Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino's Oscar-nominated, Spaghetti Western-inspired take on slavery and the antebellum Southern states starring Jamie Foxx and Samuel L Jackson, has aroused praise and controversy in almost equal measure.
No Quarter is the latest work by the young playwright Polly Stenham, known for her acute dissections of family life. This one examines the differing senses of responsibility within one family and stars Tom Sturridge and Maureen Beattie.
Murder in the Library is an engaging, small-scale exhibition on the detective novel at the British Library and features jigsaws, whodunnit kits with human hair and cigarette ends, and an original Sherlock Holmes manuscript.
The Starboard Sea is first-time novelist Amber Dermont's take on the campus novel and nautical literature, with frequent nods to Herman Melville. Set in the late 80s, its narrator, Jason Prosper, is a keen sailor who's been scarred by the death of a friend.
And Louie arrives on these shores... Mexican American comedian Louis CK's Emmy-awarded comedy will be shown on Fox. He's won praise from Ricky Gervais and is famous for trying to keep ticket prices down to his stand-up gigs. Will his humour work for a UK audience?
The novelist Kamila Shamsie, music journalist Paul Morley and literary critic Peter Kemp join Tom Sutcliffe. Producer: Sarah Johnson.