Doctor Who - The Impossible Astronaut - 7:30 pm Saturday, January 10 on BBC Three

Matt Smith (Actor) .. The Doctor

Born: October 28, 1982 in Northampton

Best Known For: Being the current Doctor Who.

Early-life: Matthew Robert Smith was born on October 28, 1982, in Northampton. A promising footballer from a young age, he played for the youth teams at Northampton Town, Nottingham Forest and Leicester City. He looked set for a professional career until a back injury scuppered his chances. A teacher encouraged him to act, and although reluctant at first, he eventually joined the National Youth Theatre. He also studied drama and creative writing at the University of East Anglia. At the same time, his professional stage career began to take off, and he was allowed to miss lectures during his final year so that he could work.

Career: Smith's first professional roles came in the plays Fresh Kills, opposite Christian Slater, and On the Shore of the Wide World. He appeared with Slater again in Swimming with Sharks, and also featured in The History Boys. He was part of the Olivier Award-nominated cast of That Face. His TV roles include The Ruby in the Smoke, The Shadow in the North and Secret Diary of a Call Girl, all alongside ex-Doctor Who assistant Billie Piper. He also starred in political drama Party Animals, and made his debut as the 11th Doctor Who in 2010. He was the youngest actor to play the part, but will bow out at Christmas, when he'll be replaced by Peter Capaldi. Other projects include Christopher and His Kind, Bert and Dickie, Womb, and the forthcoming How to Catch a Monster. He will return to the West End stage in 2014 to play the lead in a musical version of American Psycho.

Quote: "I'm tired of television that's patronising and silly. I think Doctor Who is brave and it's inviting, challenging. For me anyway; I can only speak personally."

Trivia: He's a Blackburn Rovers supporter and loves the band Radiohead.

Karen Gillan (Actor) .. Amy Pond

Born: November 28, 1987 in Inverness

Best Known For: Playing Amy Pond in Doctor Who.

Early-life: Karen Sheila Gillan was born in Inverness on November 28, 1987 to Marie and John. Karen knew from an early age that she wanted to be an actress. She joined local youth theatre groups and went on to complete an HNC Acting and Performance course at Telford College before studying at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts drama school in London. During her time at Italia Conti, she also did some modelling work.

Career: Gillan's early TV career included guest appearances in Rebus, Harley Street and Coming Up. She played various characters in The Kevin Bishop Show. She made a guest appearance on Doctor Who in 2008 and two year's later, the show would prove to be a launchpad for her career when she was cast as the Eleventh Doctor's (Matt Smith) first companion, Amy Pond. She made appearances in the show as Amy until 2013. She has also starred in the TV movie We'll Take Manhattan and the film Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). In 2014, she also starred in short-lived American sitcom Selfie. In 2011, she made her stage debut in Inadmissible Evidence at the Donmar Warehouse.

Quote: "I don't get to lounge about in the sun like everyone else. I go bright red. It's a ginger thing."

Trivia: She plays the piano.

Arthur Darvill (Actor) .. Rory Williams

Born: June 17, 1982 in Birmingham

Best Known For: Playing Rory in Doctor Who.

Early-life: Born Thomas Arthur Darvill on June 17, 1982, in Birmingham. He has a younger sister. They grew up around performers and performing - his mother was a member of the Cannon Hill Puppet Theatre, with which she toured the world as a puppeteer and actor. His father played organ for artists such as Edwin Starr, Ruby Turner, Fine Young Cannibals and UB40. Arthur began acting at 10 with the Stage2 Youth Theatre Company.

Career: In 2000, Darvill began presenting continuity links on CITV. He left a year later and founded his own theatre company, Fuego's Men. At 18 he settled in London to take up a place at Rada. Many of his early roles came on stage, including in an acclaimed production of Terre Haute at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He worked with future Doctor Who co-star Matt Smith in Swimming with Sharks in 2007. A year later, he made his TV debut in He Kills Coppers and followed it with Little Dorrit, but it was travelling with the Time Lord as Rory Williams that made him a star. Other projects since include the films Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, and Robin Hood.

Quote: On leaving Doctor Who: "I'm really going to miss the people. Me, Matt and Karen are still in touch, so we're going to see each other whenever we can, but it's different when you're not working together any more. Brilliant, brilliant actors - we know each other so well. We'll still chat."

Trivia: Away from acting, Darvill plays guitar and keyboards, and collects taxidermy.

Alex Kingston (Actor) .. River Song

Born: March 11, 1963 in London

Best Known For: Playing Dr Elizabeth Corday in ER.

Early-life: Alexandra Elizabeth Kingston was born in London on March 11, 1963. She became interested in acting after being taken by her German mother to see her uncle on stage. Her first performance came in a school nativity play, in which she played the Angel Gabriel. As a teenager, she performed in the Surrey County Youth Theatre and landed a role as a bully in CBBC drama Grange Hill. She later studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Career: Kingston's professional career began in repertory theatres across the UK. She then spent time with the Royal Shakespeare Company before making the first of several brief appearances in The Bill. Roles in The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989), Crocodile Shoes, The Knock, and Carrington (1995) followed. The lead role in TV's Moll Flanders finally made her a star in 1996. Soon afterwards, she moved to the US to join the cast of medical drama ER and quickly became a household name. She remained with the show for seven seasons, departing in 2004. Other high-profile projects have included Croupier (1998), Essex Boys (2000) and Warrior Queen (2003). She's also appeared in Doctor Who, FlashForward, Lost in Austen, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Hope Springs, Marchlands and Private Practice. She returned to ER, making two brief appearances in its final series in 2009. More recently, she has starred in Arrow, and Chasing Shadows.

Quote: "I always considered myself more of a character actress and I'm glad I have because I don't think I get too paranoid about my looks."

Trivia: She won two Screen Actors Guild Awards for her role in ER.

Mark Sheppard (Actor) .. Canton Delaware

William Morgan Sheppard (Actor) .. Old Canton Delaware

Stuart Milligan (Actor) .. President Richard Nixon

Chuk Iwuji (Actor) .. Carl

Mark Griffin (Actor) .. Phil

Marnix Van Den Broeke (Actor) .. The Silent

Sydney Wade (Actor) .. Little girl

Nancy Baldwin (Actor) .. Joy

Adam Napier (Actor) .. Captain Simmons

Henrietta Clemett (Actor) .. Matilda

Paul Critoph (Actor) .. Charles

Kieran O'Connor (Actor) .. Prison guard

Emilio Aquino (Actor) .. Busboy

Steven Moffat (Writer)

Toby Haynes (Director)

Marcus Wilson (Producer)

Doctor Who: The Impossible Astronaut

7:30 pm - 8:15 pm, Saturday, January 10 on BBC Three (23)

About this Broadcast

The Impossible Astronaut
Season 6, Episode 1

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