It was actually very subversive. The giant CND logo, muse, sex pistols gid save the queen etc. plus my two favorite bands produced the music, underworld and High Contrast. As a photographer the forging of the Olympic rings was breathtaking

Brilliant show, very English (surely that was to be expected) certainly their sense of humor came through. I loved the fireworks display, I loved the Flame Lighting Ceremony and the inclusion of so many children. It was certainly very well rehearsed and executed display. I know I was rivetted, without even realising it I watched the entire show.
Well done.

Showed a lot of creativity and taking into account the target audience Danny Boyle had to impress a wide range of tastes, ages and cultures. I think he ticked all the boxes. Great show.

I thought it was great – i live in london and live a few miles from the olympic village but by god those fireworks where impressive! The whole show was well choreographed really enjoyed seeing Ali again but sad to see him deteriorating so much! Proud to see the Irish team walking out! Come on ireland!!

Did anyone see the clip of the lesbian kiss from Brookside back in 1994 ?

Apparently Saudi Arabia are going mad at having been conned into showing homosexuality for the first time ever on live Saudi TV.

That is some achievement by Danny Boyle

Very kitsch and madcap… Very Danny Boyle in fact. I loved every minute of it! And the queen was a nice touch.

I thought it was a very well organised, warm and welcoming. I preferred it to Chinas ceremony 4 years ago because there was a lot more heart in it.

Also it had James Bond!!!!!!!

I thought it was great, lovely to see so many children involved, must have been ” counting sleeps till the start” for a lot of them….. Really enjoyed it.

Me and my missus loved it but we were hammered! But it is cool to celebrate a National Health Service in an international broadcast (however bad the NHS is). Yanks musta been going nuts at that.

sat down this morning with my two kids, aged 6 and 9. watched it on iplayer… we all loved it. fast forwarded through a lot of the athletes parade, mind you cheer for Ireland was amazing!

Have to say – Mr Bean was my favorite! Slipped in as a little surprise – Chariots of fire would have been good – Mr Bean taking the piss out of it was even better!

Summed up the night – massively brash yet somehow understated!?

I actually loved it, they knew they couldnt top Beijings style of opening ceremony so instead they made Londons into more of a party atmosphere and loved the bit about the NHS.
Have to say, well done London and well done Danny Boyle

The Queen rocked, especially with her sky diving antics.

Good on yer, ma’am.

I loved every single bit of it. I wasn’t quite sure at first, but as it went on the beginning started to make more sense.

I loved the the little things, the attention to detail. Parts of it were so multi layered that it was unbelievable – like that they did not just wheel in Tim Berners-Lee, but they had him sitting at a NeXT Cube, tweeting, or the short pause on the trip up the Thames when they froze over London and played a bar of the Eastenders theme, and playing just enough of the Sex Pistols ‘God Save the Queen’ to make a point important to some people without labouring it. There were so many moments like that and I am certain I only got a fraction of them.

I loved how it made ordinary people the heart of the event – volunteers performing, Doreen Lawrence carrying the flag, completely unknown young people lighting the flame.

I loved that it was, as Niall says above, subversive – the bit about the NHS in particular, but also creating the CND logo, Shami Chakrabarti carrying the flag and loads of other parts. And it made it point while still being silly and funny, with the queen/bond stunt, Mr Bean, all the Mary Poppinses.

The music was (mostly) brilliant, the visuals were stunning, it kept surprising, it was just wonderful from beginning to end. It left me on a huge high.

I think it was an absolute masterpiece and that Danny Boyle is a genius.

I enjoyed it a lot to be honest. What made it for me was the musical soundtrack. It was awesome. Some of the best music ever made. Between our two countries we have produced most of the best bands in the world. That is something to be proud of.
Rock on!!

