Career: Thaw's first professional job came at the Liverpool Playhouse. His film debut came in 1962's The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, which starred Courteney. Thaw worked extensively on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre, and early TV roles came in Z Cars and Redcap. But it was The Sweeney, alongside Dennis Waterman, that made him a household name thanks to its uncompromising style. He switched to comedy with Home to Roost, but it was playing Inspector Morse that made him a national treasure. Almost everything he touched then turned to gold; he starred in top-rated dramas such as Kavanagh QC, Goodnight Mister Tom and Buried Treasure. He died in 2002 following a battle with cancer of the oesophagus.

Career: In 1985 Dinsdale landed a key role in Eric Chappell's sitcom Home to Roost, starring alongside John Thaw. It ran for five years and paved the way for Haggard, ITV's answer to Blackadder, also penned by Chappell. In 1995, he starred in ID, a movie about football hooligans, and a year later landed the role of DI Charlie Scott in detective drama Thief Takers. Other notable projects have included Kenneth Branagh's film version of Hamlet, Conviction, Life on Mars, The Chase and Coronation Street; he appeared in 175 episodes of the Weatherfield soap. Recent offerings have included roles in Taggart and Waterloo Road.

Career: After a spell as a model, Ash's big break came when she was cast in cult movie Quadrophenia in 1979. She then appeared in Nutcracker, The Curse of the Pink Panther and Dead on Time before starring in hit TV drama Cats Eyes in 1985. Since then, she's had roles in Haggard, Stay Lucky, and really hit the big-time with Men Behaving Badly. She also spent three years in Where the Heart Is.