Lovers Rock review – Steve McQueen throws the best party ever
Filled with rows, romance and sexual adventure, this story of an uproarious celebration in 80s west London is an audacious, euphoric experience
‘I’m a loner’: Gillian Jacobs on the snarky art of playing misfits
In Community, Girls and Love the actor has been an activist, an artist and an addict. As her new film, I Used to Go Here, opens, she talks about why she likes messy, complex characters
Cynthia Nixon: ‘Will Donald Trump leave quietly? I don’t know’
The actor who once ran to be governor of New York is political to her bones, passionate about trans rights, Black Lives Matter and the future of the left. She discusses the rise of Trump – and why she’s still optimistic
Line of Duty’s Rochenda Sandall: ‘There are so many dimensions to domestic abuse’
After her villainous role in the explosive police drama, the star is playing an isolated woman in Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads and an activist in Steve McQueen’s Small Axe
‘This show is just the start’: inside the BBC’s all-person-of-colour A Suitable Boy
It has 110 actors, is based on one of the longest books in English - and it’s the BBC’s first historical drama with no white characters. But some think the series doesn’t go far enough. We take a look behind the scenes
‘Mike Leigh’s office almost went up in flames’: casting directors tell all
As Bafta rewards scripted casting for the first time, those doing the choosing talk us through the process – from being flashed at in auditions to chasing would-be stars around with a tenner
Mrs America depicts one of feminism’s toughest battles – the fight against female misogynists
From Gloria Steinem to Shirley Chisholm, there were some brilliant women pushing for equal rights in the 1970s. In Phyllis Schlafly, they found a formidable foe, says Guardian columnist Suzanne Moore
Brave New World: London reimagined after a disaster
A firm of architects had fun designing a dystopian version of the capital for a drama based on Aldous Huxley’s classic starring Demi Moore
TV tonight: how prison can rehabilitate rather than just punish
A timely documentary looks at US prisoners, many of whom are from BAME communities, working to get degrees while incarcerated. Plus: Michaela Coel’s rollercoaster ride continues. Here’s what to watch this evening
How to watch police shows in the age of Black Lives Matter
The crime genre glorifies police violence but should we ban such shows, or reappraise them with a critical eye, asks Elias Rodriques, a PhD student and novelist
Claes Bang: ‘I’ve been watching a great Danish show … what was it called?’
The Dracula star talks about filming on Zoom, if he could play Bond and the only Kubrick film he’s never seen
Sex, lies and celluloid: how realistic is Netflix’s drama Hollywood?
It’s got orgies, arrests, scandals and eccentrics. But is the central story – about gay and black people triumphing in 1940s Tinseltown – realistic? We sift the ugly facts from glossy fiction
This week’s best culture, at home – from Korean ballet to a David Nicholls-inspired radio play
The Observer’s critics recommend the best new arts shows to enjoy on TV, on the radio and online
Himesh Patel: ‘It felt odd making a show about a pandemic’
The former EastEnders actor talks about shooting a pilot on a deadly virus, telling British stories with a difference – and how playing a bit part as a pigeon changed his career
How 1968 TV drama The Year of the Sex Olympics predicted our world
The desensitising effects of porn, the invasive voyeurism of reality TV, the passivity of mass consumerism … Nigel Kneale’s programme anticipated them all