Career: Made his TV debut in 1956 in The Adventures of Robin Hood. A variety of stage, film and TV roles followed in the 1960s and 1970s. His big break came in his late forties when he landed the role of Jerry Leadbetter in The Good Life, and in the 1980s he cemented his position as a household name playing politician Jim Hacker in the acclaimed sitcoms Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister. While making Yes, Prime Minister, Eddington was diagnosed with a rare form of skin cancer that eventually claimed his life. He continued to work and went on to appear in The Camomile Lawn in 1992. He died on November 4, 1995 at the age of 68.

Career: Hawthorne returned to England in 1951 and landed a job as an assistant stage manager in Buxton, Derbyshire. Later the same year, he made his London stage debut in You Can't Take It With You, but found other roles hard to come by. In 1957 he returned to South Africa and managed to secure a number of leading roles. He came back to London in 1962 and made his first West End appearance in Talking to You. He made his Broadway debut in 1974 in As You Like It and won a Tony Award in 1991 for his role in Shadowlands. In a varied career, he mixed his stage work with appearances in a number of TV shows and films. He won four Bafta TV awards for his work on Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister, and was awarded Bafta film gongs for The Madness of King George (1994) and The Fragile Heart (1996). He was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on The Madness of King George. He was knighted in 1999. He died from a heart attack on December 26, 2001 at the age of 72.

Career: Fowlds made his stage debut in the West End in The Miracle Worker and continued to win stage work and small roles in films before he became known to millions as Mr Derek in children's series The Basil Brush Show, which ran from 1969 to 1973. His big break came in 1980 when he landed the role of Bernard Woolley in BBC sitcom Yes, Minister and its sequel Yes, Prime Minister. He went on to play Oscar Blaketon in long-running ITV police drama Heartbeat from 1992 until 2010.

Career: Bill started touring with the likes of Phill Jupitus and Mark Lamarr, before forming a double-act in 1989 with Martin Stubbs. His big break came in 1995 with the show Bill Bailey's Cosmic Jam, a performance of which was filmed and broadcast on Channel 4. In 1998, he scooped his own comedy show on the BBC, Is It Bill Bailey?, and enjoyed a series of successful guest slots on shows such as Have I Got News for You. Bill also starred in Dylan Moran's Channel 4 sitcom Black Books, before taking over from Sean Hughes as a captain on Never Mind the Buzzcocks in 2002. He's a regular on quiz show QI, and has also enjoyed other acting roles in the likes of Jonathan Creek and Fifteen Storeys High. His big-screen CV includes the movies Saving Grace and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, while his cameo in Hot Fuzz was very well-received. He also continues to tour with his stand-up, selling out arenas all over the world, and has begun a separate career as a presenter of wildlife shows, including the ITV series Baboons with Bill Bailey.