Career: Hodge's first acting job was playing a 37-year-old tart and old-age pensioner in alternate scenes of the same play. She is one of the few actresses to win critical regard, despite spending the bulk of her career in commercial theatre and TV. She played a ballet teacher in acclaimed Quentin Crisp biopic The Naked Civil Servant and also appeared in The Elephant Man. Other memorable TV roles include Rumpole of the Bailey, Jemima Short Investigates, The Life and Loves of a She Devil, and Rich Tea and Sympathy. Film roles include the Harold Pinter drama Betrayal, Bruce Willis flop Sunset and Julie Walters drama Before You Go. She played Margaret Thatcher in controversial drama The Falklands Play and stripped to the basics in the hit West End production of Calendar Girls. Her recent work has included playing Miranda Hart's mother in the comedienne's hit sitcom Miranda.

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.

Career: In 1960, Glover appeared in Androcles and the Lion and The Age of Kings, epic TV productions of classic works. His first movie was Tom Jones in 1963. Later in the decade he featured in numerous films and such classic TV shows as Z Cars, The Avengers, The Saint, Doctor Who and The Champions. Glover has rarely been out of work since. His most memorable parts have come in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, For Your Eyes Only and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. More recently he provided the voice of Aragog in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and has appeared in Waking the Dead, Trial and Retribution, and Game of Thrones.