'Isles of Wonders' Oly theme

London 2012’s opening ceremony will feature the “Isles of Wonder”, the ceremony’s artistic director Danny Boyle revealed six months ahead of the Games.

Boyle said it would be about a land that has been poisoned by industrial legacy and the recovery of that land.

Creative director Stephen Daldry said the ceremonies will show “who we are, who we were and who we wish to be”.

The ceremony, which begins at 9 pm on July 27, is expected to last well over three hours, but will need to end by 12:30 am to allow spectators to get public transport home.

Boyle, who is best known for directing Oscar-winning movie ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and ‘Trainspotting’, said the biggest ringing bell in Europe will be hanging at one end of the stadium and will sound at the opening of the Games.

The bell will be inscribed with a quote from Shakespeare’s The Tempest: “Be not afraid, the isle is full of noises”. Boyle said he wanted people to hear it “for hundreds of years”.