I was there!

Over one billion people watched the Olympic opening ceremony last night.

But only 80,000 actually got to be there in person – how lucky were they?

Like almost everyone else who applied for gold-dust tickets, I was unsuccessful, so I wasn’t in the audience.  And I didn’t actually watch it on telly either – I had other plans...

At 10pm on Friday 27^th July 2012 I pinched myself hard, but I wasn’t dreaming:  this really was happening, I was right there on stage, in the Olympics opening ceremony.  This was my 15 minutes of fame, and it was truly amazing!

How on earth did I manage to get that opportunity?  

Well, for that, I have to thank the legend who is Danny Boyle, director of the greatest show on earth....

I’ve been a fan ever since I was an intern at the Edinburgh Film Festival, where we premiered his Shallow Grave.  I then heard him talk passionately about Trainspotting at a preview near his native Salford, and knew he was special.  He went on to make the hugely successful Slumdog Millionaire, so I can see why his creative genius was attractive as the choice to direct the all-important opening.

But oh Danny boy, why would you take on the Olympics?  “I don’t like the corporate bullshit any more than you do” I heard him say, correctly judging the country’s scepticism about the dodgy tax deals, sickening self-aggrandisement of the International Olympic Committee, and the likes of junk-food pedalling McDonalds besmirching the world’s greatest celebration of sport.

Neither could he recreate the size or regimentation of Beijing – so he played to his strengths, recruited genuinely enthusiastic volunteers, and tapped Britain’s rich social and artistic heritage.  Also, he insisted on having the freedom to direct the opening ceremony as he wanted, making it a celebration of what is truly good about this country – and what a great job he did!

As the world saw, Boyle’s Britain started as the green and pleasant birthplace of sport and literature, but then gave rise to the industrial revolution and related social movements such as abolitionists, trade unions, and suffragettes.  

He also found much to celebrate in recent years, despite Britain having to find a more modest place in the world order: here the creative spirit which continues to lead popular music came to the fore, as did the revolutionary invention of the internet by Tim Berners-Lee.  And James Bond!

But to parachute straight to the present would grossly underplay the role of our parents’ and grandparents’ generations:  after finally pitting its forces against aggressive imperialism in the world wars, Britain tried to create a homeland fit for heroes.  Not only did this include successfully staging the 1948 Olympics at short notice, but also laying the foundations of a caring and enlightened society with the creation of the much-loved National Health Service.  

Ah, the NHS – probably the most civilised thing about modern Britain.  

So thanks to Danny Boyle for insisting on the NHS having a central place in the ceremony.  This, together with my and Katja’s 25 years of joint service, the brass neck to audition as a volunteer performer, and a willingness to spend much of the wettest ‘summer’ on record skipping round a disused Dagenham car park, means that I can now say “I was there!”.

In truth I was a bit-part player – dressed in a sparkly dentist-style tunic I helped push a hospital bed to spell out the letters ‘NHS’, before performing a ‘nurses knees-up’ (and a little bow to the queen - not sure I should have gone along with that?).  The worldwide audience were likely bemused, but for me it was the ultimate thrill – a contagious excitement in our massed volunteer cast, the buzz of a live performance, a truly innovative light-show, and the deafening roar of the appreciative crowd.

I trust some of Boyle’s intended message got through: that as a rich nation we remain committed to healthcare as a right not a privilege; and that we believe the civilised thing to do is to provide it free at the point of delivery, based on clinical need not the ability to pay.  

For what Bevan coined, let not Cameron put asunder!  That, or we just like to play doctors and nurses.

What more can I say?  Thank you Danny for celebrating what is Great about Britain, for cherishing and promoting the NHS – and for allowing me to say “I was there!”