Career: Hopkins's first professional work was on stage. He later joined Laurence Olivier's National Theatre, but left to make acclaimed movie The Lion in Winter. A steady stream of TV and film work followed (as well as some theatre appearances), including War and Peace, The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case, The Bunker, A Bridge Too Far, The Elephant Man, and Across the Lake. But Hopkins didn't become a major Hollywood star until after giving up alcohol. He won an Oscar for 1991's The Silence of the Lambs, and since then has starred in such hits as The Remains of the Day, Howards End, Hannibal, Shadowlands, Thor and Hitchcock.

Career: Colman's first TV work came in the series Bruiser in 2000, and was followed by appearances alongside her old friends David and Robert in The Mitchell and Webb Situation sketch show. She had a brief role in The Office, but it wasn't until Peep Show, Look Around You and Green Wing came along that people started to sit up and take notice. Since then she's featured in Hot Fuzz, That Mitchell and Webb Look, Beautiful People, Doctor Who, Twenty Twelve and Rev. More recently she made the move from comedy to drama in The Iron Lady, the hugely acclaimed Tyrannosaur and Hyde Park on Hudson. In 2013, she starred in the acclaimed ITV drama Broadchurch, which won her a Bafta TV award for Best Actress.

Career: Poots made her TV acting debut in an episode of Casualty in 2004. A non-speaking role in the movie V for Vendetta (2005) was followed by a breakthrough part in 28 Weeks Later (2007). Since then, she has appeared in Me and Orson Welles (2008), Jane Eyre (2011), Fright Night (2011), A Late Quartet (2012), The Look of Love (2013), Filth (2013) and Need for Speed (2014). Her TV credits include the 2011 remake of Bouquet of Barbed Wire.

Career: Sewell made his film debut in 1991's Twenty-One and first appeared in the West End a year later in the play Making it Better, winning numerous plaudits. Other stage credits include Translations, Macbeth, Luther and Tom Stoppard's acclaimed Arcadia. His role in TV's Middlemarch made him a heart-throb in 1994. Since then, he's made regular appearances on the small and big screens in such productions as Dark City (1998), Martha Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence (1998), Cold Comfort Farm and A Knight's Tale (2001). More recently, he played Dr Jacob Hood in Eleventh Hour, Tom Builder in The Pillars of the Earth and the lead role in Zen.

Career: Dharker got her breakthrough when she played the lead character Malli in The Terrorist (1998). She gained more international recognition when she played Queen Jamillia in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002). After that, she appeared in various TV series, including Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee, Waking the Dead and an episode of Doctor Who. From 2008 to 2009, she played Tara Mandal on Coronation Street. She also played doctor's wife Kamini Sharma in the comedy drama series The Indian Doctor from 2010 until 2013. Since then, she has appeared in such TV series as Waterloo Road, Indian Summers and Holby City. Away from the screen, she has had theatre roles, including in Royal Shakespeare Company productions of Arabian Nights, Othello and A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Career: Gatiss eventually settled in London, where he hoped to earn a living as an actor but made ends meet writing Doctor Who books. He and friends Steve Pemberton, Reece Shearsmith and Jeremy Dyson formed The League of Gentlemen in 1995, which had successful stints on stage, radio, TV and film. Since then he's appeared in Bright Young Things, Marple, The Quatermass Experiment, Nighty Night and Jekyll. Gatiss was also script editor on the first Little Britain series, and has penned episodes of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) and Doctor Who (in which he's also appeared). He portrayed Malcolm MacLaren in the 2010 drama Worried About the Boy and co-created Sherlock with Steven Moffat.