Career: Following a spell on stage, Bonneville made his TV debut in teen sitcom Dodgem. He spent the next few years dividing his time between theatre, TV and film work, having small parts in such projects as The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, Cadfael, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Tomorrow Never Dies, Bugs, and Mosley. He had a regular role in sitcom Holding the Baby, but finally became a recognisable face thanks to the movie Notting Hill in 1999. Since then he's appeared in The Cazalets, Madame Bovary, The Gathering Storm, Tipping the Velvet, Doctor Zhivago, Twenty Twelve, and Love Again. He won rave reviews for his role in the TV comedy Freezing and Filth: The Mary Whitehouse Story. However, he's become a TV superstar on both sides of the Atlantic in recent years thanks to his starring role in period drama Downton Abbey. Recent projects have included W1A and The Monuments Men.

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.

Career: Dockery has worked extensively on the stage, appearing in Burnt by the Sun, Pygmalion and Hamlet. She made her TV debut in two-part BBC miniseries Fingersmith in 2005. Since then, she has starred in Hogfather, Dalziel and Pascoe, Heartbeat, Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1974 and Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1983, Waking the Dead, Return to Cranford and The Turn of the Screw. Her big break came in 2010 when she was cast as Lady Mary Crawley in the hugely popular Downton Abbey. More recently, she starred in miniseries Restless.

Career: McGovern's first film was Robert Redford's Oscar-winning directorial debut Ordinary People in 1980. She followed that with an Academy Award nomination in 1981's Ragtime. She also appeared in Sergio Leone's acclaimed Once Upon a Time in America in 1984. Despite this early promise, her career faltered. Her most memorable film roles since have come in She's Having a Baby, The Handmaid's Tale, A Shock to the System, The Wings of the Dove and The House of Mirth; she also starred in the first series of the BBC's 1999 adaptation of The Scarlet Pimpernel. She returned to the spotlight in 2010 when she starred in the hugely popular ITV drama Downton Abbey, playing Cora, Countess of Grantham. Away from acting, McGovern is the frontwoman of the band Sadie and the Hotheads.

Career: Smith rose to prominence on stage during the 1950s thanks to regular West End roles. Her first film, 1956's Child in the House, didn't set the box office alight, but she eventually gained international acclaim thanks to her role in Othello nine years later. She won an Oscar for 1969's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and has since appeared in such acclaimed productions as California Suite (for which she picked up another Academy Award), A Room with a View, and Gosford Park. She became a Dame of the British Empire in 1990. More recently, Smith gained a new fan base thanks to her role as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter movies, appeared in the films Ladies in Lavender and Keeping Mum, and TV series Downton Abbey. She has also battled breast cancer.