Ayesha Dharker: ‘I try to talk directors out of casting me’

She ducks auditions, doesn’t call agents back and says she was upstaged by her outfit in Star Wars. Yet Ayesha Dharker has a career that spans everything from soaps to Shakespeare. Ryan Gilbey meets her

UK period drama scores Emmy nominee success with Downton and Wolf Hall

Mark Rylance, David Oyelowo and Ricky Gervais competing for best actor as Downton Abbey continues US television awards success with three nominations

Casualty Sin City: the soft-boiled Frank Miller homage no one expected

Noir comes to Holby as the veteran hospital drama tries its hand at something a little out of the ordinary. But can such tricksy pastiches revive a flagging patient?

Glitch actor Patrick Brammall on the fine line between being drunk and undead

Star of Ruben Guthrie and ABC TV series Glitch, Brammall on resurrecting Elvis, Australian gothic and why television online is more radical and raw

Show me the bunny! Fatal Attraction is being turned into a TV show

The movie that seemed to capture – negatively – 80s society has been commissioned as a TV drama by Fox. But is a story about a guy having huge regrets about an affair enough to sustain a series?

Ryan Corr on Banished, Holding the Man and gay marriage

The star of the BBC period drama on its lack of Indigenous characters, taking career advice from Russell Crowe, and the march towards marriage equality

Keep off the pitch: why football makes bad art

Why do so few football transfers to stage and screen hit the back of the net? With Patrick Marber’s new changing-room drama at the National Theatre and Bend It Like Beckham in the West End, we wave a red card

Lee Pace interview: ‘Halt and Catch Fire is about people, not computers’

The Guardians of the Galaxy star is back for a second series as Joe MacMillan, the ruthless visionary in AMC’s drama about the PC revolution. He explains why he likes playing bad guys – and how much his character is based on Steve Jobs

Jill Hyem obituary

Actor and writer who scripted the hit TV series Tenko, a drama about the lives of women imprisoned in a Japanese internment camp

Spooks in hot pursuit of Avengers at the UK box office

Loyal fans of the TV spy series turn out to greet its arrival on the big screen, but Age of Ultron’s superheroes reign supreme for a third week

Spooks moves to big screen – but how successful will it be?

BBC spy drama drew 6 million viewers at its explosive close in 2011 – now the tension mounts again as a film version is released

Cate Blanchett attacks media over awards ceremony frock coverage

The Australian actor reiterates her distaste for fashion-focused interviews with female stars on red carpets before awards

Lee Daniels hip-hop drama Empire heading to E4

The acquisition comes after massive ratings success in the US, as well as a chart-topping soundtrack album overseen by Timbaland