One Night in 2012

Four years after the London Olympics opening ceremony. Here is the enthralling behind the scenes story of how it was all put together with many of the architects sitting together an discussing how the show was put together.

With a cut price budget which was still went up to twice the original estimate, the organizers of the London Olympics opening ceremony had to play it smart and put on a spectacle for the viewing billions around the world without the bombast of previous host nations who seemed to have an unlimited budget.

Alan Yentob tells the story of London's Olympic Opening Ceremony through the eyes of its artistic director, Oscar winner Danny Boyle and his creative team who put thousands of volunteers through their paces for weeks leading to the big night. Rehearsals took place in secret in a wet Dagenham car park. Not forgetting the secret volunteer, Queen Elizabeth II who filmed a segment with James Bond.

Boyle and his team mined the history of Britain, just not the Industrial Revolution, the National Health Service but its arts, music and inventions. It was a celebration of a diverse nation in the background of cynics who thought Britain could not pull of the Olympics or it was just all a waste of money.

We see how cleverly some parts were constructed such as the rising chimneys which were not holes in the ground but inflated and held with wires. Boyle wanted the Olympics ceremony to be a visceral experience not a pageantry. This meant even the television cameras had to be embedded with the volunteers to put on the greatest show on earth that particular night in 2012.