Career: While still presenting, Brydon ventured into comedy, and made ends meet by providing voices for adverts and animations. A small role in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels inspired him to make a short film of his comic characters; series of Marion & Geoff, A Small Summer Party and The Keith Barret Show followed. Other credits include Director's Commentary, Human Remains, Supernova, A Cock and Bull Story, Little Britain, Annually Retentive and Gavin & Stacey. He's also hosted his own BBC chat show and has chaired the comedy panel show Would I Lie to You? since 2009. In 2010, he starred alongside Steve Coogan in the partially improvised BBC Two sitcom The Trip and has since appeared in its follow-up.

Career: After graduating, Mitchell worked an usher at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. He and Webb took a number of shows to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival before being asked to write for Alexander Armstrong and Ben Miller and for surreal comedy series Big Train. In 2001, they made their first sketch show, The Mitchell and Webb Situation, which ran for six episodes on the now-defunct cable channel Play UK. Their next project came in 2003, with the award-winning Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show. They've also worked together on That Mitchell and Webb Sound, That Mitchell and Webb Look and the film Magicians. Solo, Mitchell has appeared on 10 O'Clock Live and numerous panel shows, including Would I Lie to You?, where he's a regular team captain. His autobiography, Back Story: A Memoir, was published in 2012.

Career: His success as a stand-up was crowned when he won an award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He came to the attention of TV bosses after a stint on the radio. Lee was cast in The Sketch show alongside long-term collaborator Tim Vine. After a short-lived stint presenting They Think It's All Over, Mack and Vine began work on Not Going Out. The series revolves around two friends with opposite backgrounds and personalities, much like the two comics themselves. Mack has recently become a regular on comedy panel shows such as Would I Lie to You? and Have I Got News for You. He also has sell-out tours and best-selling DVDs to his name.

Career: Holland's professional career began as a session musician, but in 1974 he became a founding member of the pop band Squeeze, but he left in 1981 to pursue a solo career. He also hosted TV show The Tube with Paula Yates from 1982 to 1987. He also rejoined Squeeze from 1985 to 1990, since when he's concentrated on his solo career with the 18-piece Rhythm & Blues Orchestra. In 1992 Holland began hosting Later... with Jools Holland, a hugely successful series that showcases musical talent from across the globe - it's still enormously popular, as is its New Year spin-off Jools' Annual Hootenanny.

Career: Walliams' TV debut came in Sky One's Games World in 1993. In 1995 he and Lucas teamed up for the first of three shows at the Edinburgh Festival. They also made Rock Profiles for UKTV, in which they parodied famous musicians. But it was Little Britain that made them stars in 2003; they followed it up with Come Fly with Me. Walliams has also appeared in films such as Run, Fatboy, Run, Dinner for Schmucks and The Look of Love, and on stage in No Man's Land. He's swum the English Channel, the Strait of Gibraltar with James Cracknell and a 140-mile stretch of the River Thames, all in aid of Sport Relief. Walliams joined the judging panel of Britain's Got Talent in 2012, and is the executive producer and star of the Agatha Christie adaptation Partners in Crime.

Career: TV roles followed for George in Hotel Babylon and Doctors, and she made her film debut in The Three Musketeers (2011). Her big break came in 2012 when she was cast as nurse Trixie Franklin in hugely popular BBC drama Call the Midwife. In August 2015, it was announced that she would be a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing.