THE new season of film screenings starts at Signal Cinema, in Barrow, later this month.

On Thursday March 31, at 7.30pm, the Abbey Road cinema kicks off its Spring/Summer programme with a free screening of Ridley Scott’s masterpiece Blade Runner: The Final Cut.

Other screenings scheduled in the calendar of twice-monthly events include Romeo & Juliet, starring recent Oscar-winner Leonard DiCaprio, and an Inspiring Women feature, Suffragette.

The programme opener next week is free to all aged 15 and over - though booking ahead is advised via  www.signalfilmandmedia.co.uk/signalcinema

It will be introduced by local film and TV director Eddy Marshall, who became a lifelong fan after seeing Blade Runner for the first time at Dukes Cinema, in Lancaster, in 1983. 

He says: “While it’s still an amazing film for reasons I’ll explain before the screening, it’s hard to underestimate the impact Blade Runner had in the early '80s. It redefined science fiction movies entirely - there’s a definite "before" and "after" Blade Runner. 


SPEAKER: Eddy Marshall "Along with Terry Gilliam’s Brazil, it really set the look of a lot of '80s film and advertising. However, what’s even more fascinating is what the film’s actually about - but you’ll have to come along to hear about that!”

Set in a future Los Angeles, in the fast-approaching 2019, Blade Runner is the story of Deckard (Harrison Ford), co-opted into one last job hunting, or retiring, a rogue team of replicants – artificial humans – who have returned to Earth to track down their manufacturer, the reclusive Eldon Tyrell, to have their lifespan-limited genetic codes re-set.

The screenings, aimed at fostering a community feel, are priced at £2 thanks to funding from Film Hub North and the BFI Audience Network fund.

The new film season offers a family friendly programme every second Tuesday at 5pm, and on the last Thursday of the month at 7.30pm Signal celebrates cinematic classics and recent indie hits on alternating months, featuring a David Bowie tribute special of Labyrinth, a Community Choice screening of A Clockwork Orange, and ending the season in August with Jermaine Clement’s vampire mock-doc What We Do In The Shadows.

Details of each screening will be available at the Signal Films website.