London 2012 Olympics: Danny Boyle’s ceremony was seven years in the making

By Wesley Johnson
Published on 28/07/2012 01:52

Danny Boyle said his Olympics opening ceremony came “from the heart” as he credited his late father, who would have turned 91 yesterday, with inspiring him to take on the challenge.

The Oscar-winning director said his father Frank, who died last year, was a “mad Olympics fan” who used to sit up late at night watching the Games.

Boyle, who sought to embody a sense of generosity and graciousness in the £27 million show, said he wanted to remember his father as he paid tribute to the city which has given him so many opportunities.

“It’s my dad’s birthday today and when I took this job I took it for lots of reasons,” Boyle said last night.

“I lived locally, I thought I had the confidence – which may be misplaced, you’ll find out about that later – but I thought I had the confidence and the status to carry a job like this really, because you do need a bit of that to get through all the stuff.

“But I took it because my dad was a mad Olympics fan, seriously a lunatic, sitting up at night watching grainy pictures from Mexico or wherever, and introduced me to the Olympics.”

Welling up, he added: “Sadly he died about 18 months ago, so he didn’t quite make it, so I just want to remember him…”

Boyle’s sisters, Maria and Bernadette, were in the audience for the opening ceremony. A picture of their father was among those which appeared on a

memorial wall commemorating spectators’ loved ones who have died.

“It’s very much from the heart,” he said. “The sensibility of the show is very personal.

“A group of us has created it, but we have no agenda other than actually something which is true, values which we feel are true.

“Not everybody will love that, but people will be able to recognise we’re being honest and truthful. There’s no bulls••• in it, and there’s no point-making either.”

Boyle, who repeatedly thanked the 15,000 volunteers who are bringing the show to life, said he hoped it embodied “a sense of generosity and graciousness”.

“I hope the show feels gracious, I hope it doesn’t feel bombastic or messaging or anything like that,” he said.

“This city, well, it’s given me everything I’ve got in my life.

“Apart from my upbringing, which is in Manchester, and the values I got from that, in terms of opportunities I’ve had in my life, this city, which I’m very proud to live in, has given me everything really.

“I think its openness in the way that you can come here and be welcomed here is like that sense people have in New York, that people are welcomed with open arms.”

Boyle also paid tribute to the NHS during the opening ceremony because universal healthcare is one of the core values of British society.

He said the NHS was an “amazing thing to celebrate” and dedicated a whole section of his show to the health service.

More than 600 real-life nurses and other healthcare workers joined Boyle’s army of volunteers during the extravaganza.

The swinging sisters, dressed in 1950s uniforms, used luminous hospital beds to spell out the words “NHS” and “GOSH” - Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Patients and staff from the world-renowned children’s hospital received rapturous applause when they made an appearance in the arena.

“One of the reasons we put the NHS in the show is that everyone is aware of how important the NHS is to everybody in this country,” the director said.