Career: Whitehouse and Higson later moved in together on a London housing estate where they met Harry Enfield. When the latter's comedy character Stavros took off in the late 1980s, the pair were asked to write for him. Whitehouse also wrote for Vic Reeves, and took inspiration for other characters from the people he worked with in the building trade. He and Higson later devised the award-winning Fast Show. Since then he's been dubbed the world's greatest actor by friend and fan Johnny Depp. Other projects include Jumpers for Goalposts, Happiness, Help, Kevin and Perry Go Large, Harry and Paul, and Bellamy's People.

Career: Mortimer became involved with the act, which gained a cult following among celebrities. This led to Channel 4 series Vic Reeves's Big Night Out. Its success prompted him to give up his law career. A move to the BBC in 1993 saw Mortimer get equal billing for the first time. Since then, their shows The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer, Shooting Stars, Bang, Bang It's Reeves and Mortimer, and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) have been hits. They also penned and appeared in The All Star Comedy Show (with colleague Steve Coogan), and Vic and Bob in Catterick. For years he's claimed that he and Reeves are working on a sitcom about superheroes, but it's yet to see the light of day. Instead, their most recent project has been House of Fools for BBC Two.