Career: Flynn spent the 1980s playing small parts in a number of TV shows, including The Monocled Mutineer, the pilot of London's Burning, Flying Lady, Bergerac, Casualty and Boon. His big break came in 1991 when he began playing Paddy Garvey in popular ITV drama Soldier Soldier. After performing Unchained Melody in the series with co-star Robson Green, the pair were persuaded by Simon Cowell to release it as a single. It stayed at the top of the charts for seven weeks and sold more than 1.9 million copies. As Robson & Green, the duo released two chart-topping albums. At the height of his fame, Flynn disappeared from the spotlight and it would be almost a decade before he returned to the public eye. In 2003, he won rave reviews for his one-man show about Tommy Cooper. More recently, he has played Bronn in HBO drama Game of Thrones and Detective Sergeant Bennet Drake in BBC drama Ripper Street.

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: Dyer's first film was 1999's Human Traffic and he followed this up with roles in a number of low-budget movies, including Borstal Boy (2000), High Heels and Low Lifes (2001), Mean Machine (2001), The Football Factory (2004), Adulthood (2008) and Vendetta (2013). Dyer had a lead role in Run for Your Wife (2013), which was savaged by film critics and only took £602 during its opening weekend. He has also appeared in a number of stage productions, including Celebration and No Man's Land, and has presented documentaries about football and hardmen. In 2013, he joined the cast of EastEnders as Mick Carter.

Career: She moved into comedy with a starring role in Absolutely Fabulous in 1992, and followed up this near-iconic role with parts in Martin Chuzzlewit, Kenneth Branagh's movie In the Bleak Midwinter and Lydia Bennet in the 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. In 2000, she had the major vocal role in Nick Park's animated caper Chicken Run, and she landed another significant part when she became the female lead in Jonathan Creek. Since then, she has favoured classic roles, winning rave reviews in Cranford and Lark Rise to Candleford.

Career: In 1977, Carter joined the National Theatre Company and a year later became a member of the Young Vic Company. In the same year, he went to America to learn juggling, unicycling and tightrope walking. Over the years, Carter has starred in a number of National Theatre productions, including The Mayor of Zalamea, Guys and Dolls and The President of an Empty Room. One of the busiest character actors around, his TV credits are numerous and include A Monocled Mutineer, The Singing Detective, A Very British Coup, Lipstick on Your Collar, Minder, Cracker, Midsomer Murders and Cranford. Equally prolific on the big screen, he has starred in A Private Function (1984), Brassed Off (1996), Shakespeare in Love (1998), 102 Dalmations (2000), Ella Enchanted (2004), The Golden Compass (2007) and My Week with Marilyn (2011). In 2010, he began playing butler Mr Carson in the hugely popular Downton Abbey, a role that has brought him international recognition.