Career: Flynn spent the 1980s playing small parts in a number of TV shows, including The Monocled Mutineer, the pilot of London's Burning, Flying Lady, Bergerac, Casualty and Boon. His big break came in 1991 when he began playing Paddy Garvey in popular ITV drama Soldier Soldier. After performing Unchained Melody in the series with co-star Robson Green, the pair were persuaded by Simon Cowell to release it as a single. It stayed at the top of the charts for seven weeks and sold more than 1.9 million copies. As Robson & Green, the duo released two chart-topping albums. At the height of his fame, Flynn disappeared from the spotlight and it would be almost a decade before he returned to the public eye. In 2003, he won rave reviews for his one-man show about Tommy Cooper. More recently, he has played Bronn in HBO drama Game of Thrones and Detective Sergeant Bennet Drake in BBC drama Ripper Street.

Career: Stage work was followed by TV roles in Boon, Pulaski and Casualty. She won a regular part in the series Les Girls. The film Diamond Skulls helped her land a role in Francis Ford Coppola's adaptation of Dracula, but few of her movies have built on that early promise. Other productions include The Krays, Splitting Heirs, An Ideal Husband, Love, Honour and Obey, and Soul Patrol. Frost also co-owned short-lived production company Natural Nylon with several of her celebrity friends.

Career: Although Smith had an uncredited role in 1970's Leo the Last, she didn't act professionally until the age of 50 when she was cast in Mike Leigh's Bleak Moments. She's rarely been out of work since, is equally at home in comedy and drama, and is now regarded as a national treasure. Among her projects are I Didn't Know You Cared, Russ Abbot's Madhouse, The French Lieutenant's Woman, A Private Function, The Vicar of Dibley, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Royle Family. More recently she appeared in the film City of Ember, and in 2006 published her autobiography, Our Betty.