RADCLIFFE-born film director Danny Boyle returned to the red carpet this week to celebrate Trainspotting returning to cinemas.

He was joined by the film’s stars Ewan McGregor, Jonny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle and Ewen Bremner, in Edinburgh for the world premiere of T2 Trainspotting on Sunday.

Boyle, a former Thornleigh Salesian College student, praised the cast, most of whom return from the 1996 film.

He said: “They are amazingly experienced now.

“They stepped back into the roles . . . they factored in their own 20 years of experience into their characters and they were off and on their way.

“The past is alive in all of us really. It’s in a telescope, and depending on which end of the telescope you look at, it’s either there or it’s gone, it’s distant, and it preoccupies you more and more in life.

“So it was to get them (the characters) to reflect on that but hopefully in an entertaining and surprising way, and in an emotional way as well I hope.”

REVIEW: T2 Trainspotting

The team were greeted by the crowds as they walked the orange carpet ahead of the showing at Fountain Park, which was also attended by Trainspotting original cast member Kelly Macdonald and Anjela Nedyalkova - who plays the lead female character Veronika in T2.

The sequel comes 21 years after the first film, which followed a group of heroin addicts and explored urban poverty in Scotland’s capital.

It is based on the novel of the same name by Irvine Welsh, with T2 based on his book Porno.

Much of the sequel was filmed in Edinburgh and cast and crew were seen working at various locations across the city last year.

Boyle added: “We wanted to make the film here and we felt a real responsibility towards that, because these stories have been responsible for a lot of our careers really.

“So you feel an obligation, a pleasurable obligation.”