So, the most puzzling of all spectacles, the opening ceremony has just happened. As the Far East is such a mystery to us lazy Limeys, this, the Opening Ceremony: Beijing 2008 (BBC One, Friday, 8 August, 12.45pm) was always gonna be super-weird. And weird it was… in a good way! Now that the hype begins to dissolve, all that political stuff that’s been blighting these games pretty much disappeared for the duration of this eye-popping event. Maybe the Chinese lucky number helped. That’d be the number eight… and today’s date is…?

Sue Barker presented the show, along with the Hazel Irvine and Huw Edwards. Hang on? Huw Edwards? You can only assume that Huw’s inclusion is a nod to the political element to these games. Either way, Huw did a grand ol’ job, even if he did sound a bit tired throughout. Anyway, on to the highlights of the show itself.

Of course, it was completely bonkers. Brilliantly so. My knee-jerk reaction to the whole thing is that it’s the best opening ceremony I’ve ever seen… by some distance as well. There was a brain-melting digital light show drum box thing which counted down with synchronised rhythms and lights… then, came a flying Buddhists who sprinkled dust to make the Olympic rings… then… and I’ve no idea how this was done (and I don’t care either… suspension of disbelief is nicer than boring science sometimes), the dust was picked up on its own and flown through the air. Ace!

Following that was a gigantic glow-in-the-dark opening scroll that filled the entire arena floor! Then these guys ran out and start dancing, somehow painting a picture on the floor with their paint-brush hands. It was sensational stuff! Better yet was the gigantic set of dancing tiles that looked like some crazy Mahjong board, lifted and fell and pulsated. Get this, it was all done by people tucked away underneath , lifting and heaving this great bloody things… all as tribute to movable type, one of the greatest inventions of ancient China… along with paper, gunpowder and fireworks. And bloody everything else by the looks of things!

There’s over 15,000 people who were involved in the show which encapsulated the old and the new, the traditional and the hip. The precision which the performers work in was absolutely staggering. Forget all that stuff that goes with these games. As dodgy as China’s human rights records is, it’s worth putting your morals on hold for a while because, as things go, this opening ceremony was one of the best things these cynical ol’ eyes have ever seen. What did it all mean? Who cares?

Gutted that you missed it all because of stinkin’ work? Don’t worry… it’s repeated tonight. So join Gabby Logan as she introduces highlights at 7pm on BBC1. It’s well worth seeing for once.