The Olympic opening ceremony is about spectacle, not just sport. So grand, breathtaking-and startling-scenes were unveiled at the Olympic Stadium in east London on Friday evening, when filmmaker Danny Boyle presented probably the most original and offbeat opening ceremony ever, with live animals, fluffy artificial clouds, and tableaux-real and almost certainly imagined from British history.
And with her majesty Queen Elizabeth II apparently climbing down a rope from a helicopter, and the comic figure of Mr Bean putting in an appearance, the 2012 ceremony was also rare, if not unique, in displaying not just pomp, ceremony and splendour, but also a sense of humour.