Career: Smith rose to prominence on stage during the 1950s thanks to regular West End roles. Her first film, 1956's Child in the House, didn't set the box office alight, but she eventually gained international acclaim thanks to her role in Othello nine years later. She won an Oscar for 1969's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and has since appeared in such acclaimed productions as California Suite (for which she picked up another Academy Award), A Room with a View, and Gosford Park. She became a Dame of the British Empire in 1990. More recently, Smith gained a new fan base thanks to her role as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter movies, appeared in the films Ladies in Lavender and Keeping Mum, and TV series Downton Abbey. She has also battled breast cancer.

Career: Spall appeared on stage with Birmingham Rep and the Royal Shakespeare Company before his movie debut in 1979's Quadrophenia. His big break came playing Barry in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet in 1983. He received Bafta TV nominations for Our Mutual Friend, Shooting The Past and Vacuuming Completely Nude In Paradise. Other memorable projects include Secrets and Lies, Life Is Sweet, Topsy-Turvy, Vanilla Sky, Still Crazy, Frank Stubbs Promotes and several of the Harry Potter movies. He received an OBE in 1999. Always in demand, more recent work includes Pierrepoint, The Street, Enchanted, Oliver Twist, The Damned United, The Fattest Man in Britain, The King's Speech, The Syndicate, and Mr Turner.

Career: West enjoyed early success on the stage, and appeared in several movies, including Spice World and Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace before taking a break to join the acrobatic Argentinean circus De La Guarda. He then had a supporting role in Chicago before landing the part of drunken but lovable detective McNulty in hugely acclaimed TV series The Wire. West has also appeared in 300, Hannibal Rising and The Devil's Whore. In 2011 he received critical acclaim for his roles as TV news anchor Hector Madden in the 1950s-set BBC drama The Hour and serial killer Fred West in ITV1 drama Appropriate Adult. He also continues to appear on stage, most notably in his native Sheffield.

Career: Following a spell on stage, Bonneville made his TV debut in teen sitcom Dodgem. He spent the next few years dividing his time between theatre, TV and film work, having small parts in such projects as The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, Cadfael, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Tomorrow Never Dies, Bugs, and Mosley. He had a regular role in sitcom Holding the Baby, but finally became a recognisable face thanks to the movie Notting Hill in 1999. Since then he's appeared in The Cazalets, Madame Bovary, The Gathering Storm, Tipping the Velvet, Doctor Zhivago, Twenty Twelve, and Love Again. He won rave reviews for his role in the TV comedy Freezing and Filth: The Mary Whitehouse Story. However, he's become a TV superstar on both sides of the Atlantic in recent years thanks to his starring role in period drama Downton Abbey. Recent projects have included W1A and The Monuments Men.

Career: He completed his training in repertory theatre before making his West End acting début in A Touch of Spring by Sam Taylor at the Comedy Theatre. He has also played the Criterion, the Gielgud, the Vaudeville and the National Theatre. As an actor, he is probably best known for his portrayal of the incorrigible Lord Kilwillie in the popular series Monarch of the Glen. Other acting credits include Our Friends in The North, and Sharpe, alongside plenty of cinema hits. As a TV writer, he is responsible for creating scripts for Little Lord Fauntleroy, which won an International Emmy, and Bafta-nominated The Prince and the Pauper, which he also produced. Since his Oscar success with Gosford Park, he has written a novel called Snobs, and penned the scripts for West End musical Mary Poppins, the films Vanity Fair and Young Victoria, and the TV sensation Downton Abbey. He took up a seat in the House of Lords in 2011.