“Danny’s plan was to make it something made by the people,” says Mark Tildesley, the production designer for Isles of Wonder and a regular Boyle collaborator. “And that’s all of the people: doctors, nurses, surgeons, kids from council estates, just the whole gamut, that sort of melting pot of London. It was homemade, handmade. It wasn’t like... See more

In his statement in the programme for the event, director Danny Boyle certainly seemed to be going for the Luther King option: “We hope, too, that through all the noise and excitement that you will glimpse a single golden thread of purpose – the idea of Jerusalem – of a better world, the world of real freedom and true equality ... A belief that we... See more

He didn’t lead by dominance or by being extrovert; he led by listening. We all felt heard. And I think this work turned out the way it did because Danny was such a great listener.