Things you didn't know about T2 Trainspotting (spoiler alert!)

The long-awaited Trainspotting sequel is released on 27 January.

With more than a week to go until the film's general release, fans may have their work cut out trying to complete avoid spoilers. If you don't want to know anything about the new film, look away now. But if you don't mind a few teasers, read on....

There are lots of near-death experiences.

Without giving anything away, there are a few miraculous escapes in T2, some genuinely terrifying moments and a few others that will have audiences wincing in pain.

Begbie hasn't mellowed with age..

He may provide many of the laughs in the sequel but Carlyle's character is even more brutal than before. But he also shows a vulnerable side for the first time and has a few relationships issues to grapple with after coming out of prison.

Scotland's secret shame is secret no more.

It has been a long time since the nation's religious divide was depicted on film - and it certainly hasn't been seen as it is in T2. Scotland's claims to be a more tolerant country than England take a bit of a beating in a surreal episode which tests out Ewan McGregor's vocal cords.

Edinburgh's secret sauna trade is not so secret either now.

If the images of Spud and Renton jogging through Holyrood Park and taking in the views of the city from Arthur's Seat are a dream for VisitScotland, the police chiefs who tried and failed to bring an end to the city's sex-for-sale saunas a couple of years ago are likely to get hot under the collar when they see what unfolds in T2.

Locationspotting.

It may have been obvious from the lengthy shoot last year, but - unlike the first film - Edinburgh dominates the screen in the sequel, and anyone from the city will have a field day spotting the locations, from the Banana Flats to the Central Bar on Leith Walk.

Moviespotting

As well as the umpteen subtle and not so subtle references to the previous film, I lost count of the number of nods to other cinematic classics, including Raging Bull and The Shining, as well as a close encounter in the woods for Renton and Sick Boy that had distinct echoes of Shallow Grave.

There's even more politics.

He may have had a lengthy spell behind bars but even Begbie has become interested in politics. And watch out for another rant from Renton in the unlikely environs of a certain famous Edinburgh department store.

There are lots of trains.

Real-life Trainspotters will have plenty to keep them occupied in Boyle's film, which he says has been inspired by both of Irvine Welsh's novels, rather than just his 2002 sequel, Porno. There's also a long-awaited explanation, especially for fans of the original film, of its title.

The gentrification game.

Leith Walk is almost unrecognisable since the original film was released in 1996 and the tensions over the gentrification of the area are tackled at various points in the film, particularly when two characters pose as slick property developers, in a scene which helps explain the title of the new film.