1st Application for Passport - well sort of, and interviews

I had a passport back in the early 80's and it's obviously long expired and after several house moves long lost. I needed a passport so explored what process I had to follow regarding the lost passport - which was I had to report it as lost. After a week I received a phone call from the Passport office saying they were unable to find any records of my last passport as 'there wasn't the computer systems back in the 80's' and was advised to apply as if it was a first passport - but include a covering letter explaining this when I sent in my documents, which I did, but fully expecting this to add a layer of confusion and delay despite the advice coming from the passport office!! So I applied on 21st Feb - now in the waiting for the documents delivered update (they were signed for on 23rd Feb), which I can see from this forum is normal. So my question is about the interview - are they interviewing everyone applying for a 1st passport or just selected applications and is this still being done by video link? Thanks.