Loved the whole show. Thought Emeli Sand? sang beautifully, the mix of music was brilliant and that McCartney did well once they knocked off the unnecessary and out of sync backing track. Even Mr. Bean was funny, normally I can’t stand him and as for Bond and the queen- brilliant. Funny that she was pIcking at her nails as team GB walked in too…

Great show. Loved every minute. Shame about the betting scandal that’s emerged in the Irish Olympic team.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Olympic opening ceremony. It was nothing short of magnificent and reflected all the best aspects of Britain. The British always put on a good show full of pomp and grandeur and this show was no different. Britain has a very rich heritage full of music, drama and innovation and Danny Boyle did a great job of incorporating all of this into a glorious historical composition. I didn’t think the Queen would be up for jumping out of a helicopter with 007 but fareplay to her for being adventurous! :D

The forging of the ring and the industrial rev was the highlight for me. extremely well done. kudos to danny boyle and co

Loved the deaf drummer and the inclusion of so many children. It was multicultural and inclusive whilst being thoughtful and dramatic.
I think the Queen is a brilliant old lady with a fabulous sense of humour which she demonstrates with the utmost dignity and decorum as she has done throughout her life.
Brilliant!

I was at a mates birthday party in the pub so I was watching it with one eye :P
The reception given to the Irish team was amazing….gave me my second wind.

I thought it was absolutely fantastic – particularly JK Rowling reading, and the whole NHS thing was really well done. And the massive inflatable Voldemort. The music was fantastic and I loved the re-enactment of the industrial revolution. I can’t understand why there are so many people who didn’t enjoy it. It’s undeniable that it was perfectly executed and it’s clear the work that went in. Is a lot of this the typical Irish anti-English prejudice or did people genuinely not enjoy it?

Fantastic display. Best ever.

danny boyle used music from all his films, loved the pistols and underworld.

Thought it started a bit slow but just got better and better. Emile Sande was brilliant, the forging of the five rings above the stadium fantastic. James Bond and the Queen – Hilarious. Also Mr. Bean was funnyish… The last sequence of events was brilliant choosing kids to light the flame was an inspired idea and really well done.

Who didn’t enjoy it? I thought it was great and that Danny Boyle did a fantastic job. It was something different and enjoyable, imho of course :-)

Sat in Victoria Park next door to the Olympic Park watching it on the big screen with tens of thousands of others…great atmosphere amongst the truly international crowd.

Leaving out my usual cyncism i thought it was spectacular and personally looking forward to all the sports considering the vast majority of atheletes do it for the love of the sports, not the money.

Absolutely brilliant! Loved the whole thing- the changes in tempo were amazing and was impressed at how much they packed into the few hours- there was something for everyone. My kids were totally mesmerised and loved all the well known characters from film and literature. I think my favourite part was the music through the different decades- one minute Queen and the contrast with the amazing performance of Abide With Me. Was glued to my seat all night! Well done to Danny Boyle for a superb show!

Absolutely loved the girl who kissed the boy after sending text messages.
Great show Danny.

Really shocked to see the result of this poll! It was to me an enlivening, amazingly intricate and humorous opening ceremony. REALLY thought it was FAB.

It was fantastic and probably one of the best I have seen.

Great ceremony, so proud of London last night. Lots of lovely little gems in there, particularly the sequences about the Industrial Revolution, the celebration of the NHS, the Empire Windrush generation, the music…really well thought out. Britain deserved its night to celebrate its culture.

Lots for Irish people to take away from it aswell. I’m sure when they lined the entrance into the park with people that worked on building the Park, there were no doubt a few Irish faces there too. Irish Olympic Team looked great, and Katie on flag duties was just great.

The Queen’s ‘entrance’ with James Bond and Mr. Bean were my highlights. The lighting of the Olympic cauldron was original. Well done to all involved

really enjoyed it, start was a bit odd but once it got goin it was excellent, the iron works Olympic rings were amazing, and of course James bond, Mr bean, David Beckham artic monkeys what more could you want, and having the kids and nurses perform was a great touch and the lighting itself was amazing, really showed Britain in all its glory

Really enjoyed it. Favourite part was the transition from green fields to the industrial revolution. As good as Bejing was, I preferred last night.

Not at all sure what to make of it, spectacular in parts but the whole thing seemed incoherent and confused. I wondered what viewers who knew little about Britains history would make of it. Loved Mr Bean and have to say i was amused at the Queen & James Bond. It did drag on somewhat and Paul Mc Cartney at the end was absolutely dreadful and its really time he considers retiring. I was however very impressed with the Irish Teams welcome in the stadium, probably only second to the UK’s welcome and for a change, the BBC comentators where extremely gracious and welcoming of the Irish Team.

