Career: Redmayne starred in a production of Twelfth Night at Shakespeare's Globe theatre in 2002 and two years later, he won an Evening Standard award for his performance in Edward Albee's The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? His TV credits include roles in Doctors, Elizabeth I, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, The Pillars of the Earth and Birdsong. His big break came in 2012 when he was cast as Marius Pontmercy in the big-screen version of Les Miserables.

Career: Hiddleston made his small-screen debut in the 2001 TV movie The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. A year later, he starred in the TV movie The Gathering Storm. After graduating from Rada, he made his film debut in Unrelated (2007). He is best known for playing the character Loki in the Thor movies and in The Avengers (2012). His other film credits include Archipelago (2010), Midnight in Paris (2011), War Horse (2011) and Muppets Most Wanted (2014). He won an Olivier Award in 2008 for his role in Cymbeline.

Career: Ayoade's breakthrough came when he and Matthew Holness created fictional horror author Garth Merenghi; a stage show featuring the character won the Perrier Award, which was followed by the Channel 4 series Garth Merenghi's Darkplace. Ayoade went on to appear in The Mighty Boosh, Nathan Barley, Bunny and the Bull, and The IT Crowd. He made his big-screen directorial debut with the acclaimed Submarine (which he also wrote, adapting it from the novel by Joe Dunthorne), and has since directed The Double as well as numerous music videos for acts such as the Arctic Monkeys, Super Furry Animals, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Kasabian. He's was a team captain on Channel 4 panel show Was It Something I Said? and took over as host of Gadget Man from Stephen Fry.

Career: Spall appeared on stage with Birmingham Rep and the Royal Shakespeare Company before his movie debut in 1979's Quadrophenia. His big break came playing Barry in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet in 1983. He received Bafta TV nominations for Our Mutual Friend, Shooting The Past and Vacuuming Completely Nude In Paradise. Other memorable projects include Secrets and Lies, Life Is Sweet, Topsy-Turvy, Vanilla Sky, Still Crazy, Frank Stubbs Promotes and several of the Harry Potter movies. He received an OBE in 1999. Always in demand, more recent work includes Pierrepoint, The Street, Enchanted, Oliver Twist, The Damned United, The Fattest Man in Britain, The King's Speech, The Syndicate, and Mr Turner.

Career: While still presenting, Brydon ventured into comedy, and made ends meet by providing voices for adverts and animations. A small role in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels inspired him to make a short film of his comic characters; series of Marion & Geoff, A Small Summer Party and The Keith Barret Show followed. Other credits include Director's Commentary, Human Remains, Supernova, A Cock and Bull Story, Little Britain, Annually Retentive and Gavin & Stacey. He's also hosted his own BBC chat show and has chaired the comedy panel show Would I Lie to You? since 2009. In 2010, he starred alongside Steve Coogan in the partially improvised BBC Two sitcom The Trip and has since appeared in its follow-up.

Career: Margolyes first gained recognition for her work as a voice artist. After early work providing vocals on soft-porn films, she performed most of the supporting female characters in the dubbed Japanese action TV series, Monkey. She also worked with the theatre company Gay Sweatshop. Margolyes' first major role in a film was as Elephant Ethel in Stand Up, Virgin Soldiers (1977). She received critical acclaim for her portrayal of Flora Finching in the 1988 movie Little Dorrit. On American TV, she headlined the short-lived 1992 CBS sitcom Frannie's Turn. In 1993 she won a Best Supporting Actress Bafta for her role as Mrs Mingott, the only comic relief in Martin Scorsese's The Age Of Innocence. Since then she has appeared in the Harry Potter films and played small roles in many hit movies and TV shows.

Career: Yashere quickly gained acclaim as a stand-up comedian and soon began landing TV appearances, such as on Blouse and Skirt and Live at Jongleurs. She has appeared in a number of comedy shows, including Mock the Week and Live at the Apollo. Yashere competed on Comic Relief does Fame Academy in 2005. As well as in the UK, Yashere has seen success in such countries as the United States, Dubai, Hong Kong and South Africa. She has also made a number of appearances on American TV, such as on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, The Jay Leno Show and as a British Correspondent on The Daily Show. Yashere has a number of acting roles under her belt too, such as in The Lenny Henry Show, in the film Kiss Kiss (Bang Bang) (2001), as the voice of Keisha on the animated series Bromwell High, in the TV series Married Single Other and in the TV series Crashing.

Career: Vegas's big break came in 1997 when he was nominated for the prestigious Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Festival. He made his TV debut in the one-off Johnny Vegas TV Show the following year. In 2001, he landed a role in the Paul Whitehouse sitcom Happiness, which won him the Best Newcomer trophies at the Royal Television Society and British Comedy Awards, although it was arguably his appearance in a series of cult adverts with a sock monkey for ITV Digital that made him a household name. Since then, he's been a regular panellist on Shooting Stars, acted in series Tipping the Velvet, Bleak House, Dead Man Weds, Ideal, Massive, Benidorm, Still Open All Hours and presented his own show, 18 Stone of Idiot. He was also in Johnny Depp film The Libertine and The Harry Hill Movie.