The Commonwealth Games has arrived in Glasgow, and at last night’s Opening Ceremony, the images that went viral were the King and Queen emerging from the TARDIS.
Louisa Mahon, Glasgow 2026 Chief Marketing and Ceremonies Officer explained how it all came about:
“We had so many amazing creative sessions where we really examined what we wanted the story of the show to be, and what were the ‘gems’ that could take things to another level,” she said.
“We were genuinely racking our brains when someone in the room mentioned the TARDIS. Everyone just stopped for a moment and were thinking, ‘could we actually make that happen?’.”
Doctor Who’s TARDIS was originally modelled on the iconic blue police boxes which are still a prominent feature on the streets of Glasgow, which is why Mahon and her team felt it was a “perfect fit.”
“We thought, ‘We have just the gem here’. Of course, we had to make sure the BBC thought it was a gem of an idea. We had to make sure that (Buckingham) Palace thought it was a gem of an idea, plus some of our supporting cast, such as Sir Chris Hoy and Greg McHugh.
“The story has taken many twists and turns (and) we had a number of iterations of how it would all work to get it right.”
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It’s not the first time the Royal Family has gone viral following an Opening Ceremony. Queen Elizabeth II’s cameo with Daniel Craig saw her “parachute” into the London 2012 Olympic Games during Danny Boyle’s ceremony.
“You do feel the weight of responsibility of wanting to make sure that we put on a show that’s glorious for the opening of the Games and actually really means something to the city and the rest of the Commonwealth,” continued Mahon.
Last night was described as a “uniquely Scottish spectacular” and featured a cast of 490 people on stage and volunteers who donated a combined 7000 hours of their time.
“Nobody sees them, they’re like the unsung heroes of the show,” she said.
“And all our choreographers, the costume team, the show callers – everyone who’s making the experience really good for the cast and for the athletes.
“You rehearse the show, you see all the elements have come together, and then you actually just need to get to the stage where you go live and it’s ‘lights, camera, action’ and you just go with it.
“It was just joyous to watch it and to think that we have managed to fuse the Commonwealth Games with the Palace and with the BBC in such a humorous, unique and universally, globally understood way.
“We are absolutely delighted and could not wait for everyone to see it.”
