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: Hynes worked with Pegg and director Edgar Wright on Asylum before they collaborated on cult Channel 4 sitcom Spaced. Hynes was nominated for an Olivier Award for her work in stage play The Night Heron, and garnered a Bafta nomination for 2001 TV film, Tomorrow La Scala! She had a small role in Pegg and Wright's hit 2004 film Shaun of the Dead. Hynes also appeared in The Royle Family, Bob and Rose, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, According To Bex, Pinochet in Suburbia, Confetti, Four Last Songs and Magicians. She made a memorable appearance in two episodes of Doctor Who alongside David Tennant, playing a teacher who won the Time Lord's love. She's since returned to sitcoms with Up the Women (which she also wrote), Twenty Twelve and its spin-off W1A.

Career: Walliams' TV debut came in Sky One's Games World in 1993. In 1995 he and Lucas teamed up for the first of three shows at the Edinburgh Festival. They also made Rock Profiles for UKTV, in which they parodied famous musicians. But it was Little Britain that made them stars in 2003; they followed it up with Come Fly with Me. Walliams has also appeared in films such as Run, Fatboy, Run, Dinner for Schmucks and The Look of Love, and on stage in No Man's Land. He's swum the English Channel, the Strait of Gibraltar with James Cracknell and a 140-mile stretch of the River Thames, all in aid of Sport Relief. Walliams joined the judging panel of Britain's Got Talent in 2012, and is the executive producer and star of the Agatha Christie adaptation Partners in Crime.

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: Gilbert was nominated for the Perrier Newcomer award for his first solo show in 2005 at Edinburgh entitled 1984. He has since performed worldwide, and was the first Western comedian to appear in Taiwan. He has featured several times on shows such as Mock the Week, Have I Got News for You, 8 Out of 10 Cats and Never Mind the Buzzcocks. Other TV projects include Live at the Apollo, Ask Rhod Gilbert and Rhod Gilbert's Work Experience. He also presents a weekly show on BBC Radio Wales and became the presenter of Never Mind the Buzzcocks in September 2014.

Career: Simmons has appeared on a number of TV comedy programmes, including Conan, 8 Out of 10 Cats, Room 101 and Live at the Apollo. As well as writing comedy, he also writes for TV. He wrote nine episodes of The Ronnie Johns Half Hour, which were broadcast in 2006, and three years later he got his own show, The Urban Monkey, which he also acted in. Other series he has written for include Problems and Sam Simmons: Wallstud. He has also acted in those shows and Drunk History: UK.

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: 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.