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: 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.