Disney Plus GroupWatch is the perfect thing to beat lockdown woes

With many of us facing more time at home and restrictions on who can be in our houses, Disney has come up with a solution. Called GroupWatch it is a brand-new feature available on Disney Plus that allows up to seven people at a time to watch the same thing virtually.

According to Disney, the co-viewing playback feature will allow virtual friends to watch a movie in sync (not with NSYNC, that would be very different) so you can all react accordingly when Han definitely does shoot first.

Those reactions come in the form of emojis. There are six in total - “like”, “funny”, “sad”, “angry”, “scared” and “surprised”. If we're honest, they've missed a trick not naming them after the seven dwarves.

The way it works is that there is a GroupWatch icon, click this (on the web or mobile) and you can send out a link invite to your mates. Once the movie has started, you can pause for toilet breaks and the like so it's just like watching with people at home.

It's been a busy time for Disney Plus. Just this week it announced that it was reviving fantasy classic Willow as a limited TV series - the good news is that Warwick Davis is back for the show.

It also revealed that streaming is now its main focus, given cinemas the world round have closed and the footfall in theme parks is certainly suffering because of Covid-19.

• These are the best Disney Plus movies on the service right now
• Catch up with the best Disney Plus shows - including The Mandalorian which is back for a second season 30 October.