Nimrod. Good.
Kenneth Brannagh. Good.
Flaming rings. Good.
James Bond actually meeting the Queen. Good.
Mohammed Ali. Bad.
Shouldn’t Ban Ki-moon be sorting out Syria? Bad.
Paul McCartney. Lame. They really need to stop wheeling him our for these things. It’s cliché at this point.
Article Monkeys. Good.
Mr. Bean. Really? But still funny.
Queen looking bored as she picks her nails. Hilarious.

49% watched but did’nt enjoy it .Do they not know how to work the remote control.

i thought it was brilliant ,the music was great and all those ppl who volunteered there time ,the highlight for me was the queen and james bond ,and the queen staring at her nails when team GB where parading around .well done to Danny Boyle for his creatifity the only low point was Paul MCcartney he really should stop now .

Not one word about the old boy giving the Nazi salute only bad thing

Where was Elton John ?

I thought it was a fantastic display & so inclusive. BBC’s intro for Team Ireland was great too. However, I did think the Queen seemed to be a bit off form. When Team GB came out, there she was playing with her nails, looked completely unimpressed by the whole thing!

It looked as though Danny Boyle was selling Ireland at the beginning, with thatched cottage in middle of arena plus all that Grass. I hope it does some good for Irish Tourism. Thank you Danny Boyle.

Watched it last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. Thought it all worked really well and hats off to the Brita on a job well done.
Thought Beckham looked irrelevant and rediculous though, am sure there were former Olympians who were far more deserving of the role than that git.
And @paddy bebop I went to Mc Donalds today and had a Coca Cola, fries and Big Mac paid for with my Visa to celebrate their involvement with the games and as a two fingers response to you and your comments.

At the closing of ceremony Paul,he of Beatle fame,was caught out with recorded track. He then had to sing live without backing track.At the close he put his head in his hands knowing it was a balls up! lol

So 50% of people are clueless tosspots so.

I enjoyed it..thought it was very entertaining .. Who lit the torch by the way, I fell asleep about 3 hours beforehand.

Unfortunately I missed it, I’d have loved to see what the fuss is about with Bond & the Queen. Any links to it because it seems the Olympic committee have gotten onto YouTube & told them not to allow footage of the opening be posted. :(

Some of it was excellent !!! A lot of it was cringe …..!!!!

Brilliant opening hour – parade of athletes became boring – disappointing ending.

Overall I didn’t enjoy it,there were a few good things in it like the Queen skydiving and the lighting of the cauldron at the end.Paul McCartney was just awful!

Found it on RTÉ player. Really funny! Thanks anyway Damocles.

flicked over to BBC after disappointing comments from kiernan and dunne about our Sonya. they were a disgrace and behaved like they were jealous.

Sean Connery would be better instead of Daniel Craig:)

Oh Danny Boyle, the hype’s the hype’s appalling!

even though it isn’t our country, I was embarrassed by the whole thing..it was pure rubbish to be honest…the queen thing was good, Rowan was class as usual and good auld Paul was fantastic.the olympics wanted him to mime and he didn’t…so he decided to play live and the organisers had to stop the recording!!..brilliant!!…other then that, the rest was unbelievably cringe worthy!!…but that’s just my thought….

It’s cringeworthy that they still have a queen in this day and age. But showing her off at a ceremony? They may have well wheeled out a telex machine.

Well with Sky News covering it, we’ll know what toilet paper the camera man uses! Best of British, I’ll have accent by the time its over?

A sell out to McDonalds, Coca Cola and Visa. That’s all the Olympics are.

Waste of money. Country is in debt, but the tories roll out all this crap spending money that would be better spent on the Health Service and creating jobs.

I watched it for the first 30 minutes and then knocked it off it was that boring. I was watching In The Name of The Father Instead.

All this talk about the queen jeez i dont really think its relative. I am a little dissapointed they didnt show a little more recognition to the asian community in britain.. I mean in another few years britain will be mostly speaking hindi or gujarati.

got better things 2do,rather than consuming this commercialised crap!

I watched very little of it what I did see I thought was very OTT but what the heck I wasn’t paying for it. Can some one tell me in what capacity was Sonia O’Sullivan with the Irish team?

They English left out the kids on the falkland islands

Damocles is one of these people that thinks irish people need to pander and hope theu are accepted into the world.. dont worry my friend.. You might see reason someday