In a spectacular night with a surprising amount of Hypable’s fandoms cropping up in the London 2012 ceremony, Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch opened the celebrations with a history of the host city.

It’s hardly surprising that Benedict featured in some capacity, as he had previously worked with director Danny Boyle on a stage adaptation of Frankenstein (in which he co-starred with Elementary‘s Jonny Lee Miller) – but this video turned out to be a particularly thoughtful and touching tribute to the capital of host nation Great Britain. The introduction to London included the iconography of the city (double-decker buses, black-cab taxis) and tragedies like the Great Fire of London and the 7/7 bombings.

Check out the full video below!

Did you catch Benedict’s appearance live? Are you excited to see the actor making an appearance in the opening ceremony?