The Odyssey

A capital city on the road to Olympic glory: London's journey from the Olympic bid to the spectacular opening ceremony.

On 6 July 2005, London won the bid to host the 30th Olympic Games. The following day, the city suffered the UK’s worst terrorist incident since the 1980s. In the intervening years, the capital witnessed controversial protest, mayoral upheaval, street riots and the difficulties of the credit crunch. Asif Kapadia, Oscar-winning director of Senna (2011) and Amy (2015), uses archive footage from London’s recent past to tell the story of a capital city on the road to Olympic glory.