Career: Freeman's TV debut came in 1997 with a bit-part in This Life. His first starring role arrived the following year in the short film I Just Want to Kiss You. Notching up a string of appearances in the TV series Lock, Stock..., Casualty and Black Books, he really came to the public's attention in 2001 as lovelorn Tim Canterbury in The Office. He's since become a major player in the British comedy and drama scene, appearing in Charles II: The Power and the Passion, Hardware, Love Actually, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Robinsons, Confetti, Hot Fuzz, and Nativity. He returned to TV in 2010, playing Dr John Watson in the acclaimed Sherlock. He played the lead role of Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson's three-part adaptation of The Hobbit.

Career: Jensen's first TV role was in a Screen One film called Dreaming, which starred Billy Connolly. In the early 1990s, she appeared in shows such as Tickets for the Zoo, Down Among the Big Boys, May to December, Rab C Nesbitt and Roughnecks. A more prominent role came when she was cast as Angie Raeburn in Two Thousand Acres of Sky, but she reached a huge audience as Maggie Jacobs in BBC sitcom Extras. The actress has scooped a number of awards for playing the unlucky-in-love singleton, including a coveted Rose d'Or. She also starred with Patrick Stewart in ITV drama Eleventh Hour, and became well known in America thanks to her role as Christina in Ugly Betty. More recent projects include short-lived American sitcom Accidentally on Purpose, BBC comedy Nativity, ITV drama The Reckoning and providing voiceovers for animated films Gnomeo and Juliet, Arthur Christmas and The Pirates! Band of Misfits.

Career: Ferris first made an impact in the 1985 drama series Connie. Other than The Darling Buds of May, she has also appeared in TV shows Hardwicke House, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Paradise Heights, Where the Heart Is, Rosemary & Thyme, Gavin & Stacey and Grandma's House. A "Jill of all trades", Pam has appeared in a number of Royal Court Theatre and Royal National Theatre productions, and in films like Matilda, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Children of Men, Nativity!, Telstar, and Malice in Wonderland. In 2012, she began playing Sister Evangelina in Call the Midwife.

Career: Watkins has played supporting roles for most of his career. He has made guest appearances in Soldier Soldier, Casualty, The Bill, William and Mary, Life on Mars, and Lewis among many others. In 2011, he began playing store manager Gavin Strong in Sky1 sitcom Trollied. In 2014, he played his first lead role in The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies. His film credits include Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), Onegin (1999), Confetti (2006), The Golden Compass (2007), Wild Child (2008), Lost Christmas (2011), and Nativity 3: Dude, Where's My Donkey?! (2014).

Career: Tomlinson's big break came when he landed the role of Bobby Grant in Channel 4 soap opera Brookside. He stayed with the show for six years until 1988, after which he featured in Ken Loach's gritty drama Riff-Raff. TV projects since then have included Roughnecks, Cracker, Playing the Field and Clocking Off, while his film CV boasts offerings such as The 51st State and Mike Bassett: England Manager. He became a comedy icon 1998 thanks to his role in the comedy series The Royle Family. He opened his own cabaret club, The Green Room, in Liverpool in May 2010. He has reportedly donated £1million to the Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool.

Career: Carr made his TV debut as a guest on the ITV lunchtime show Today with Des and Mel. He came to true prominence on Channel 4's The Sunday Night Project with Justin Lee Collins. He makes regular guest appearances on panel shows such as 8 Out of 10 Cats and Never Mind The Buzzcocks and has featured as a panellist on Channel 4's annual Big Fat Quiz of the Year, a staple of the Christmas TV schedules. He has also fronted his own game show, Alan Carr's Celebrity Ding Dong, written his autobiography, and continues to perform stand-up. His Channel 4 show Chatty Man attracts some of the biggest names in showbiz and has been a staple of the Channel 4 schedule since 2009. He also presented a weekly programme on Radio 2 for three years, and fronted game show The Singer Takes It All. In 2016, he hosted Alan Carr's Happy Hour, which was a spin off of Chatty Man.

Career: He switched his name due to another actor called Peter Clarke. One of his earliest screen roles came in Sean Connery's 1981 sci-fi thriller Outland. Peters appeared in a string of TV and film projects, including Mona Lisa, Between the Lines, Jonathan Creek, Notting Hill and K-Pax. His stage hits have included The Iceman Cometh, Blues in the Night, Porgy and Bess, The Witches of Eastwick and Five Guys Named Joe (which he also wrote). He has appeared in critically acclaimed dramas The Wire and Damages; played Nelson Mandela in TV drama Endgame, and also appearing in Marley and Me. Aside from appearing in Holby City, his other projects include HBO drama Treme (from The Wire's David Simon). He's also appeared on stage in the title role of Shakespeare's Othello alongside his Wire co-star Dominic West.

Career: He attended RADA in the late 1970s, studying alongside Kenneth Branagh. His debut film was 1982's The Sender, a horror feature in which he played a patient. Two years later he appeared opposite Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins in The Bounty. In the late 1980s he played Lionel Zipser in Porterhouse Blue, appeared regularly on Whose Line is it Anyway? and starred in his own one-man TV show, simply titled John Sessions. He has also appeared in Henry V and In the Bleak Midwinter, both directed by old friend Branagh. He scored a major hit in spoof soap opera Stella Street for which he characterised a variety of middle-aged actors, alongside Phil Cornwell. Other projects include Skins, Outnumbered and The Iron Lady.