Non-stop coitus, controversial nudity and shocking sex toys: steamy scenes in costume dramas have changed since Colin Firth got his shirt wet in Pride and Prejudice. Here is an outrageous history of small-screen sauciness

Outlander first sizzled our screens in 2014, with Vulture soon declaring that the period drama had “the best sex on television”. Its tale of second world war nurse Claire (Caitriona Balfe) time-travelling to 18th-century Scotland and falling in love with clansman Jamie (Sam Heughan) certainly earned the accolade. The wedding night episode features Claire reaching such an explosive orgasm that it requires smelling salts for viewers to get through. There’s a knee-trembling “castle cunnilingus” scene and, at one point, the extraordinary moment when Claire saves Jamie’s life by masturbating him. It has proved so popular that in 2026 its eighth (and final) season will air.

In the last year we’ve had shows such as Carême, about a Napoleonic-era celebrity chef who likes foreplay with a dollop of whipped cream, and orgy-filled Mary & George, about the lover of James I of England/James VI of Scotland. Outlander has even spawned a prequel, Blood of My Blood, about the entwining stories of Claire’s and Jamie’s parents, two couples who also enjoy time travel and sex. Sure enough, there’s a romp against a table less than half an hour in, a dizzying amount of hand brushes and a sex scene that clocks up nearly 10 long minutes. How did period dramas get so raunchy?

I opened the door and saw flames spreading fast. My daughter screamed, ‘Mummy!’

One morning in 2018, my husband Reuben told me about a nightmare he’d had the previous night. He’d been driving over the Hewitt Avenue Trestle, a bridge near our house in Everett, Washington in the US, crashed through the barriers into the estuary below, and had to decide which of our two children to save.

Two weeks later, I was getting Talia, then three, and Weston, 10 months, dressed, fed and out of the door to take them to preschool on my way to work.

Abundance is Rachel Reeves’s summer beach read, and with its optimistic ideas about energy and housing, it shows the left a possible way forward

Sheer joy. That’s how it felt watching England’s Lionesses romping gleefully across the pitch after their victory in Basel – not just because they won but because of the way they did it, with an exuberance and a resilience and an obvious love of playing together that makes them irresistible to watch. That 65,000 people came out in the drizzle for their homecoming parade down the Mall was testament not just to the deserved new popularity of women’s football but also to the longing for a national event that, even if only briefly, made us feel cheerful, expansive, as if all things were possible.

So it’s interesting that for her summer beach reading Rachel Reeves picked Abundance, the American journalists Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson’s blueprint for the more permanent rebuilding of hope and joy. It’s a pro-growth, techno-optimist rallying cry for progressives to reinvent themselves as purveyors of plenty and good times in contrast to the right’s crabby, mean-spirited “scarcity mindset” – which revolves around the belief that there isn’t enough good stuff to go round and therefore the priority is snatching it back off immigrants or the poor or whatever bewildered former ally Donald Trump accuses of ripping America off.

Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist

The superstar actor will release his latest film on YouTube so families who cannot afford cinema trips can watch

About ten years ago, Aamir Khan became troubled. Despite being one of Bollywood’s most bankable superstars for more than three decades, he realised that only tiny numbers of Indians were watching him on the big screen.

Indian cinema is widely adored and has an outsized influence on society but just 2-3% of its 1.4 billion people go to the cinema.

After a No 1 debut album, a Brit win and Mercury and Oscar nods, the pandemic and a devastating breakup paused the singer’s rising career. Now, she’s back with a new record and a newfound sense of peace

On Glastonbury’s Pyramid stage in June, Celeste appeared wearing smeared black eye makeup and a leather jacket moulded with the impression of feathers, latched at the throat. She evoked glamour and tragedy, a bird with its wings clipped. “My first album came out nearly five years ago and I didn’t expect it to take so long,” she said of its follow-up. “But I’m here now.”

Celeste broke through in 2020, her voice reminiscent of Billie Holiday’s racked beauty, but sparkling with a distinctly British lilt: a controlled, powerful vibrato that stirs the soul. Despite her jazz-leaning balladry not being obvious chart fodder, she became the first British female act in five years to reach No 1 with her debut album, Not Your Muse, which was nominated for the Mercury prize. She also won the BBC’s Sound of 2020 poll and the Brit award for rising star and was nominated for an Oscar for best original song (for Hear My Voice from The Trial of the Chicago 7) the year after – but her chance to capitalise on those accolades was stalled by the pandemic. She had to halt her touring ambitions. Of the years since, she says: “Sometimes you worry: are you on your path?”

Our tipsters choose charming pubs on rivers, canals and lakes from Cornwall to Cumbria
• Send us a tip on holidaying with teenagers – the best wins a £200 holiday voucher

During last month’s heatwave I was lucky to cool off at an outside table at the Mayfly on the River Test near Stockbridge. Sipping a refreshing pint while leaping trout splashed in the water gave the scene a feel of the perfect English summer day. There’s a nearby weir, and forests and fields stretch into the distance. The pub has friendly staff, plenty of tables and a river-based menu including “brown butter chalk stream trout fillet” (£20.50) plus pub classics. If the setting inspired you as it did me, there are vineyards nearby to explore and the timber-framed village of Wherwell is just a stroll along the towpath.
Joe

Delroy Walker’s relatives say they were initially told ‘your brother’s not British, or not British enough’ to receive help

The family of a “generous and loving” British man who was murdered in Jamaica are demanding answers over the British government’s “indifferent” response after the tragedy.

Delroy Walker, from Birmingham, was stabbed to death weeks after retiring to the Caribbean island where he was building his dream home. The 63-year-old charity worker was murdered by a “jealous” tradesman he employed to help decorate the property in preparation for a family visit in summer 2018.

Donald Trump orders 10% tariffs on goods imported from all countries bar those from 92 nations subject to higher levies; Mark Carney says Canada will ‘diversify’ its export markets

• Trump imposes tariffs of 10% to 41% on dozens of countries

• Trump signs order increasing tariffs on Canadian goods

• Full list of new tariff rates

Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand was hit with 15% tariffs.

The country’s trade minister Todd McClay said he was hoping to have talks with his US counterparts.

We will be making the case about why this shouldn’t have happened, and engaging very, very quickly again with US officials to clarify this and to seek changes around the new tariffs put on New Zealand exporters.

Verdict could could pave way for millions of motorists to claim compensation for mis-selling

The UK’s highest court is poised to give its verdict on the £44bn car finance scandal, which could pave the way for millions of motorists to claim billions of pounds in compensation for mis-selling.

The supreme court judgment, which will be handed down after financial markets close at 4.35pm on Friday, will decide whether or not to uphold a finding by the court of appeal in October that hidden commissions paid to car dealers by lenders were unlawful.

Yellow weather warning for wind in Scotland, Northern Ireland, north Wales and north of England from 6am

Storm Floris is forecast to bring unseasonably strong winds to the UK on Monday, the Met Office has said.

The strongest winds are expected during the afternoon and night across Scotland, with gusts of up to 85mph possible on exposed coasts and hills.