Career: In 2008, MacKay starred alongside Daniel Craig in the film Defiance. A year later, he starred in The Boys Are Back. More recently, he has starred in Sunshine on Leith (2013), Pride (2014), Bypass (2014) and the miniseries The Outcast. In 2015, he played the lead role in the play Ah, Wilderness! at The Young Vic.

Career: Strong made his TV debut in a 1989 episode of After Henry and followed this up with a number of guest roles in the likes of The Bill, Inspector Morse, Prime Suspect 3 and Kavanagh QC. In 1996, he had a starring role in acclaimed BBC miniseries Our Friends in the North. Since then he has appeared in dozens of TV shows and featured in a number of films, including Revolver (2005), Syriana (2005), RocknRolla (2008), Kick-Ass (2010), Robin Hood (2010), Green Lantern (2011), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), John Carter (2012) and Zero Dark Thirty (2012). In 2013, Strong played a detective in short-lived AMC crime drama Low Winter Sun, reprising the lead role he played in the original 2006 British miniseries.

Career: Cumberbatch has divided his professional time between stage, film and TV. He's performed in various London venues, including the Royal Court and National Theatre, and in 2011 he shared the Olivier Award for Best Actor with his Frankenstein co-star Jonny Lee Miller. His first film was 2003's To Kill a King; projects since include Starter for 10, Amazing Grace, The Other Boleyn Girl, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and War Horse. His biggest successes, however, have come on TV in Hawking, The Last Enemy, Parade's End and, of course, Sherlock. He's also worked on The Hobbit movies and Star Trek Into Darkness.

Career: After graduating, Mays landed a number of small roles in such TV series as EastEnders, In Deep and The Bill as well as the film Pearl Harbor (2001). He starred in BBC drama Rehab in 2003. Mays then went on to land roles in such TV series as Top Buzzer, Funland, Plus One and Ashes to Ashes. He also had an appearance in an episode of Doctor Who. Mays had parts in such films as Atonement (2007), Made in Dagenham (2010) and The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011). As well as TV and film, Mays has had work in theatre, including six plays at London's Royal Court Theatre. More recently, he has had roles in TV series Line of Duty and Born to Kill, as well as Rogue One (2016).

Career: Firth worked steadily throughout the 1980s in notable projects such as Falklands drama Tumbledown, A Month in the Country (opposite Kenneth Branagh) and the period offering Valmont. But it was the 1995 costume drama Pride and Prejudice that made him a superstar. Since then, he's notched up roles in several successful films, including The English Patient, Fever Pitch, Shakespeare in Love, The Importance of Being Earnest, Girl with a Pearl Earring, Love Actually, both Bridget Jones movies, both St Trinian's films, The Accidental Husband, Mamma Mia! and A Single Man. It was 2010 movie The King's Speech that really consolidated his reputation. It garnered a number of glittering awards and Firth's Bafta Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role was consolidated by an Academy Award for Best Actor. Films since include Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Magic in the Moonlight.

Career: In 1990, Mendes became the artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse studio space in London's Covent Garden. He went on to stage productions of Assassins, Cabaret, Oliver!, The Glass Menagerie, Company, Habeas Corpus, Uncle Vanya and Twelfth Night. In 2003, he directed a revival of the musical Gypsy on Broadway. In 1999, he made his feature film directorial debut with American Beauty, which earned him an Academy Award for Best Director. He went on to direct the movies Road to Perdition (2002), Jarhead (2005), Revolutionary Road (2008), Away We Go (2009) and James Bond film Skyfall (2012). He returned to the stage in 2013 as the director of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He has signed up to direct the 24th James Bond film, which is due to be released in cinemas in 2015.