Career: After becoming a cult favourite with Radio 4's On the Hour, Coogan made his TV breakthrough in 1993 with roles on Saturday Zoo and The Day Today. The former introduced his foul-mouthed Mancunian layabout Paul Calf, and the latter brought his most famous radio creation, Alan Partridge, to the small screen. He appeared in horror spoof Dr Terrible's House of Horrible and also made a handful of hit-and-miss films, including Terry Jones's version of Wind in the Willows, The Parole Officer and 24 Hour Party People. He's enjoyed success in America with such films as Around the World in 80 Days, A Night at the Museum and Tropic Thunder. In 2010 he appeared with Rob Brydon in contemplative BBC sitcom The Trip, and more recently in its sequel, The Trip to Italy. He also co-wrote and starred in Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa and Philomena.

Career: Front's comedy career took off with the Radio 4 show The Bobo Girls, the second series of which was produced by Armando Iannucci, with whom she's worked with numerous times since, most notably on The Thick of It. Other comedy projects include On the Hour, The Day Today, Absolute Power, The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer, The Spa and various Alan Partridge projects. Front has also dabbled in drama, with roles in The Rotters' Club, Kavanagh QC, Lewis, Jonathan Creek, and Humans.

Career: Specialising in comedy roles, Mackichan has appeared in Brass Eye, Knowing Me, Knowing You… with Alan Partridge, The Comic Strip Presents…, and Nathan Barley. She is best known for starring in Channel 4 sketch series Smack the Pony alongside Fiona Allen and Sally Phillips. On the stage, she has appeared in Joe Orton's farce Loot, Boeing Boeing, and Jumpy. She has also featured in a number of shows on Radio 4, including Doon Your Way, and The Nick Revell Show. More recently, she has starred in Plebs, Toast of London, and Psychobitches.

Career: While at university, Thomson met Steve Coogan, who secured him a job on Spitting Image. They would continue to collaborate on such programmes as Coogan's Run , the Paul and Pauline Calf video diaries (where he played Fat Bob) and Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge, which he also contributed to writing. In 1994, Thomson appeared in the BBC sketch series The Fast Show. He made guest appearances on various series such as Soldier Soldier, Playing the Field and Men Behaving Badly in the 1990s before being cast as Pete Gifford in the ITV hit comedy drama Cold Feet. He participated in the BBC series Comic Relief does Fame Academy and chalked up several TV shows before starring in another TV series, New Street Law, about a Manchester chambers. He has since appeared in Kingdom and Coronation Street.

Career: In 1988, he was offered a job by BBC Radio Scotland, presenting No' The Archie Macpherson Show and Bite the Wax. Armando moved to London a year later after applying for a producer's job. He had already earned a reputation as an edgy performer, but On the Hour and Knowing Me, Knowing You brought him into the limelight as a writer and producer. Since then, Armando has written and produced extensively on TV and radio, including The News Quiz, Quote… Unquote, Brass Eye, The Day Today and The Thick of It. He has presented The Saturday Night Armistice and his own self-titled show. A move into cinema with The Thick of It spin-off In the Loop gained recognition at the 2010 Oscars. His US sitcom Veep has been well-received, and he was part of the writing team for big-screen spin-off Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa.