The Olympic flame is lit during the Olympic Games 2012 Opening Ceremony at the Olympic Stadium,PIC: John Stillwell/PA Wire

The London Olympic Games opening ceremony was viewed by 26.9 million people, said the BBC.

The massive audience tuned in as Danny Boyle’s £27 million spectacular took place at the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, east London, last night.

Viewing figures peaked at 26.9 million for the £27m spectacular by Danny Boyle.

The average was recorded as 22.4 million for the show, with an audience share of a whopping 82%.

The New York Times described the “hilariously quirky” celebration as a “noisy, busy, witty, dizzying production”.

It added: “Britain presented itself to the world Friday night as something it has often struggled to express even to itself: a nation secure in its own post-empire identity, whatever that actually is.”

The LA Times also heaped further praise on the occasion, saying “an atmosphere of whimsy and party won out over pomp and circumstance during an Olympic opening ceremony that allowed an economically beleaguered Britain to pat itself on the back.

“The ceremony could not have been more of a contrast from Beijing’s four years ago, replacing Chinese militaristic precision with British fancifulness.”

But not everyone was swept up by the feel-good factor of the evening’s entertainment.

High-brow art critic Brian Sewell declined to watch the ceremony from Stratford in east London.

“I was not planning to watch it but then the 10 O’Clock News ran a snippet of it which merely reinforced my plan not to watch it,” he said.