Calls to honour Danny after opening spectacular (From Prestwich and Whitefield Guide)

Calls to honour Danny after opening spectacular

11:12am Thursday 2nd August 2012 in News

RADCLIFFE’S Oscar-winning film director Danny Boyle staged a gold medal-winning performance to earn rave reviews worldwide for his spectacular opening ceremony at the Olympic Games.

And there have even been calls for the local lad to be rewarded with a knighthood.

The top director has been praised globally for his creative show featuring the Suffragettes, the Industrial Revolution and the Queen appearing to parachute into London’s Olympic Stadium.

The £27 million ceremony also starred Sir Kenneth Branagh, Rowan Atkinson, Daniel Craig and JK Rowling, and culminated with young athletes using the Olympic flame to light the cauldron.

The worldwide audience was treated to a greatest hits medley of British pop over the decades, with bursts of The Beatles, The Jam, Sex Pistols and Dizzee Rascal.

Since Friday’s show, online retailer Amazon has reported a “surge in sales” of Danny’s films.

Among the 60,000 people watching the show in the Olympic Stadium was Danny’s family, including his proud sisters, Maria and Bernadette.

Maria, who lives in Ramsbottom , said: “It was a fabulous evening, a wonderful experience. The whole family is very proud of Danny and what he has achieved.

“It was really, truly a marvellous event. It was a great privilege to be there.”

Members of St Mary’s Catholic Social Club, in Pine Street, Radcliffe, where Danny is an honorary life member, were wowed by the ceremony.

Television cameras flocked to the club on Saturday morning to get members’ reactions and they are now planning a celebration to mark Danny’s triumph.

Gary Mills, trustee and committee member, said: “We are all pleased that Danny did so well and that it has been acclaimed by everybody. It was excellently done by a local lad. The ceremony reflected the roots that Danny comes from. He was influenced by his upbringing and I think that is what he wanted to show.

“Everyone is very proud of him and I think he deserves a knighthood. He has done something really special.”

Radcliffe East councillor, Nick Parnell, used social networking website Twitter to hail it “the best opening ceremony ever” and joined calls for Danny to be given a knighthood.

Also on Twitter, Ivan Lewis, MP for Bury South, said: “Radcliffe’s most famous son, Danny Boyle, is the pride of Britain tonight. This is breathtaking, emotional and patriotism at its best.”

There was also delight from celebrities, sports stars and the world’s media.

Sports pundit and Olympic Games presenter Gary Lineker, said: “The first knight of these games. Arise Sir Danny Boyle.”

Marathon runner, Paula Radcliffe, said: “Danny Boyle reminding us all what is so great about Great Britain. “ Lancashire-born fashion designer Wayne Hemingway, founder of Red Or Dead, said: “It just makes me so proud. Watching it made me proud to be a Lancastrian. Danny Boyle is from just down the road to me and so much of my life was in this, everything I believe in, the history from the industrial revolution right through to the NHS.”

Further afield, Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald said it was “an unforgettable start” and “breathtaking”.

France’s L'Equipe said: “With a show that mixed humour and the grandiose, Danny Boyle modernised the traditional athletes' parade on Friday. An opening ceremony so British!”