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: His success as a stand-up was crowned when he won an award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He came to the attention of TV bosses after a stint on the radio. Lee was cast in The Sketch show alongside long-term collaborator Tim Vine. After a short-lived stint presenting They Think It's All Over, Mack and Vine began work on Not Going Out. The series revolves around two friends with opposite backgrounds and personalities, much like the two comics themselves. Mack has recently become a regular on comedy panel shows such as Would I Lie to You? and Have I Got News for You. He also has sell-out tours and best-selling DVDs to his name.

Career: After graduating, Mitchell worked an usher at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. He and Webb took a number of shows to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival before being asked to write for Alexander Armstrong and Ben Miller and for surreal comedy series Big Train. In 2001, they made their first sketch show, The Mitchell and Webb Situation, which ran for six episodes on the now-defunct cable channel Play UK. Their next project came in 2003, with the award-winning Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show. They've also worked together on That Mitchell and Webb Sound, That Mitchell and Webb Look and the film Magicians. Solo, Mitchell has appeared on 10 O'Clock Live and numerous panel shows, including Would I Lie to You?, where he's a regular team captain. His autobiography, Back Story: A Memoir, was published in 2012.

Career: During his gap year, Whitehall decided to pursue a career in stand-up comedy. He juggled studying the history of art at Manchester University with gigs. In June 2008, he presented the first week of Big Brother's Big Mouth on E4. He followed this up with appearances on Channel 4's 8 Out of 10 Cats and from then on, became a TV fixture. Whitehall dabbled with acting as a child (he appeared, age nine, in the series Noah's Ark and claims to have auditioned for Harry Potter), and returned to it as an adult with the sitcoms Fresh Meat and Bad Education. He's a regular competitor on Sky1's sports quiz A League of Their Own, appears on various panel game shows, and continues to do stand-up. He also co-hosts a chat show with his dad on BBC Three.

Career: Boyle was dubbed 'The dark heart of Mock the Week' by host Dara O Briain, and enjoyed massive success with a series of stand-up shows around the UK. However, Boyle has also courted plenty of controversy with his comments on a range of subjects. He left Mock the Week in 2009; he released his autobiography the same year and in 2010 launched comedy show Tramadol Nights on C4. He also writes a weekly tabloid column, and his tours have gone down a storm in many parts of the UK. However, a pilot for a proposed talk show called Frankie Boyle's Rehabilitation Programme was described as 'non-transmittable'.

Career: Bleakley's big break came in 2007 when she began co-hosting The One Show alongside Adrian Chiles. They built up a decent following over three years before they both jumped ship to ITV to co-host breakfast TV programme Daybreak. Mixed reviews and low ratings curtailed their time on Daybreak and it wasn't long before they were replaced. Since then, Bleakley has hosted a number of music specials and in 2011 she began co-hosting Dancing on Ice alongside Phillip Schofield. She has also co-hosted Text Santa since 2011. In 2008, Bleakley partnered with professional dancer Matthew Cutler on Strictly Come Dancing. They came fifth.