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: Davies started to get noticed for his comedy as one third of sketch comedy group We Are Klang. His big break came in 2008 when he began playing schoolteacher Mr Gilbert in E4's hugely popular sitcom The Inbetweeners. In 2010, Davies's debut solo stand-up show, Firing Cheeseballs at a Dog, was nominated for the prestigious Edinburgh Comedy Award, which led to a sell-out nationwide tour. His second solo tour, The Back of My Mum's Head, was another sell-out national tour. He plays the lead role in popular Channel 4 sitcom Man Down, a series he also co-writes.

Career: Malone worked for the London Symphony Orchestra from 2001 until 2009. He ran their youth choir and community choir. His big break came in 2006 when he presented the first series of The Choir on BBC Two. He was asked to create a choir from scratch at a comprehensive school in Middlesex. He auditioned 160 pupils for 30 places. After only nine months' training, he took them to China to compete in the 2006 World Choir Games. The series was a big success and since then he has presented various takes on the same format, including The Choir: Boys Don't Sing, The Choir: Unsung Town, The Choir: Military Wives, and Sing While You Work. He has also made a version of The Choir for the American market and appeared on Who Do You Think You Are?

Career: Abbington met her partner, fellow actor Martin Freeman, in 2000 on the set of TV movie Men Only. They have appeared together on screen in a number of productions such as The Debt, The Robinsons, The Good Night and Sherlock. Abbington's other credits include After You've Gone, Agatha Christie's Poirot, Harley Street, Psychoville, Case Histories, Being Human and Mr Selfridge.

Career: Osman has worked behind the scenes as an executive producer on a number of TV programmes, including Deal or No Deal, 8 Out of 10 Cats, and 10 O'Clock Live. As the UK creative director of TV production company Endemol, he pitched the quiz Pointless to the BBC. As a way of explaining the rules, he played the co-host during a run-through. He was asked to do the role for real when the show was commissioned. Pointless started on BBC Two in 2009 and was an immediate hit. It quickly made the switch to BBC One. Since being in the spotlight on Pointless, he has made guest appearances on QI, Have I Got News for You and Would I Lie to You? He also guest presented an episode of The One Show alongside Alex Jones.

Career: Jupitus left the civil service, and under the moniker Porky the Poet, started touring with different bands as their support act. While working the student circuit, he met Billy Bragg and Paul Weller, and became involved in the Labour Party-supporting Red Wedge movement. He had a short-lived job at record label Go! Discs. Jupitus directed music videos before landing a radio show on the BBC station GLR in 1995. He became a team captain on Never Mind the Buzzcocks in 1996, frequently appears on QI, has toured as a stand-up comedian, and hosted the breakfast show on BBC 6Music between 2002 and 2007. In 2009, he joined the West End cast of Hairspray, playing the role of Edna Turnblad. He also played King Arthur in a touring version of Spamalot in 2011.