One of Dickens' biggest influences was the growth of London as a Victorian city, and the extremes being created as it expanded.
Danny BoyleI love that sense of change that you'd get in pop music every three minutes, every four minutes.
Danny BoyleWe're trying to learn from [Olympic] Beijing, which could be very intimidating. We've learned to expect it's power, it majesty and that it completes a cycle of certain types of shows... I don't think any nation could do anything on that scale. We haven't got that money, and I don't think anybody would have the appetite for that kind of expenditure and that kind of control, so we're going to try and do something a bit more intimate and try and start again... start a new cycle for these kind of ceremonies.
Danny Boyle