As lockdown continues, cinemas are finding ingenious ways to stay in touch with their audiences and add a splash of showbiz glamour into our increasingly restricted lives.

The Riverside Cinema in Woodbridge will be posting a series of weekly celebrity interviews on their YouTube channel starting this Friday with Michael Palin. The interviews are conducted by the cinema’s project manager Neil McGlone at screening events. “It’s a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with people and a lovely chance to revisit some precious memories,” said Neil.

“I have decided to upload some of my interviews. Friday will be Michael Palin when he visited in 2018 for the launch of Film Feast, this will be available for free for 7 days only, and then from the following Friday (8th) we will be uploading Mike Leigh from last year when he visited for Film Feast’s Nuts in May screening.

“Then further ahead I hope to include videos from my 2016 Riverside Nights series featuring Terence Davies, Mark Gatiss, Ben Wheatley and Mike Leigh once again.”

Neil said that he was waiting for permission from the various interviewees before he could confirm that all the interviews could go online. “Each video will be on the Riverside YouTube channel for free for seven days and then will be taken down. It’s something I hope that those at home can enjoy watching either for the first time or to see again if they attended the event.”

He added that other treats to be found on the Riverside channel is an archive interview with former Riverside manager and Woodbridge legend Don Spall and a series of vlogs from the Riverside’s owner Stuart Saunders called Stu Stuck at Home, in which the restaurateur grapples with the humorous complexities of lockdown. The Michael Palin interview was filmed by Ipswich-based Village Green Pictures.

The Riverside YouTube channel can be found here.