The opening and closing ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympics featured the two greatest Britons , Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Winston Churchill as main characters , played by Kenneth Branagh and Timothy Spall , each of them reading a monologue from William Shakespeare 's '' The Tempest '' . The ceremony also included a personal appearance by Tim Berners-Lee , who was placed 99th on the list . There were no black Britons on the list , prompting a separate three-month survey to find the 100 greatest black Britons
opening
2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony
100 Greatest Britons