Career: She began working as a researcher and assistant producer for Panorama in 1989. Three years later, Bruce became a reporter for BBC Breakfast News, before joining BBC South East, where she presented daily news bulletins and regional current affairs programmes. By 1994, Bruce was a reporter for BBC Two's Public Eye and began appearing on the Six O'Clock and Breakfast News. She was chosen to succeed the late Jill Dando on Crimewatch UK in 2000. She is also one of the two main presenters on the BBC's 10 O'Clock News and hosted the prime-time current affairs magazine Real Story. Bruce has also appeared on Call My Bluff, Just the Two of Us, and Who Wants to be a Millionaire? She is the face of the Antiques Roadshow.

Career: Dean's first professional job came at the age of 12 when she was cast as Pepper in a stage version of Annie. She also appeared as Sandy in Grease and toured as part of the rock group The Young Uns. TV shows such as Relative Strangers, Grange Hill and Brookside followed, but it was landing the role of Sharon Watts in EastEnders in 1985 that turned her into a household name. Dean spent 10 years in the soap before quitting. She was persuaded to return in 2001, but left again in 2006; she began her third stint in the show in 2012. Other work includes The Hello Girls, Casualty and Strictly Come Dancing on TV, and various pantomimes and straight theatre work on stage.

Career: Brown has had a long TV career, and in the 1970s took roles in Coronation Street, Doctor Who, Angels and Survivors. She has been actively involved in the theatre and is recognised as a great Shakespearean actress - but only became a household name when she joined the cast of EastEnders in 1985. She took a break from the soap in 1993, but Dot Cotton returned four years later and has stayed there ever since. Away from the Square, Brown has appeared in the movie Bean, and played Nannie Slagg in the BBC's big-budget production of Gormenghast in 2000.