Original Blade Runner star Harrison Ford returns for sequel set 30 years later

Original Blade Runner star Harrison Ford has returned for a sequel of the cult sci-fi film set 30 years later.

He told ITV News Arts Editor Nina Nannar that its themes were more relevant than ever as he reprises his role as ex-policeman turned blade runner Rick Deckard in the classic 1982 film.

A blade runner's job involves hunting down and killing escaped replicants - androids who appear to be humans but are used as slave labour on colonies.

The update sees a young blade runner, played by Ryan Gosling, who unearths a long-buried secret which prompts him to track down Deckard in search of answers.

The original film was a hit with audiences thanks to its stunning visuals and the questions it raised over the nature of humanity.

Ford said the development of technology made the questions raised in the film ever more relevant, pointing out that scientists are fast developing techniques to grow embryos to term in labs.

"It's only moral constraints that keeps science from growing a human being in a laboratory," he said.

"We could continue the process to grow reproduce, not in the fun way, but in a lab with ownership rights to the product.

"And what is that? That's slavery again."

The update looks set to return to the original film's themes and is expected to be one of the major blockbuster hits of the year.

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