Career: In the early 1970s, McKenzie took over one of the leading roles in Stephen Sondheim's Company. And so began a long association with Sondheim's work. Her big break came in the mid-1970s in the musical review Side by Side by Sondheim. It was a big success in London and New York. During the 1980s, McKenzie won an Olivier Award for her portrayal of Miss Adelaide in Guys and Dolls at the National Theatre. McKenzie has also worked extensively on TV, notably in Fresh Fields and its spin-off French Fields, Blott on the Landscape and Cranford. More recently, she has played the title roles in ITV drama Marple and one-off BBC children's drama Gangsta Granny.

Career: Collins' film debut came in 1951's Lady Godiva Rides Again. Later in the decade she moved to Hollywood to make more movies and US TV series, including Star Trek, The Man From UNCLE and Batman. She also starred in low-budget horrors such as Fear in the Night, and Tales That Witness Madness, and a series of famous adverts alongside Leonard Rossiter. The Stud and The Bitch - movie versions of her sister's novels - turned her into a sex symbol. She became an international star in 1981 thanks to glossy soap Dynasty. Since then she's starred in various TV movies and mini-series appeared on stage and turned to writing. She was awarded an OBE in 2007 for her lifetime contribution to the arts and her charity work and was made a Dame in the New Year's honours list.

Career: Wilton worked on the stage until 1972, eventually making her TV debut in An Affair of Honour. Her first film was 1977's Joseph Andrews. BBC sitcom Ever Decreasing Circles made her a household name in 1984; it ran for four series. She's also appeared on TV in The Monocled Mutineer, The Borrowers, Talking Heads 2, The Whistle-Blower, Lucky Jim and Falling. Movie work includes The French Lieutenant's Woman, Cry Freedom, Clockwise, Iris, Shaun of the Dead and Calendar Girls. Sci-fi fans will know her best from her role as British Prime Minister Harriet Jones in Doctor Who; the role was written specifically for her by Russell T Davies, with whom she'd previously worked on Bob and Rose. Her recent work includes The History Boys, Five Days, South Riding and Downton Abbey.

Career: Cox's earliest TV appearances were as an extra in cult TV series The Prisoner. He has been a mainstay in the world of TV and film ever since, popping up in Hammer House of Horror, Minder, Frasier and Deadwood. He played Hannibal Lecktor in Manhunter, Michael Mann's adaptation of Red Dragon. (The name was later spelled Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs). He has appeared in a string of major Hollywood offerings, including The Long Kiss Goodnight, X-Men 2, Troy, The Bourne Supremacy, Zodiac and Red. On the stage he has appeared in Titus Andronicus, Taming of the Shrew and King Lear. He has also voiced characters in the video games Killzone and Manhunt.

Career: Sayle first came to the attention of TV viewers in 1982 on the adult incarnation of Tiswas. Fronted by Chris Tarrant, OTT (Over the Top) lasted just a season, but nevertheless provided a good grounding for Sayle whose off-the-wall comedic spot proved memorable, if not overwhelming. Later that same year, a guest role in BBC sitcom The Young Ones reinforced his angst-ridden persona with audiences. Sayle proved well-suited to TV and Alexei Sayle's Stuff, his first starring vehicle, reached screens in 1988, and was well received. He racked up further appearances in Doctor Who and Lovejoy, and has given convincing performances on the big screen as the Sultan in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) and Achmed in Carry On Columbus (1992). He starred in the oddball sitcom Paris and resurrected his sketch show in the early 1990s. Sayle featured as impresario Charles Frobisher in the BBC's adaptation of the Sarah Waters novel Tipping the Velvet. Since then, his TV acting credits have included Keen Eddie, Agatha Christie's Marple and Holby City. His various novels have been acclaimed and he has fronted several BBC documentaries.

Career: In 2000, she landed the part of Virginia in At Home with the Braithwaites. That ran for four successful series. She also appeared in Casualty, David Copperfield, Sweet Revenge, Dalziel and Pascoe and Urban Gothic. While working on Sparkhouse with writer Sally Wainwright, Sarah became fascinated by her script about bus drivers, and eventually landed the eponymous role in Jane Hall. Her other projects have included Love Again, Murder Prevention, Funland, Wallander, Doctor Who, Fast Freddie, The Widow and Me, Death in Paradise and The Secret of Crickley Hall.

Career: Early TV appearances included The Ward, Hetty Wainthropp Investigates and Picking Up The Pieces. Roles in Jonathan Creek and Coronation Street boosted her profile, but it was Victoria Wood's sitcom dinnerladies that really put her on the showbiz map. She also received acclaim for Clocking Off and sublime comedy Early Doors before landing the part of Veronica in Shameless. In recent years she's been much in demand, starring in Messiah, See No Evil: The Moors Murders, Little Dorrit, Red Riding and The Street. She is currently starring in the BBC legal drama Silk. Maxine has also enjoyed an extensive stage career, with roles in Hamlet, Robin Hood, Leaves of Glass, The Children's Hour, and The Deep Blue Sea. In 2012 she wrote her first radio play about Leeds cyclist Beryl Burton.

Career: While working in repertory theatre, Ogilvy boosted his CV with a number of appearances in series such as The Avengers and Strange Report, and gained much popularity in Seventies programme Upstairs, Downstairs. He continued to work solidly in film and TV, most notably in I, Claudius. In 1978, he was given the starring role in The Return of the Saint, a show which made him a household name. He moved to America in the 1980s and appeared in a host of TV shows including Melrose Place, Diagnosis Murder and Murder, She Wrote. He also appeared in the movie Death Becomes Her.

Career: The show A One Night Stand with Sean Hughes toured the UK and Australia, as well as performances in Los Angeles, Montreal and Toronto. In 1991 he made a brief but memorable appearance in Alan Parker's acclaimed movie The Commitments as a record label executive, before writing and appearing in the aptly titled Sean's Show for Channel 4 a year later. Other TV programmes followed, including Sean's Shorts, but it was his six-year stint as a team captain on the irreverent music quiz Never Mind the Buzzcocks that made him a household name. His dramatic acting has included roles in Murder Most Horrid, Gormenghast, Girl on a Cycle, The Last Detective, Coronation Street, Agatha Christie's Marple, and Round Ireland with a Fridge.