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.

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.

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.

Career: After graduating, she spent the next six years working in repertory companies across the UK, proving her versatility in a wide variety of parts. Her big break came when she gained a place with the National Theatre company in 1982. Staunton quickly landed increasingly larger roles and won numerous awards in the process. Her TV debut was in 1986's The Singing Detective, while her first film, Comrades, was made a year later. Since then, she's appeared in such acclaimed projects as Much Ado About Nothing, Sense and Sensibility, and Shakespeare in Love. She was Oscar-nominated for Vera Drake, and also appeared in period drama Fingersmith and the movie Nanny McPhee, before earning millions of new fans in the guise of Dolores Umbridge as part of the Harry Potter franchise.