Career: Robson started out at Newcastle's Live Theatre, and was spotted in BBC production A Night on the Tyne, which led to a regular role in Casualty. He then spent four years in Soldier Soldier, during which he began a successful singing partnership with co-star Jerome Flynn. The pair also starred together in Ain't Misbehavin' in 1997. Other projects include The Student Prince, Touching Evil, Grafters, Northern Lights, Wire in the Blood, Close and True, Being Human and Waterloo Road. A keen fisherman, he has filmed several series of Extreme Fishing with Robson Green, which has taken him across the globe. He also has a production company, Coastal.

Career: Hill went on to become one of British TV's most reliable character actors. The projects I, Claudius, Professional Foul and Pit Strike brought him great acclaim. However, it was Alan Bleasdale's 1980 series Boys From the Blackstuff that made him a household name. It brought him to the attention of director Peter Jackson who considered him for the role of Gandalf, before eventually casting him as King Theoden in The Lord of the Rings movies, The Two Towers and The Return of the King. On stage, Hill has appeared in A View from the Bridge, The Cherry Orchard and Macbeth. His other high profile roles on the big screen include parts in Gandhi, Shirley Valentine, The Bounty, The Ghost and the Darkness, Titanic, The Scorpion King, Wimbledon and Joy Division. On the small screen, he played David Blunkett in A Very Social Secretary to great acclaim.