Career: Barker joined the Oxford Playhouse in 1951 and other theatrical work in the West End followed. His theatrical success led to radio work, and he featured in 300 episodes of radio sitcom The Navy Lark, which ran from 1959 to 1977. His big break on TV came in the late 1960s when he appeared alongside Ronnie Corbett and John Cleese on The Frost Report. Barker went on to star in Porridge, Open All Hours, and, with Ronnie Corbett, formed one of the best-loved double acts of the 1970s and 1980s as The Two Ronnies. He also appeared with Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn in the film Robin and Marian, a bleak version of the Robin Hood legend. Barker retired from acting in 1987 to run an antiques business, but returned briefly to star as Winston Churchill's butler in acclaimed 2002 TV movie The Gathering Storm, and alongside Maggie Smith in My House in Umbria in 2003. He died of heart failure at a hospice in Oxfordshire on October 3, 2005, at the age of 76.

Career: After stints in local theatre, Jason graduated to TV, joining Michael Palin, Eric Idle and Terry Jones for Do Not Adjust Your Set in 1967. In the early 1970s, he appeared in the films White Cargo and Under Milk Wood and played the lead in TV comedy A Sharp Intake of Breath, before being cast opposite Ronnie Barker in the popular sitcom Open All Hours. He worked with the comedian again in 1975 in Porridge when he played old man Blanco, a performance that prompted producers to invite him to audition for the role of Grandad in Only Fools and Horses in 1981. The show's makers decided to cast him as Del-Boy instead after noticing his obvious chemistry with on-screen brother Nicholas Lyndhurst. It turned him into a household name. In the 1980s, he also provided the voices for animated children's favourites, including Danger Mouse and Count Duckula. Jason's huge success continued in the 1990s with The Darling Buds of May and A Touch of Frost. Even though he retired from the role of Det Insp Jack Frost in 2008, after playing the character for 16 years, he claimed to have no plans to retire himself from acting. His recent work includes The Royal Bodyguard and Still Open All Hours.

Career: After marrying schoolteacher John Staff in 1951, she had two children and took a break from acting for 10 years. Fellow actor Gerald Harper, a friend from her rep days, persuaded her to return and she became an extra in TV. She appeared in a number of small roles until her big break came in 1973 when she was cast in the pilot episode of Last of the Summer Wine. Over 35 years, she appeared in 29 series of the long-running sitcom playing a broom-wielding, humourless battleaxe. During her time on Summer Wine, she also appeared in Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Crossroads. She had a recurring role as Mrs Blewett in Open All Hours. She starred in a revived version of Crossroads in 2001 but left after a year due to the soap's racy storylines. She died on December 13, 2008, at the age of 80.