Olympic Ceremony - Impressions Outside UK

[wolfman]

I caught a little bit of, watching in a bar with the sound off. Since i had no idea what the hell was going on, it reminded me a lot of playing Settlers, with a bunch of dirty surfs running around running around doing indeterminate industrious things in an artificial looking world.

[Baron Greenback]

Originally Posted by DMark

Speaking of film - that house with the snippets of film chosen by Danny Boyle? Really? Those were the best snippets of film he could find for a world-wide audience?

Well, the films were all iconic British ones, but I did think a lot of them are probably not all that well known outside the country, and even more so for the television programmes. Perhaps he could have made it more about British actors?

[Baron Greenback]

Originally Posted by Confused dart cum

To be fair the NHS is sort of a myth as before it came into being almost everyone could get free healthcare anyway.

Sort of, but hospitals required payment up front, and then if the patient was poor enough, it was reimbursed later. That must have put plenty people in the dilemma: get treatment or feed the kids this week.

[foolsguinea]

Originally Posted by Merneith

As an American, this is my takeaway:

"Britain! We scare the shit out your children, our Queen is a paratrooper, we invented music and sex and the internet and bicycles (China) and oh yeah - the Olympics, which, let's be honest, are really kind of silly. And we did it as amateurs, because the unfettered drive of love is the greatest force on Earth, and we did it all while wearing funny hats."

As an American, I'm impressed!

I like this interpretation.

I only watched a little of it, but reading the thread--

Why wouldn't they laud the NHS? It's a national treasure, and it's awesome. Many other countries have a health care market, or health insurance. Britain has a health service, and it treats everyone, no matter how much money or how many hearts they have. Put that front and center and let the foreign politicians (not to mention the pro-austerity wing of the coalition government ) cringe.

[Lantern]

To be honest I don't think there is anything automatically praiseworthy about "amateurishness"; it often implies a lack of effort and an acceptance of mediocrity. And frankly a lot of the ceremony illustrated exactly that.

The parts that worked that most people liked weren't amateurish: the forging of the rings, the cauldron, the James Bond jump. Most of the rest of the ceremony unfortunately was indeed amateurish and pedestrian. The truly dire Frankie and June segment was a like a bad high school production on a larger scale.

On a smaller note I wish they had worked in Alan Turing somehow given that it was his centenary. I liked the idea of celebrating Tim Berners Lee even though they botched the execution and Turing would have been a natural complement to that.

[Muffin]

Originally Posted by Merneith

. . . our Queen is a paratrooper . . .

When 16, the Queen registered for service, and when 18 she enlisted as a 2nd Subaltern (#23087) in the Auxiliary Territorial Service, where she worked regular duty as a military truck driver. By the end of WWII, she had worked up to Jr. Commander. These days she's Commander-in-Chief of quite a few countries' militaries.

Her sweetheart Philip finished top of his class from RNC Dartmouth and served in active duty throughout WWII. Their eldest son Charles (first in line of succession) qualified as a jet pilot in the RAF, and qualified as a helicopter pilot in the RN. Their second eldest son Andrew (fourth in line of sucession) was a career naval officer who flew Lynx helicopters in the Falkland's War. Their eldest grandchild William (second in line of succession) graduated from Sandhurst, earned commissions in the Army, the RN and the RAF, and is a career helicopter pilot who flew on an RN drug raid in the Caribbean before transferring to the RAF to fly Sea King SAR helicopters back home. Their second eldest grandchild Harry (third in line of succession) graduated from Sandhurst and was commissioned in the Army, trained as a tanker, and served on active duty in the Afghan War as a Forward Air Controller. These days he flies Apache helicopters in the Army Air Corps.

This family is the real deal. My guess is that somewhere in the back of the Queen's mind is a little disappointment that she could not make the jump with her sons or grandsons piloting the helicopter.

[oxpictus]

Sorry, all you folks across the pond, the opening ceremony had to be the most dreadful hodge-podge I have ever seen. And what was with the Queen and her scowling face when all those sweet-faced children were singing to her? She's scary!

Kids on hospital beds, huge monsters and that enormous, bizarre baby with the churning innards, well- that's what nightmares are made of! And all the while, the announcer telling us several times that those were REAL doctors pushing the hospital beds!! Even more horrifying!

Hang your heads in embarrassment.

[Sudden Kestrel]

I'm amazed by the level of love/hate people had for this event. I didn't particularly care for much of it, but it wasn't anywhere close to the worst thing I've ever seen. It was just a little odd, and that's something I'd expect and hope for from the British. I'd lost interest by the time the parade of nations began, so unfortunately I didn't get to see the lighting of the cauldron (and fortunately I didn't have to see Paul McCartney's performance).

I think the pacing of the ceremony was off; we had that unspeakably beautiful percussion sequence and the forging of the rings and then the whole thing became rather disjointed. I think it would have worked much better if the timeline idea had carried all the way through.

Completely agree about the annoying continuous inane commentary. We couldn't watch it without sound because we wanted to hear the music. Did any other US viewers get "treated" to a random snippet of Ryan Seacrest interviewing Michael Phelps after one of the commercial breaks?

[Hippy Hollow]

Yeah, I don't get the vitriol about the show. I thought it was adventurous, whimsical, and very British. Isn't that what the ceremony is supposed to be?

Sheesh. I mean, what were people expecting?

[Baron Greenback]

Originally Posted by oxpictus

And all the while, the announcer telling us several times that those were REAL doctors pushing the hospital beds!! Even more horrifying!

The nurses were real nurses too. Why on earth is this horrifying?

[oxpictus]

Originally Posted by Hippy Hollow

Yeah, I don't get the vitriol about the show. I thought it was adventurous, whimsical, and very British. Isn't that what the ceremony is supposed to be?

Sheesh. I mean, what were people expecting?

I was expecting something classy and regal, with a lot of pomp and ceremony. Maybe a tribute to the progress of athletic achievement.

[PrettyVacant]

Originally Posted by oxpictus

Hang your heads in embarrassment.

LOL. Having spoken to the world and his wife today at the 250k cycle race, I think you'll find the words most applied are 'pride' and 'heartfelt'. Well, ‘bonkers’ also.

It's ok if people don't really get some or all of what Boyle portrayed, and you expect most foreigners to not understand the subtleties of Boyle's intentions or modern Britain, but if the majority enjoyed it - and it took those staid, by-the-numbers, God awful cock waving ceremonies in another direction - then that's cool by me.

Believe me, the maj of locals are more than content.

[PrettyVacant]

Originally Posted by oxpictus

I was expecting something classy and regal, with a lot of pomp and ceremony. Maybe a tribute to the progress of athletic achievement.

You fucking clown!

[An Gadaí]

I thought it was a load of multicultural crap.*



*Channeling Aidan Burley, an arsehole Tory MP on twitter last night.

[Baron Greenback]

Originally Posted by oxpictus

I was expecting something classy and regal, with a lot of pomp and ceremony.

Britain's world-class at that sort of stuff, but that's better suited to Royal Weddings and the like. There's more than one aspect to our national psyche, you know.

[PrettyVacant]

Fwiw, there's already been a Royal Wedding and a Golden Jubilee this year. It's enough already.

[Merneith]

Originally Posted by Lantern

To be honest I don't think there is anything automatically praiseworthy about "amateurishness"; it often implies a lack of effort and an acceptance of mediocrity.

Not with people who wish the Olympics was still an all-amateur event.

[Damfino]

Originally Posted by Muffin

When 16, the Queen registered for service, and when 18 she enlisted as a 2nd Subaltern (#23087) in the Auxiliary Territorial Service, where she worked regular duty as a military truck driver. By the end of WWII, she had worked up to Jr. Commander. These days she's Commander-in-Chief of quite a few countries' militaries.

Her sweetheart Philip finished top of his class from RNC Dartmouth and served in active duty throughout WWII. Their eldest son Charles (first in line of succession) qualified as a jet pilot in the RAF, and qualified as a helicopter pilot in the RN. Their second eldest son Andrew (fourth in line of sucession) was a career naval officer who flew Lynx helicopters in the Falkland's War. Their eldest grandchild William (second in line of succession) graduated from Sandhurst, earned commissions in the Army, the RN and the RAF, and is a career helicopter pilot who flew on an RN drug raid in the Caribbean before transferring to the RAF to fly Sea King SAR helicopters back home. Their second eldest grandchild Harry (third in line of succession) graduated from Sandhurst and was commissioned in the Army, trained as a tanker, and served on active duty in the Afghan War as a Forward Air Controller. These days he flies Apache helicopters in the Army Air Corps.

This family is the real deal. My guess is that somewhere in the back of the Queen's mind is a little disappointment that she could not make the jump with her sons or grandsons piloting the helicopter.

Prince Charles also served in the Royal Navy as commander of the minehunter HMS Bronington after several other appointments at sea.

