Career: Broadbent caught the eye of casting directors following Illuminatus in 1976, a 12-hour sci-fi production. He worked with the National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company and as the National Theatre of Brent, a two-man comedy troupe he co-founded with Patrick Barlow. Despite originally turning down the role of Del Boy, he played bent copper Roy Slater in Only Fools and Horses. Bigger parts came in the 1990s, in such projects as Life Is Sweet, Bullets Over Broadway, Richard III and Topsy-Turvy. He also starred in Bridget Jones's Diary, Moulin Rouge!, Iris (for which he won an Oscar), Gangs of New York, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and two Harry Potter movies. His recent work includes The Iron Lady, Cloud Atlas, Le Week-End, The Harry Hill Movie, Paddington and Get Santa.

Career: In 1966, Rampling landed the role of Meredith in Georgy Girl, and hasn't looked back since. Many fans hoped she'd replace Diana Rigg in The Avengers following a spirited guest role in the show in 1967, but instead she tackled a number of difficult roles in challenging films, including The Damned, The Night Porter and Max Mon Amour. More mainstream projects have included Farewell My Lovely, Stardust Memories and The Verdict. Rampling has lived in France for some time and in recent years has concentrated on working there in such films as Swimming Pool and Heading South. However, she also cropped up in Basic Instinct 2 and The Duchess.

Career: Dockery has worked extensively on the stage, appearing in Burnt by the Sun, Pygmalion and Hamlet. She made her TV debut in two-part BBC miniseries Fingersmith in 2005. Since then, she has starred in Hogfather, Dalziel and Pascoe, Heartbeat, Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1974 and Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1983, Waking the Dead, Return to Cranford and The Turn of the Screw. Her big break came in 2010 when she was cast as Lady Mary Crawley in the hugely popular Downton Abbey. More recently, she starred in miniseries Restless.

Career: In 2004, Goode made his film debut in Chasing Liberty opposite Mandy Moore. Since then, he has starred on the big screen in Match Point (2005), Brideshead Revisited (2008), Watchman (2009), A Single Man (2009), Leap Year (2010), Cemetery Junction (2010) and Stoker (2013). He returned to TV with roles in Birdsong, The Poison Tree, Dancing on the Edge and Death Comes to Pemberley.

Career: After impressing in his breakthrough role, Wilby subsequently appeared in a miniseries based on A Tale of Two Cities, and co-starred with Emma Thompson and Anthony Hopkins in another acclaimed Merchant/Ivory adaptation of EM Forster, Howards End. Though the rest of Wilby's 1990s movies were not as impressively received, he continued to work regularly, turning up in Immaculate Conception, the First World War drama Regeneration, the children's movie Tom's Midnight Garden, and as the bitter lord of the manor in Ken Russell's TV project Lady Chatterley. Wilby reunited with Ismail Merchant in the producer's directorial effort Cotton Mary. He subsequently appeared among the distinguished ensemble populating Robert Altman's Oscar-winning period piece Gosford Park, Midsomer Murders, Poirot and The Great Train Robbery. He also continues to work on stage.

Career: On the stage, Holcroft has starred in Jerusalem and Les Liaisons Dangereuses. He made his film debut in Vampire Academy (2014). In the same year, he starred alongside Colin Firth in Kingsman: The Secret Service. More recently, he has starred on TV in the miniseries Wolf Hall, TV movie Lady Chatterley's Lover and miniseries London Spy.