Career: Benton's big break came in the 1997 Mike Leigh film Career Girls. For the past decade he has barely been off our screens. He had a recurring role as Father McBride in the James Nesbitt series Murphy's Law. He has starred with Vic and Bob in their remake of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), Catterick, and Monkey Trousers. He was comedy gold in Craig Cash's Early Doors and The Booze Cruise trilogy. His biggest role was alongside Robson Green in Christmas Lights, Northern Lights, City Lights and Clash of the Santas. He was also a regular on Waterloo Road and is the host of game show The Edge. In 2013, he was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing.

Career: Joyner's big break came with the acclaimed drama Clocking Off. She went on to do a few other northern projects, including Fat Friends and Silent Witness, as well as the period miniseries North and South, before she bit the bullet and moved down to London. She then landed a role in nursing drama No Angels, and has been busy ever since. In 2005, Joyner played a Big Brother contestant in two episodes of Doctor Who, and also appeared in Spooks. She showed off her comedy skills in the sketch show Swinging (winning a Rose d'Or comedy award in the process), before landing the part of Tanya Branning in 2006. Despite her character taking a couple of prolonged breaks, she remains hugely popular with fans.

Career: O'Brien joined the cast of Coronation Street as the murderous factory boss in September 2007. The actor explained in an interview that he uses sense-memory technique, drawing on "something dark from the past", to emote his powerful performances. He stayed in Weatherfield until 2010. On the big screen, he played Prince Charles's valet in The Queen.

Career: West's big break on the small screen came in 1975 when he played the title role in Edward the Seventh. Since then he has demonstrated his versatility with roles in a BBC production of King Lear, ITV comedy Brass and the soaps Coronation Street and EastEnders. He has also made memorable guest appearances in the likes of A Very Peculiar Practice, Goodnight Sweetheart, Midsomer Murders, The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Waking the Dead, Not Going Out and Last Tango in Halifax. Although known primarily for his stage and small-screen performances, West has starred in a number of films, including The Day of the Jackal, Cry Freedom and Iris. A fan of boating, he has presented series about canals and narrowboating called Water World and Great Canal Journeys. The latter featured his second wife, Prunella Scales; their eldest son, Samuel, is also an actor.