[Lamar Mundane]

I thought that bringing humor to the ceremonies was a welcome addition, considering how bloviated recent ceremonies have become. That said, it was a bit too navel-gazing for me. Two hours of it was about 1 1/2 too much. And I hate to say it, but it's time for Paul McCartney to begin a graceful move into retirement.

That said, the ceremonies were long forgotten once the Canadian team marched in to the arena. They had some sweet khakis that they got from a clearance sale at TJ Maxx, along with a track jacket. Someone had the great idea to rip the decals off their travel bags (read: CANADA) and had the athletes pin them to their chest with safety pins.

Canada was nearly beat out for shittiest uniforms by the African nation that had their athletes wearing electric blue galoshes, but they were off the screen so quickly that there wasn't enough time to fully comprehend what we were seeing.

[Disheavel]

Originally Posted by Lantern

they botched the execution and Turing would have been a natural complement to that.

I see what you did there. But I do agree that Turing would have been a more well-reknowned Brit that they could have incorporated into the show.

[Dublin11]

Originally Posted by oxpictus

Sorry, all you folks across the pond, the opening ceremony had to be the most dreadful hodge-podge I have ever seen. And what was with the Queen and her scowling face when all those sweet-faced children were singing to her? She's scary!

Kids on hospital beds, huge monsters and that enormous, bizarre baby with the churning innards, well- that's what nightmares are made of! And all the while, the announcer telling us several times that those were REAL doctors pushing the hospital beds!! Even more horrifying!

Hang your heads in embarrassment.

Your announcer is down to your own country's broadcasters, though, surely?
No doubt all the broadcasters around the world got the press pack, explaining what the hell was going on. How they conveyed that to their viewing public was up to their own style/proscribed practices.

I thought bits of it would be lost on an international audience. Bits of it were completely inspired lunacy - which there is far too little of, these days - bits of it were a bit boring and other bits of it were absolutely jaw-droppingly brilliant.

It was an unforgettable spectacle, the like of which we don't often see.

[panache45]

Loved the Queen as paratrooper . . . and I think she had that scowl on her face because she didn't get this kind of production for her anniversary.

I enjoyed it for the most part, and am glad they didn't try to out-spectacle Beijing. But the NHS and "Frankie and June" segments were kinda WTF. And McCartney should have transposed a few notes lower; he should have known he couldn't hit the high notes.

And that huge baby . . . the less said, the better.

[Bozuit]

Originally Posted by Merneith

"Britain! We scare the shit out your children, our Queen is a paratrooper, we invented music and sex and the internet and bicycles (China) and oh yeah - the Olympics, which, let's be honest, are really kind of silly. And we did it as amateurs, because the unfettered drive of love is the greatest force on Earth, and we did it all while wearing funny hats."

Hell yeah!

Originally Posted by Peremensoe

I actually would have liked to see more of Britain's history, even preceding the generic pastoral scene.

The problem is a lot of our history would be either not in the spirit of the Olympics or difficult to get across. In fact most of most countries' histories would certainly not in the spirit of the Olympics, because it's mostly wars. In the end the things we're proud of include (but are not limited to) things such as Agincourt, Trafalgar, Waterloo and the Second World War. Personally I know Britain has been responsible for huge scientific achievements. A lot of inventions and countless scientists who made massive contributions to science. Newton and Darwin are just the tip of the iceberg. Maybe that could have been featured more, but I'm not sure how it would make much of a show. Actually people in costumes that somehow "evolve" would look pretty awesome, but we might be accused of claiming to have "invented" evolution. Plus half the American team would have stormed off in a huff.

Originally Posted by oxpictus

Sorry, all you folks across the pond, the opening ceremony had to be the most dreadful hodge-podge I have ever seen. And what was with the Queen and her scowling face when all those sweet-faced children were singing to her? She's scary!

Kids on hospital beds, huge monsters and that enormous, bizarre baby with the churning innards, well- that's what nightmares are made of! And all the while, the announcer telling us several times that those were REAL doctors pushing the hospital beds!! Even more horrifying!

That's Danny Boyle for you.

Originally Posted by Merneith

Not with people who wish the Olympics was still an all-amateur event.

I think this is just right. The Olympics, more than anything, is supposed to be about being friends. It's like families, you argue all year but (in theory) you all get together at Christmas (or something) and have a good time. To me, the opening ceremony is like something you show your friends. It doesn't have to be 100% perfect. Of course you try, but you're not supposed to be showing off - you're supposed to be entertaining. And if you screw up here and there, you all laugh about it together. It's not supposed to be a perfect show for strangers who bought tickets to see it (yes some people bought tickets to be there live but 1 billion people didn't). For that reason I think that, while the Beijing ceremony was spectacular, London's effort was far more in the spirit of the occasion.

