Career: In 1959, Rigg signed a five-year contract with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Her move to TV came in 1965 when she was offered the role of Emma Peel in The Avengers, but the demand for interviews and photographs proved too much, forcing her to quit in 1967. She went on to star in various movies, including On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Julius Caesar and The Great Muppet Caper, but by the 1980s her screen success was fading. However, she returned to form in 1989 in the award-winning miniseries Mother Love, and has appeared continually on stage, film and TV ever since. In 2013, she made a memorable Doctor Who villain alongside Matt Smith and her real-life daughter Rachael Stirling, and has a regular role in the acclaimed Game of Thrones.

Career: McCallum became an assistant stage manager, but National Service interrupted his career. He made his film debut in 1957's These Dangerous Years, and appeared in numerous British movies before moving to Hollywood in the early 1960s. He landed roles in Billy Budd and The Great Escape but it was his performance as Illya Kuryakin in The Man from UNCLE that made him a household name in 1964. The series ran until 1968, and a spin-off TV movie was made in 1983. He also released four albums in the 1960s. Other major projects include Colditz, The Invisible Man, Sapphire and Steel, Mother Love, Hear My Song, and Cluedo. Since 2003, he has starred in popular American drama NCIS, playing forensics expert Dr Donald 'Ducky' Mallard.

Career: After impressing in his breakthrough role, Wilby subsequently appeared in a miniseries based on A Tale of Two Cities, and co-starred with Emma Thompson and Anthony Hopkins in another acclaimed Merchant/Ivory adaptation of EM Forster, Howards End. Though the rest of Wilby's 1990s movies were not as impressively received, he continued to work regularly, turning up in Immaculate Conception, the First World War drama Regeneration, the children's movie Tom's Midnight Garden, and as the bitter lord of the manor in Ken Russell's TV project Lady Chatterley. Wilby reunited with Ismail Merchant in the producer's directorial effort Cotton Mary. He subsequently appeared among the distinguished ensemble populating Robert Altman's Oscar-winning period piece Gosford Park, Midsomer Murders, Poirot and The Great Train Robbery. He also continues to work on stage.