Career: Shaw's first major TV role was in a 1967 episode of Coronation Street. Keen on Shakespeare, he appeared in a TV movie of Hamlet, and Roman Polanski's 1971 film Macbeth. After impressing TV executives with his performance alongside Lewis Collins as Purdey's ex-fiance in The New Avengers, he landed the part of Doyle in The Professionals. When it was axed after four years in 1981, he went back to the stage. In 1993 he returned to TV with The Chief, and three years later starred in BBC mega-flop Rhodes. Since then, he's appeared in The Scarlet Pimpernel, A&E, Judge John Deed, Death in Holy Orders, Inspector George Gently, Apparitions and picked up a Tony nomination for a Broadway production of An Ideal Husband.

Career: Suchet's first professional engagement was in theatre in Chester, followed by a stint at the RSC. His TV career took off in the late 1970s, thanks to roles in The Professionals and Tales of the Unexpected. Bigger parts on the small and big screens followed, including Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, A Tale of Two Cities, Blott on the Landscape and Executive Decision. He began playing Poirot, the role that made him an international star, in 1989. Since then he's appeared in such acclaimed projects as The Way We Live Now, NCS Manhunt, Maxwell, Live from Baghdad, Henry VIII, The Bank Job and Going Postal, as well as numerous stage roles.