[Simple Linctus]

Originally Posted by oxpictus

I was expecting something classy and regal, with a lot of pomp and ceremony. Maybe a tribute to the progress of athletic achievement.

That is like me expecting a cowboy and priest shooting evolutionary biologists and brown people in turbans at the opening ceremony of the next US games. Countries aren't there to be your personal ignorant steryotypes.

[Ximenean]

Originally Posted by Lamar Mundane

Canada was nearly beat out for shittiest uniforms by the African nation that had their athletes wearing electric blue galoshes, but they were off the screen so quickly that there wasn't enough time to fully comprehend what we were seeing.

You may be mixing up African nations with the Czech Republic, who did indeed turn out in blue rubber boots and umbrellas, which we took as a tongue-in-cheek reference to our climate. Or maybe they were just being sensible, but cleverly passed it off as a joke? Either way, hats off to them.

[alphaboi867]

Originally Posted by Bozuit

...The problem is a lot of our history would be either not in the spirit of the Olympics or difficult to get across. In fact most of most countries' histories would certainly not in the spirit of the Olympics, because it's mostly wars...

I wonder how the Germans would handle a large, flashy, opening ceremony. Berlin & Hamburg are both interested in bidding for the 2024 games.

[Yookeroo]

Originally Posted by oxpictus

I was expecting something classy and regal, with a lot of pomp and ceremony. Maybe a tribute to the progress of athletic achievement.

Yawn. What we got was insane and much better.

[GuanoLad]

Originally Posted by Yookeroo

What we got was insane and much better.

That sums it up for me!

[Gabing Gaboing]

For the most part, I liked it.

From what I can gather, the whole thing was to celebrate Britain's offerings to the world. That, and a brief history up until the industrial revolution, when apparently everyone went insane and started wearing St Pepper's outfits. I thought the whole "carnival" part was a bit...chaotic.

I LOVED the focus of children's literature. I wanted someone on a broomstick to fly in, but the ginormous Valdemort was cool too. The other villains I needed help identifying, and I still dunno who or what those little monkey critters were supposed to be. And yeah, the baby was creepy. I was impressed that Britain has such an awesome health care system that they included it like that. I was ashamed of ours, as I can only imagine a USA dramatization would include a child being unhooked from a machine by an insurance representative who is robbing the grieving parents at the same time. But I digress.

The whole music part lost me. I like how they celebrated 3 decades of English music, but the teenage love story was silly. I just wanted to watch them dance! And where O where was the Duran Duran?

Who was it that sang Come Together to the bicyling birds? That was beautiful. I was confused though why this young guy was singing a Beatles song when Paul was there himself. But then Paul sang.

Anyway, well done IMO. You lot across the Pond should be proud.

[Fiendish Astronaut]

More science history would have been nice, but the forging of the rings was utterly brilliant. It built to a crescendo so well and was visually stunning. And the cauldron lighting was also probably the most clever, imaginative and picturesque lighting of the Olympic flame ever. The music for both those segments was incredible - well done to the band Underworld for composing those bits.

And if you thought the beginning part was a nod to Lord Of The Rings the Olympic cauldron looks exactly like Sauron's eye from the camera sat underneath it looking up.

[Declan]

Originally Posted by Muffin

CTV is covering the Olympics, but their web layout is challenging.

Here is the World Feed 1 of the Opening Ceremonies on the CTV website. There is about nine minutes of pre-roll. http://www.ctvolympics.ca/videos/cha...-ceremony.html

The "Full Event Replay" section has another version of the Opening Ceremonies that included Brian William's ongoing comments.

It requires Silverlight. You might wish to right click, and then set the playback to use hardware acceleration.

Thanks Muffin, that worked a charm.

Declan

[MsWhatsit]

Originally Posted by Gabing Gaboing

Who was it that sang Come Together to the bicyling birds? That was beautiful. I was confused though why this young guy was singing a Beatles song when Paul was there himself. But then Paul sang.

That was the Arctic Monkeys, an indie band from Sheffield. It made more sense without the cuts that NBC made. They were announced to the crowd, so everyone knew who they were, and they then did one of their own songs before launching into the "Come Together" cover.

The way NBC edited it, it made it look like they were some kind of weird Beatles cover band.

