Career: While still presenting, Brydon ventured into comedy, and made ends meet by providing voices for adverts and animations. A small role in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels inspired him to make a short film of his comic characters; series of Marion & Geoff, A Small Summer Party and The Keith Barret Show followed. Other credits include Director's Commentary, Human Remains, Supernova, A Cock and Bull Story, Little Britain, Annually Retentive and Gavin & Stacey. He's also hosted his own BBC chat show and has chaired the comedy panel show Would I Lie to You? since 2009. In 2010, he starred alongside Steve Coogan in the partially improvised BBC Two sitcom The Trip and has since appeared in its follow-up.

Career: After graduating, Mitchell worked an usher at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. He and Webb took a number of shows to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival before being asked to write for Alexander Armstrong and Ben Miller and for surreal comedy series Big Train. In 2001, they made their first sketch show, The Mitchell and Webb Situation, which ran for six episodes on the now-defunct cable channel Play UK. Their next project came in 2003, with the award-winning Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show. They've also worked together on That Mitchell and Webb Sound, That Mitchell and Webb Look and the film Magicians. Solo, Mitchell has appeared on 10 O'Clock Live and numerous panel shows, including Would I Lie to You?, where he's a regular team captain. His autobiography, Back Story: A Memoir, was published in 2012.

Career: His success as a stand-up was crowned when he won an award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He came to the attention of TV bosses after a stint on the radio. Lee was cast in The Sketch show alongside long-term collaborator Tim Vine. After a short-lived stint presenting They Think It's All Over, Mack and Vine began work on Not Going Out. The series revolves around two friends with opposite backgrounds and personalities, much like the two comics themselves. Mack has recently become a regular on comedy panel shows such as Would I Lie to You? and Have I Got News for You. He also has sell-out tours and best-selling DVDs to his name.

Career: O'Leary got his big break as a DJ on BBC Radio Essex. He gave that up to be a TV runner working on the series Century Road, about a street in Walthamstow. He later landed a presenting slot on Sunday show Fully Booked. Following a move to Channel 4, he hosted T4 before fronting Big Brother's Little Brother in 2001. He has his own production company called Murphia and has helped to launch Cafod's youth-fundraising scheme, Fast Track. His other TV credits include SAS: Are You Tough Enough?, UK Music Hall of Fame, Shattered and the National Lottery quiz 1 vs 100. He also presents his own show on Radio 2 and, of course, ITV's The X Factor.

Career: Like bread and butter, Giedroyc and Sue Perkins go well together - in fact, they're almost inseparable in professional terms. They were a hit at the Edinburgh Festival in 1993, and went on to write scripts for French and Saunders before presenting comedy chat show Light/Late Lunch and RI:SE. She was also in the children's sketch show Sorry I've Got No Head. More recently she has scored another hit with The Great British Bake-Off, alongside Sue, and daytime ITV show, Mel and Sue. Her radio work has included The 4 O'Clock Show on Radio 4 Extra.

Career: In 2011, Widdicombe performed his debut solo show in Edinburgh and was nominated for an Edinburgh Comedy Award in the best newcomer category. Since 2012, he has been a regular on Channel 4's The Last Leg, alongside Adam Hills and Alex Brooker. He has also appeared on Mock the Week, QI and Have I Got News for You.

Career: Dawson's career as a scrum-half took off when he was selected to play for England in 1995. During his time with the squad, he was a member of the victorious 1997 British Lions tour, captained the English national side in 2000 and was a member of the team that won the World Cup in 2003. A year later, he left Northampton and moved to London Wasps. In 2006, he announced his retirement from the sport. Two years earlier he had begun his assault on TV, joining the long-running quiz A Question of Sport as a team captain. The year he gave up rugby saw him take part in cookery show Celebrity MasterChef, which he won, and Strictly Come Dancing, where he was beaten into second place by Mark Ramprakash. More recently, he has presented Monster Munchies for the Good Food channel and Real Food Family Cook Off on Channel 5.