay-off, he had a presence and made a point.

Was it too much? It was a little bit jukeboxy before the Dizzie

Rascal moment. The weakest part for me was the bit about the phone and

the woman. I thought that was corny, in many ways. I just thought it

wasn't very necessary. It was essentially a huge excuse for them

to bringen to Tim Berners-Lee. focus shifts and then you have

Emilie Sande singing with this extremely beautiful choreography in

the most simple form, that was eat motional climax of the piece. The

interesting about it is Danny Boyle approached this -- emotional climax

of the piece. The interesting thing is Danny Boyle approached it from a

cinematic man, he made statements that intertwined with each oh the

most important thing about what he does in his films and what he

achieved in the ceremony is it was disarming. We looked at the social

network stuff there, and the phone and the tweets and all the rest of

it. Do you understand, would you call that quintessentially British?

Yeah, I would. I would, sure, OK, fine, there were scenes in it, you

had Wayn, he's World cut into it. It is clash, it is patchwork, it is

these are the London Games they represent the UK, he did this

strange tripy, slightly stonery opening ceremony, by other people's

standards and other countries would be considered way too uncommercial,

but fundamentally that is British. You had a lesbian kiss in there

from Brookside, little details of that, would that have happened

anywhere else in the world, I don't think so, personally.

Grace? I was going to say I thought the phone part was possibly the

weakest bit. I loved the idea of celebrating youth and celebrating

everything we have achieved in music, and celebrating the way we

party, the way we have fun, I thought that was amazing. I don't

understand, the mobile phones with everybody communicating with each

other, that was let down slightly, because it looked like a mobile

phone advert, but a very bad one. From 15 years ago. Does Twitter

really look like that. Nowadays mobile phone companies spend so

much on adverts, suddenly it was a bit. It came together suddenly we

were all sitting watching and then Dizzie Rascal appeared, and it was

amazing. Hold those thought, we are going to cross back to Paddy again,

because Paddy the ceremony is in full swing, I know Grace will

particularly want to know what she's been missing. Take us through

a few of the highlights of what we might not have seen, and any news

on the torch? Grace and Mik a -- Mikah will be horrified to know one

of the African teams came on to strains of the Pet Shop Boys. It

took everybody by surprise. There are reports from BBC London

colleagues that there have been some arrests of cyclists making a

peddling process, we don't know, many more details about that. One

Conservative MP on Twitter saying it was a bunch of old lefties, and

not enough about Shakespeare. I think it does emphasise that you do

need to have an argument about what kind of Britain we are, and all the

chattering classes can get very excited. But the whole point of

this ceremony is to hand over after seven years from an old bus in

Beijing to the faster, higher, stronger athletes, who have given

their life for this moment. In the end, the rest of us just shut up

and watch people performing at the peak of their life's performance.

Paddy, thank you very much. Peak of your life's performance,

you know what that feels like, Rachel. You have been part of these.

It was very noticable how many young kids were in the whole

ceremony, the whole event, really, because that's the key part of the

legacy, isn't it? That is what we said, when we won the bid to host

the games, it was lot about legacy. To say that everyone who has taken

part in this event tonight are volunteering, to get young children

to volunteer, that is such a big thing. We have that throughout the

whole games, with the games makers as well. They are really doing what

they said and creating legacy. this is about the next Britain,

what is that Britain, what does this ceremony tell us about our

country, do you think? I think it told us we are trying to work out

what we are. It is a process at the moment. You only have to look

around and raet read a newspaper, there is great sense -- and read a

newspaper, there is a great sense of uncertainty about the British

character and what it is and will be. That was reflected in the

ceremony, there was a confusion and jumble and no path. You were

agreeing with that, you were brought up in Lebanon? I represent

that. I was brought up in Lebanon, France and most of my time in

London. I am this patchwork, I speak two language, but then again

so do millions of people here, and identify themselves as a Londoner.

I identify myself as not only a Londoner, but part of the UK. I

agree with you. I think it is definitely trying to figure out

what it is. That was represented. You said before that you were

surprised and impressed with it. You came to the Olympics with a lot

of angst and anger about the money being spent and what we were doing,

in austerity times, right? That is not necessarily the case. I think

definitely that was worth the money. That was a fantastic show. I think

it illuminate a great deal about what Britain is saying about itself

at the moment, which is, we are not sure. This is a time of angst and

uncertainty, and there are lot of different stories to be told, it is

about people. That is what I found really, really interesting about

this show, is, despite the huge numbers of people involved, you

know, the camera came in tight on individual people, individual

stories, some of them quite corny, but loot of people's individual

stories in real life tend to be corny. Would you say it is about a

proud Britain? I thought there was a great deal of humility about T I

was impressed is there wasn't a celebrity overload. Watching the

torch go around the country, I saw Jennifer Saunders running with it

the other day, I thought, fine, isn't it this about ordinary people

having a chance to carry the torch. In the ceremony today there were

very few celebrities. They said all the nurses were actually nurses?

thought there was a sense of had you millity to the whole --

humility thing. It was taking the piss out of itself, it had the

bravery and humility to take the pis out of itself -- piss out of

itself, even the Queen. foreigners and those watching go

away and say that is a Britain struggling with its self-confidence,

is that a bad thing? Will they, I don't think they will. We weren't

struggling there. Going forward, though, one thing I have noticed

over the last few weeks, months, it is a Britain dragging back the idea

of the flag, dragging back the idea of being proud of being British,

and for our own purposes, or nice and good people's purposes. We can

be proud to be British. And all of us, the whole multicultural society

here, doing it right now, here. is interesting what the flag has

now done, and the sense of Britishness has really become, I

don't know if you feel that? I was on the train down to London today,

and there was so many people coming in, flag leggings, and flags all

over them. And with the Jubilee as well this year, you just think,

people are going absolutely crazy for this new fashion of wearing the

flag and the GB. I'm sorry we have run out of time. You lot haven't,

come and join us in the Green Room, we will finish off the winddown,

that is all from Newsnight tonight. We leave you with a glimpse of how

far we have come since we last hosted a top-teir international

sporting tournament who can forget George, the wobbly dragon, a broken