[foolsguinea]

Originally Posted by PrettyVacant

Fwiw, there's already been a Royal Wedding and a Golden Jubilee this year. It's enough already.

Indeed.

[Ximenean]

That was the Arctic Monkeys, an indie band from Sheffield. It made more sense without the cuts that NBC made. They were announced to the crowd, so everyone knew who they were, and they then did one of their own songs before launching into the "Come Together" cover.

The way NBC edited it, it made it look like they were some kind of weird Beatles cover band.

On the other hand, it seemed a bit out of place to have the Arctic Monkeys suddenly come on and play one of their songs, which I guess wasn't a hit in the US. So I can't really blame NBC for editing that bit out.

[MsWhatsit]

Originally Posted by Ximenean

On the other hand, it seemed a bit out of place to have the Arctic Monkeys suddenly come on and play one of their songs, which I guess wasn't a hit in the US. So I can't really blame NBC for editing that bit out.

I can, considering that they instead decided to devote plenty of time to a boring and pointless interview between Ryan Seacrest and Michael Phelps.

That song wasn't really a big top 40 hit here, by the way, but it got heavy play on the alternative stations. I was pretty familiar with it already.

[Muffin]

Peta is up in arms over twelve horses, three cows, two goats, ten chickens, ten ducks, nine geese, seventy sheep and three sheep dogs being part of the Opening Ceremonies, but they have conveniently ignored the violence done to Mole and Ratty in front of the horror stricken Mr. Toad during the first sequence. Shame on PETA for being so biased. I bet McCartney never even knew.

[pravnik]

The more I thought about it today the more I liked it. Well, done, London. I feel like we almost have a special relationship or something.

[GIGObuster]

For all the ones noticing the similarities with The Lord of the Rings, via Reddit, someone did a comparison with the movies and the Olympic opening:

http://imgur.com/hnCS5
(scroll down to see all images)

I smiled at the Gollum and Rowan Atkinson comparison.

[Alka Seltzer]

Originally Posted by Gabing Gaboing

The other villains I needed help identifying, and I still dunno who or what those little monkey critters were supposed to be. And yeah, the baby was creepy.

Can't remember all of them, but one was The Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I interpreted the creatures menacing the children to be nightmares, both imagined (from the literature theme) and real (most of the children were actual hospital patients). Appropriately, they were driven off by an air-drop of Mary Poppinses and the NHS staff.

Originally Posted by Ximenean

On the other hand, it seemed a bit out of place to have the Arctic Monkeys suddenly come on and play one of their songs, which I guess wasn't a hit in the US. So I can't really blame NBC for editing that bit out.

I'm not a big fan of either The Arctic Monkeys or Dizzee Rascal, but I applaud the organisers for giving them a stage to perform their music, instead of sticking to the tried and familiar. I thought it worked well.

I'm hearing nothing good about the NBC commentary. The BBC team had the sense to keep their mouths shut most of the time.

[IvoryTowerDenizen]

Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland and Captain Hook from Peter Pan were two others.

[notfrommensa]

I liked it when Meredith Viera asked Danny Boyle about the "Money Shot" vis a vis James Bond and the Queen.

[kittenblue]

I tuned in after it had started and was quite overwhelmed by the beginning parts..so much so that I cried a bit. I was initially struck by the stark contrast between the Chinese very structured, very rigid, though beautiful in its precision performance, where every arm movement, every head angle, every expression conformed, and the glorious controlled chaos of the British show, where no movements, not even the marching of the soldiers up the tor, was synchronized. The message seemed to be one of "we work together to achieve amazing things, but we also retain our individuality and our freedom of expression".

The commentary didn't upset me as much as it seems to have others, since it was obvious they were following a script to explain what we were seeing, and some of that was very helpful. The jump in time though, from the NHS and the giant baby (how did so many doctors and nurses get the day off? LOL) to the whole Frankie and June thing was very disconcerting, and I just didn't see what the point they were trying to make was. Maybe if they had chosen characters more familiar to an international audience it would have made sense, but I had no idea who they were or why they got such a huge portion. And then when the athletes started arriving I thought it was all over, and I went to bed and missed the cauldron and poor darling picked-on Paul!

Very disappointed there was no Dr. Who...they could have incorporated his time-travel into the whole thing and really pulled that together! But all in all it was a glorious wonderful mess and I was very moved by the moment of silence...wish we could have seen and heard the "Abide With Me" part. I'll have to watch it again for that part. I mean, really...an interview with Michael Phelps? Haven't we had enough of interviews with him the last few weeks? And the scowling Queen...I have to believe that she really couldn't see everything that was going on very well, and hadn't been cued as to when to smile and wave. But I loved the way she kept Bond waiting for just those few seconds before she turned and we saw it really was her! What a good sport she was to do that!

