Career: Carr began performing on the stand-up circuit, doing up to 300 shows a year for three years, before taking his act to the Edinburgh festival in 2002. This brought him to the attention of TV bosses, and before long he was presenting series such as Your Face or Mine and Distraction. Since then, he's rarely been off TVscreens, hosting the first run of the Friday Night Project, 8 Out of 10 Cats and numerous Channel 4 list shows. He's also made a move into acting, appearing in Alien Autopsy, Confetti, Stormbreaker and Telstar. He is one of Britain's busiest comics and his DVDs are big sellers.

Career: Lock's first professional TV appearance was in 1993, when he appeared in a supporting role alongside Rob Newman and David Baddiel on their signature TV show Newman and Baddiel in Pieces. He toured with the duo as their support act and, as a result, became the first comedian to perform at Wembley Arena. He script-edited the 1998 BBC Two series Is It Bill Bailey? and had his own show on BBC radio, 15 Minutes of Misery. It was later expanded into the half-hour series, 15 Storeys High. He's now a team captain on the panel game 8 Out of 10 Cats. Other game show appearances have come in the likes of The Big Fat Quiz of the Year, Have I Got News for You, QI, and They Think It's All Over. He also hosted his own entertainment show on Channel 4 called TV Heaven, Telly Hell.

Career: In 2003, Richardson won his heat of the BBC New Talent Comedy Search, and a year later did well in the Laughing Horse New Act of the Year competition and J20 Last Laugh Comedy Search. Encouraged by these successes and kind words from Jasper Carrott and Dave Spikey for a performance at the Criterion Theatre in London, his confidence grew. More stand-up followed, including appearances at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He went on to feature on numerous radio shows before moving into TV. Richardson appeared on Never Mind the Buzzcocks and Have I Got News For You before becoming a team captain on 8 Out of 10 Cats. He's since published his first book, It's Not Me, It's You! and taken part in various documentaries.

Career: Riley's big break came in 2008 when she was chosen from more than 1,000 applicants to replace Carol Vorderman on Countdown. She presented her first show alongside Jeff Stelling in January 2009, and reached her 1,000th episode in June 2013. Away from the numbers and letters on Countdown, she began co-hosting The Gadget Show alongside Jason Bradbury in June 2013. She was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing in 2013 and was the fifth celebrity to be eliminated.

Career: Brand's sense of humour kept her going while dealing with difficult cases at work. She began doing stand-up at London clubs in the mid-1980s and eventually gave up nursing to concentrate on comedy. She was shortlisted for the Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Festival before landing her own comedy show, Jo Brand Through the Cakehole. Since then she has regularly appeared on TV, including as a frequent guest on Have I Got News for You, Question Time and QI. She continues to do stand-up, performing at venues around the country. Brand also took part in Celebrity Fame Academy, and the reality shows Play It Again and Comic Relief Does The Apprentice. She enjoyed a bona fide hit as an actress and writer with dark medical comedy Getting On. She is a judge on ITV reality series Splash!

Career: Winkleman's TV career began with a job on the regional discussion programme Central Today in 1991, before graduating to Holiday on BBC One and ITV's This Morning. She worked on the infamous L!ve TV and various other digital channels before joining BBC Three's Liquid News in 2002. She also presented a Fame Academy spin-off series, and between 2004 and 2010, she presented Strictly Come Dancing's daily sister show, It Takes Two. Since then, she's fronted Art School, the Eurovision Dance Contest and part of the Sports Relief coverage, as well as her own vehicles, such as King Of. She currently co-hosts the Film programme and since 2013, she has presented The Great British Sewing Bee for BBC Two. After previously filling in as a co-host on Strictly Come Dancing when Bruce Forsyth was unavailable, she became the full-time co-host alongside Tess Daly in 2014.

Career: Bill started touring with the likes of Phill Jupitus and Mark Lamarr, before forming a double-act in 1989 with Martin Stubbs. His big break came in 1995 with the show Bill Bailey's Cosmic Jam, a performance of which was filmed and broadcast on Channel 4. In 1998, he scooped his own comedy show on the BBC, Is It Bill Bailey?, and enjoyed a series of successful guest slots on shows such as Have I Got News for You. Bill also starred in Dylan Moran's Channel 4 sitcom Black Books, before taking over from Sean Hughes as a captain on Never Mind the Buzzcocks in 2002. He's a regular on quiz show QI, and has also enjoyed other acting roles in the likes of Jonathan Creek and Fifteen Storeys High. His big-screen CV includes the movies Saving Grace and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, while his cameo in Hot Fuzz was very well-received. He also continues to tour with his stand-up, selling out arenas all over the world, and has begun a separate career as a presenter of wildlife shows, including the ITV series Baboons with Bill Bailey.

Career: Osman has worked behind the scenes as an executive producer on a number of TV programmes, including Deal or No Deal, 8 Out of 10 Cats, and 10 O'Clock Live. As the UK creative director of TV production company Endemol, he pitched the quiz Pointless to the BBC. As a way of explaining the rules, he played the co-host during a run-through. He was asked to do the role for real when the show was commissioned. Pointless started on BBC Two in 2009 and was an immediate hit. It quickly made the switch to BBC One. Since being in the spotlight on Pointless, he has made guest appearances on QI, Have I Got News for You and Would I Lie to You? He also guest presented an episode of The One Show alongside Alex Jones.