Career: Clarke made his TV debut in the late 1960s, and went on to appear in episodes of Coronation Street, The Avengers, Callan, and The Virgin Soldiers before getting his big break with a prominent role in the controversial A Clockwork Orange in 1971. A variety of TV and movie work followed, including Shelley, SOS Titanic, Ishtar (alongside his namesake, Beatty) and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. High-profile roles later came in The Manageress, ID, The Mystery of Men, The Deputy, and Down to Earth. He became a household name thanks to a starring role in Dalziel & Pascoe, which first aired in 1996. He also appeared in Bleak House, Christmas at the Riviera, The Invisibles, Red Riding, Just William, and In with the Flynns. He died peacefully in his sleep on November 12, 2014 at the age of 67.

Career: Tomlinson's big break came when he landed the role of Bobby Grant in Channel 4 soap opera Brookside. He stayed with the show for six years until 1988, after which he featured in Ken Loach's gritty drama Riff-Raff. TV projects since then have included Roughnecks, Cracker, Playing the Field and Clocking Off, while his film CV boasts offerings such as The 51st State and Mike Bassett: England Manager. He became a comedy icon 1998 thanks to his role in the comedy series The Royle Family. He opened his own cabaret club, The Green Room, in Liverpool in May 2010. He has reportedly donated £1million to the Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool.

Career: One of McArdle's most notable roles is Billy Corkhill from Brookside, a role he played from 1985 until 1990. Following this, he appeared in a number of soap operas and dramas, including Gallowglass, Firm Friends, Merseybeat and The Bill. He played Oliver Mead, Christopher Mead's father, in Waterloo Road in 2010. In 2016, he joined the cast of Emmerdale as Ronnie Hale.

Career: King appeared in Alas Smith and Jones, a Robbie Coltrane Special, Hale and Pace and the sitcom Babes in the Wood, but is still best known for her role in Emmerdale, where she spent 10 years playing Kim Tate. After leaving the soap in 1999, she took time off to concentrate on her horse-racing syndicate. Her TV credits include a recurring role on Bad Girls and guest appearances in Dalziel and Pascoe, Hollyoaks, Holby City, The Royal and Casualty. She finished sixth in the 2006 series of Strictly Come Dancing. In the summer of 2014, she entered the Celebrity Big Brother house, but left on day 14 to receive medical attention. King has also joined Coronation Street, playing Liz McDonald's friend Erika Simmonds.

Career: Alan Bennett's internationally successful play and film The History Boys boosted his profile. He co-hosted Big Brother's Big Mouth in 2007, the same year he re-teamed with Fat Friends' Ruth Jones to pen and star in BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey, which was a huge, Bafta-winning hit. Corden also worked with Gavin & Stacey's Mathew Horne on sketch show Horne & Corden and the film Lesbian Vampire Killers. In 2010, he fronted a series of comedy chat shows for ITV1 revolving around that year's World Cup. Since then he has hosted Sky1's sporting quiz A League of Their Own and appeared in Doctor Who, The Wrong Mans, The Three Musketeers, One Chance and Gulliver's Travels. He has also been the subject on Piers Morgan's Life Stories and hosted the Brits. He returned to the stage in 2011 in the critically acclaimed One Man, Two Guvnors.