[JohnT]

There was a tardis sound and a TARDIS in the production - you can hear it during the Queen segment.

http://doctorwhotv.co.uk/watch-tardi...ning-36660.htm

My wife and daughter claim you can see the TARDIS sometime between :12-:16 seconds in the above clip, but I don't see it...

[flodnak]

Reactions from here at Casaflodnak (these may not be, strictly speaking, in order):

The opening sequence was very, very good. Even though I didn't see any sheep. I was promised sheep! Anyway, Isambard Kingdom Brunel!!! (Or a reasonable facsimile thereof.) Just the thing to warm the cockles of my geekgirl heart. Lots of odd bits of British history but it all fit together in the end.

I thought the James Bond/Her Maj thing was cute, but not much more. I was outvoted by the guys, because JAMES BOND!!!1!

The long love story sequence: meh. Mostly good music, but it went on too long without enough direction. Good on them for recognizing Tim Berners-Lee. Two of us spontaneously yelled "Thanks, Tim!" at the television.

I love Rowan Atkinson but I think Mr Bean is one of the weaker things he's done. Since the "Chariots of Fire" thing was pretty much the Bean character, I thought it was a bit of a waste. Couldn't one of the Blackadders turned up in the historical sequence instead?

"Abide With Me" caused the screen to go all wobbly for a few moments. Don't know what it could have been.....

Great Ormond Street Hospital/children's literature sequence: Brilliant to include those stories so many of us know. Most of it was sweet without being sappy. But the giant baby puppet was scarier than all the villains put together Just before that, the children's choir singing God Save the Queen? I loved how honest and inclusive it was. You could hear that not all of the kids were brilliant singers, but that was fine.

We liked the idea of building up the cauldron for the Olympic flame that way. A single flame from many nations. Youngest son wants to build one just like it. And we thought having the promising young athletes light the flame was brilliant.

All in all, we liked it a lot. Quirky and mostly upbeat, patriotic in the positive sense, and quite British.

[Baron Greenback]

Originally Posted by flodnak

Just before that, the children's choir singing God Save the Queen? I loved how honest and inclusive it was. You could hear that not all of the kids were brilliant singers, but that was fine.

Oh, I forgot about that. Very moving, especially considering some of the kids are deaf.

[PrettyVacant]

Originally Posted by flodnak

The opening sequence was very, very good. Even though I didn't see any sheep. I was promised sheep! Anyway, Isambard Kingdom Brunel!!! (Or a reasonable facsimile thereof.)

For a moment, it was slightly disconcerting seeing Wallandar walking around in a top hat (Kenneth Branagh as Brunel).

In case some folks didn't know, the choir sang the first and third verses only, missing out this slightly more assertive second - another Boyle decision. What they didn't sing:

O Lord, our God, arise,
Scatter her enemies,
And make them fall.
Confound their politics,
Frustrate their knavish tricks,
On Thee our hopes we fix,
God save us all.

[PrettyVacant]

Originally Posted by flodnak

The long love story sequence: meh. Mostly good music, but it went on too long without enough direction. Good on them for recognizing Tim Berners-Lee. Two of us spontaneously yelled "Thanks, Tim!" at the television.

Apart from recognising his contribution to the second great revolution, TBL was born and went to school in London. I guess the idea was to include the digital rev but not in a corporate way. Boyle obv. went for the modern teenage Saturday night experience.

I quite liked the girls getting ready and sending photos, and then the role of phones in modern dating. And then he layered the UK music thing over those ideas.

[standingwave]

Originally Posted by JohnT

There was a tardis sound and a TARDIS in the production - you can hear it during the Queen segment.

http://doctorwhotv.co.uk/watch-tardi...ning-36660.htm

My wife and daughter claim you can see the TARDIS sometime between :12-:16 seconds in the above clip, but I don't see it...

So the Doctor is still leaving the brakes on?

[standingwave]

Originally Posted by Hippy Hollow

Wonder why NBC didn't show the 7/7 tribute?

Because it "wasn't tailored for the U.S. audience."

[MsWhatsit]

Originally Posted by standingwave

Because it "wasn't tailored for the U.S. audience."

Jackasses. Can you imagine what would happen if the BBC edited a 9/11 tribute out of its coverage because "it wasn't tailored for British audiences"?