Career: Aside from a lean period at the back end of the 1990s, Threlfall has rarely been out of work. His small-screen work includes roles in Mike Leigh's Kiss of Death, a 1984 staging of King Lear (opposite Laurence Olivier), Conspiracy and The Queen's Sister. His most famous on-screen character is that of chain-smoking patriarch Frank Gallagher, a role he held in Channel 4 drama Shameless between 2004 and 2013. Other projects include The Russia House, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Housewife 49, Hot Fuzz, Nowhere Boy and The Ark. He was also made a surprisingly good Tommy Cooper in the ITV biopic Not Like That, Like This.

Career: Early TV appearances included The Ward, Hetty Wainthropp Investigates and Picking Up The Pieces. Roles in Jonathan Creek and Coronation Street boosted her profile, but it was Victoria Wood's sitcom dinnerladies that really put her on the showbiz map. She also received acclaim for Clocking Off and sublime comedy Early Doors before landing the part of Veronica in Shameless. In recent years she's been much in demand, starring in Messiah, See No Evil: The Moors Murders, Little Dorrit, Red Riding and The Street. She is currently starring in the BBC legal drama Silk. Maxine has also enjoyed an extensive stage career, with roles in Hamlet, Robin Hood, Leaves of Glass, The Children's Hour, and The Deep Blue Sea. In 2012 she wrote her first radio play about Leeds cyclist Beryl Burton.

Career: Bisson went on to star in TV movie Prime Suspect 5: Errors of Judgement and an episode of crime drama The Cops. In 1999, he made his movie debut in East is East (1999) and his first appearance as Vikram Desai in Coronation Street. He stayed in Weatherfield until December 2002. His other TV credits include a recurring part in Shameless and guest roles on Holby City, Where the Heart Is, New Street Law and Casualty. In 2009, he joined the cast of Emmerdale, playing Jai Sharma, a role he continues to play.

Career: Hollis came to prominence in 2004 when she began playing shop owner Yvonne Karib in Shameless, a role she played for six years. Her other credits include guest appearances in Playing the Field, The Bill, Dalziel and Pascoe, Casualty, Waterloo Road, Holby City and Doctors. In 2011, Hollis made her first appearance as Ali Spencer in Emmerdale, a role she continues to play.