Boris Johnson promised us Londoners a summer ‘like no other’. When it finally arrived, London 2012 didn’t disappoint. The Olympics has been a triumph that’s swept us all along in its wake.
Sellout events, kids and adults alike taking to the streets on their hastily dusted-off bikes, fish leaping out of streams in alarm as Brits discover the joys of open water swimming. The sun shone, public transport ran pretty much on time and almost everyone got behind the Games. A nation of moaners and apologists transformed itself into delighted, proud, welcoming, chatty, sports-obssessed patriots. Long may the momentum and the new-found enthusiasm for ourselves, our sportspeople and our nation continue.
Most of us experienced the Olympics and got caught its fervour through the internet and the TV. Though quite clearly slanted towards British hopes and rooting for any British interest when one was at stake, the BBC did everyone a service by its sheer infectious enthusiasm for the subject.
I can usually walk away from the screen and find some other distraction, but the Olympics coverage was simply essential viewing. My freelance writing productivity nosedived – I know of many other usually diligent office workers who spent the fortnight ‘shirking from home’ too. But my capacity for goggle-boxing increased beyond belief.
Midway through The Games, yet more temptation arrived. I’d been commissioned to review a new TV service called YouView. This doesn’t just serve up standard terrestrial channels plus endless repeats on Dave and US imports on Really. It gives you all the catch-up TV you could wish for too. Didn’t get your fill of the Opening Ceremony the first time round? No matter: it’s on iPlayer, along with the interminable Closing Ceremony and gems such as documentaries on Bradley Wiggins’ bid to win the Tour de France last month.
There’s plenty of fodder on ITV Player, Demand5 and 4OD too – and this cunning YouView service gives all of it to you on a plate, even suggesting extra morsels of related content. There’s an integrated programme guide, an on-demand film rental service courtesy of Sky Now and whatever you wish to watch is almost instantly available.
It may very well be my downfall and crush what vestigial willpower I had to leave the couch and head to the gym. I’m sure that’s not the Olympic legacy Lord Coe had in mind.
