Career: By the age of seven, Knightley had made her TV debut in the drama Royal Celebration, but during the 1990s, she was only allowed to act during the summer holidays. Her first high-profile role was playing Natalie Portman's handmaiden in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, but it was Bend It Like Beckham that proved to be her breakthrough. In the same year, she appeared in a mini-series version of Doctor Zhivago, and in 2003 featured in Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, and Love Actually. Subsequent films have included King Arthur, Pride and Prejudice (for which she was Oscar-nominated), two of the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels, Atonement, The Duchess, Never Let Me Go, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, Begin Again, and Say When.

Career: Smith's first professional roles came in the plays Fresh Kills, opposite Christian Slater, and On the Shore of the Wide World. He appeared with Slater again in Swimming with Sharks, and also featured in The History Boys. He was part of the Olivier Award-nominated cast of That Face. His TV roles include The Ruby in the Smoke, The Shadow in the North and Secret Diary of a Call Girl, all alongside ex-Doctor Who assistant Billie Piper. He also starred in political drama Party Animals, and made his debut as the 11th Doctor Who in 2010. He was the youngest actor to play the part, but will bow out at Christmas, when he'll be replaced by Peter Capaldi. Other projects include Christopher and His Kind, Bert and Dickie, Womb, and the forthcoming How to Catch a Monster. He will return to the West End stage in 2014 to play the lead in a musical version of American Psycho.

Career: In 2004, Goode made his film debut in Chasing Liberty opposite Mandy Moore. Since then, he has starred on the big screen in Match Point (2005), Brideshead Revisited (2008), Watchman (2009), A Single Man (2009), Leap Year (2010), Cemetery Junction (2010) and Stoker (2013). He returned to TV with roles in Birdsong, The Poison Tree, Dancing on the Edge and Death Comes to Pemberley.

Career: Ifans spent 18 months at the National Theatre and has also appeared at Manchester's Royal Exchange theatre. His first TV appearances were in Welsh-language programmes for S4C. In 1995, he made his movie debut in Streetlife. Two years later he appeared on the small screen in The Sin Eater and Trial and Retribution, and starred in the film Twin Town with his brother. Notting Hill made him a star in 1999. Since then he's featured in Kevin and Perry Go Large, Little Nicky, The 51st State, The Shipping News and Vanity Fair. His recent work includes Enduring Love, Hannibal Rising, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, The Boat That Rocked, Greenberg, Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang, and The Amazing Spider-Man.

Career: Fiennes' film debut was in Wuthering Heights opposite Juliette Binoche in 1992. It was his performances in that and the acclaimed 1990 TV drama A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia that impressed Steven Spielberg so much he cast him in Schindler's List. That movie launched his Hollywood career and he was soon snapped up for Quiz Show, Strange Days, The English Patient, The End of the Affair and Red Dragon. In 1995, he won a Tony Award for his role as Hamlet on Broadway. More recently, Fiennes has worked in such diverse projects as Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, The Constant Gardener, The White Countess, In Bruges, The Reader, Clash of the Titans, Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang and four Harry Potter movies. He made his directorial debut with Coriolanus in 2011, and is the Bond franchise's latest M.

Career: Greig achieved a cult following playing Debbie Aldridge in The Archers on Radio 4 and had early TV roles in Blue Heaven, Neverwhere, Faith in the Future and Wycliffe. In 2000, the sitcom Black Books helped boost her profile. She had a cameo in 2004 movie Shaun of the Dead, and in the same year appeared in the first series of cult medical sitcom Green Wing, for which she received a Royal Television Society award and a Bafta nomination. She's also featured in Doctor Who and took a key role in romantic comedy- drama Love Soup. Stage credits include the Royal Shakespeare Company's Complete Works Festival. Greig won a Laurence Olivier Award for her role in Much Ado About Nothing. Recent TV work includes the sitcoms Friday Night Dinner and Episodes, and black comedy series Inside No 9.