“Serious and silly, subversive and mainstream, high and low: Danny Boyle’s bonkers Olympics opening ceremony could only have been made by a British artist.” – Guardian

“Leftie multi-cultural rubbish” – Conservative MP Aidan Burley

“Brilliant but bonkers…” – Australian TV commentator

“It’s corny, cheesy, altogether over the top. And it works! […] This is awesome.” – Washington Post

“The Queen acting, JK Rowling reading in public, can you top this?” LA Times reporter

These are just some of the many public reactions to the opening ceremony of the Olympics. What did you think?

I was blown away by the sheer magnitude of the show – so much going on, and so streamlined. Did you know that the three-and-a-half hour show was rehearsed more than 200 times, with each of the 7,500 volunteers spending on average 150 hours practising? Now that’s commitment!

I think Danny Boyle had a Herculean task to perform – producing a show that was reflective of the whole nation (and bear in mind the nation comprises very different countries with very different histories and cultures) and that would please the majority. For of course he could not please everyone, given our eclectic cultural and political persuasions. What he did beautifully, I thought, was encapsulate the British sense of humour and quirkiness. The Queen! I was on the edge of my seat; so pleased that she was such a good sport. And I loved Mr Bean as well – the simplicity of the humour.

I don’t think I have ever watched a show in which I was so unsure of what would happen next – such a medley of different genres of music and acts. It was good to see much-loved British personalities incorporated into the evening, like Sir Kenneth Branagh, JK Rowling and Sir Tim Berners-Lee. And the inclusion of British culture was wonderful; I especially liked the nod to children’s literature like Mary Poppins, Harry Potter and The Wind in the Willows. And then the homage to television and film related to Britain – such a quickfire montage. How many were you able to spot?

For me, the best part of the evening was the culmination of the long weeks of Olympic torch relay that has had the British media in a frenzy. In the two-hour lead-up to the ceremony the BBC was still speculating on who would light the flame; Sir Steve Redgrave was tight-lipped on the matter. I thought it was poignant, after such a grand show of the nation’s celebrities, that it was the next generation, relatively unknown young athletes, who were given the job of lighting the flame in the end. After the frenetic showbiz glamour and opulence of the ceremony, it was grounding to see these athletes complete the final stage of the journey, and it pulled my attention back to the actual point of the ceremony – to open the games, rather than celebrate Great Britain.

What a year we have had, with the Royal Wedding, the Jubilee celebrations and now the Olympics. It is at times like this that I feel glad that I choose to call England home.