Career: After stints in local theatre, Jason graduated to TV, joining Michael Palin, Eric Idle and Terry Jones for Do Not Adjust Your Set in 1967. In the early 1970s, he appeared in the films White Cargo and Under Milk Wood and played the lead in TV comedy A Sharp Intake of Breath, before being cast opposite Ronnie Barker in the popular sitcom Open All Hours. He worked with the comedian again in 1975 in Porridge when he played old man Blanco, a performance that prompted producers to invite him to audition for the role of Grandad in Only Fools and Horses in 1981. The show's makers decided to cast him as Del-Boy instead after noticing his obvious chemistry with on-screen brother Nicholas Lyndhurst. It turned him into a household name. In the 1980s, he also provided the voices for animated children's favourites, including Danger Mouse and Count Duckula. Jason's huge success continued in the 1990s with The Darling Buds of May and A Touch of Frost. Even though he retired from the role of Det Insp Jack Frost in 2008, after playing the character for 16 years, he claimed to have no plans to retire himself from acting. His recent work includes The Royal Bodyguard and Still Open All Hours.

Career: Ferris first made an impact in the 1985 drama series Connie. Other than The Darling Buds of May, she has also appeared in TV shows Hardwicke House, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Paradise Heights, Where the Heart Is, Rosemary & Thyme, Gavin & Stacey and Grandma's House. A 'Jill of all trades', Pam has appeared in a number of Royal Court Theatre and Royal National Theatre productions, and in films like Matilda, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Children of Men, Nativity!, Telstar, and Malice in Wonderland. In 2012, she began playing Sister Evangelina in Call the Midwife.

Career: In 1991, Zeta-Jones became a household name in the UK after starring in the hugely popular The Darling Buds of May on TV alongside David Jason. She then played supporting roles in a variety of films, before Steven Spielberg spotted her and offered her a major part in The Mask of Zorro. Credits have since included The Haunting, Entrapment, High Fidelity and Traffic. In 2002 she won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in Chicago. Since then, she's appeared in The Terminal, Intolerable Cruelty and Ocean's Twelve. She reprised her role as Elena de la Vega in The Legend of Zorro. She returned to the stage in 2009 and won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance on Broadway in A Little Night Music.

Career: Massey's first roles came on the stage in the early 1950s. Her film debut was in Ford's Gideon's Way in 1958. Among her most famous movies were Peeping Tom, Frenzy, The Vault of Horror, Another Country, The Tall Guy and The Importance of Being Earnest. She won a Bafta for her role in 1986 TV movie Hotel du Lac. Other small-screen credits include Tales of the Unexpected, A Tale of Two Cities and He Knew He Was Right. She died on July 3, 2011, at the age of 73.

Career: While working at a local supermarket, she joined a theatre group in Bath and formed a double act with friend Jane Roth. Later, they joined forces with Rob Brydon and Ruth Jones in an improvisation troupe, before securing a role in a Radio 4 comedy with Arabella Weir. Introduced to Father Ted creators Arthur Matthews and Graham Linehan, she was cast in the sketch show Big Train, closely followed by Jam, Human Remains and Marion and Geoff. After three years of writing, her dark comedy Nighty Night hit our screens in 2004. She has since appeared in Love Actually, Nathan Barley, Confetti, and Four Lions.

Career: Harris made his film debut in the 1958 British comedy Alive and Kicking. Other roles followed in The Guns of Navarone and Mutiny on the Bounty before his first lead role came in 1963's This Sporting Life. Other movies followed, including The Heroes of Telemark, Major Dundee, Camelot, A Man Called Horse, The Cassandra Crossing and The Wild Geese. He appeared in a number of forgettable productions during the 1980s but returned to form in the 1990s with The Field, Patriot Games and Unforgiven. His later films included Gladiator and two Harry Potter films. He died in London on October 25, 2002, at the age of 72, following a battle with Hodgkin's disease.