Doctor Who - The Bells of Saint John - 7:45 pm Saturday, March 14 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.

Jenna Coleman (Actor) .. Clara

Born: April 27, 1986 in Blackpool

Best Known For: Playing Clara in Doctor Who.

Early-life: Born Jenna-Louise Coleman in Blackpool on April 27, 1986. She has an older brother called Ben and was head girl at her comprehensive school. While still at school she began appearing with local theatre group Yer Space, and won an award at the Edinburgh Festival for her performance in one of the organisation's plays. Jenna was auditioning for drama schools when she landed the part of Jasmine Thomas in Emmerdale in 2005. She relocated to Leeds and ended up staying on the soap for nearly four years, appearing in 168 episodes.

Career: Coleman went on to have a recurring role in Waterloo Road, but claims that playing a schoolgirl at the age of 23 was 'surreal'. She went on to appear in Julian Fellowes' ITV mini-series Titanic and starred in a BBC Four adaptation of John Braine's novel Room at the Top. She made her film debut in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011). Her profile increased significantly in 2012 when it was announced that she would play the companion in Doctor Who. Away from the sci-fi drama, she has starred in Stephen Poliakoff's Dancing on the Edge and the three-part drama Death Comes to Pemberley. In 2013 she dropped 'Louise' from her name and is now known as Jenna Coleman.

Quote: 'I'd love to work across all three fields - theatre, film and TV.'

Trivia: Coleman was nominated for a number of soap awards during her time on Emmerdale, including Most Popular Newcomer at the 2007 National Television Awards.

Celia Imrie (Actor) .. Miss Kizlet

Born: July 15, 1952 in Guildford, Surrey

Best Known For: Her association with Victoria Wood.

Early-life: Born Celia Diana Savile Imrie in Guildford, Surrey, on July 15, 1952. Her father, David, a radiographer from Glasgow, didn't live to see his daughter's success, although she believes he would have been very proud. Her Scottish blood has come in handy in playing numerous Celts on the big and small screen, although her original dream was to be a dancer. Unfortunately, a growth spurt in her teens meant she became too tall for ballet. She worked as a cleaner before landing starring roles.

Career: Imrie's first professional jobs in showbusiness were in the chorus of various pantomimes. Her film and TV debuts came in 1974 in House of Whipcord and Upstairs, Downstairs. She continued to gain small roles in various productions, but her big break occurred when Victoria Wood offered her roles in As Seen on TV in 1985. Since then, she's continued to occasionally work with Wood and won a prestigious Olivier Award in 2006 for her role in Acorn Antiques: The Musical. Her other credits include Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Highlander, Gormenghast, Bridget Jones' Diary, Star Wars: Episode One, Doctor Zhivago, Frankenstein, Calendar Girls, Nanny McPhee and St Trinian's (and its sequel). On TV she has also appeared in Kingdom, After You've Gone, Cranford, and the acclaimed one-off drama The Road to Coronation Street.

Quote: On stripping off for Calendar Girls: 'I am very happy now that at my time of life I have learned to laugh at my bosom. In years gone by I could never have done all this.'

Trivia: In 2013, Imrie received an honorary doctorate by the University of Winchester.

Robert Whitelock (Actor) .. Mahler

Dan Li (Actor) .. Alexei

Manpreet Bachu (Actor) .. Nabile

Sean Knopp (Actor) .. Paul

James Greene (Actor) .. The Abbott

Geff Francis (Actor) .. George

Eve De Leon Allen (Actor) .. Angie

Kassius Carey Johnson (Actor) .. Artie

Fred Pearson (Actor) .. Barista

Danielle Eames (Actor) .. Little girl

Jade Anouka (Actor) .. Waitress

Olivia Hill (Actor) .. Newsreader

Isabella Blake-Thomas (Actor) .. Child reading comic

Matthew Earley (Actor) .. Man with chips

Anthony Edridge (Actor) .. Pilot

Richard E Grant (Actor) .. The Great Intelligence

Born: May 02, 1957 in Mbabane, Swaziland

Best Known For: Withnail and I.

Early-life: Born Richard Esterhuysen on May 2, 1957, in Mbabane, Swaziland. His mother left home when he was 11, leaving him and his brother Stuart to be raised by their father, the country's director of education. He attended school with Nelson Mandela's daughter. Grant knew from an early age he wanted to act after becoming infatuated with Barbra Streisand. He studied English and drama at university in Cape Town, South Africa, then settled in London, but struggled to make a name for himself.

Career: Grant gained good reviews for a performance in short film Honest, Decent and True in 1985, alongside Gary Oldman and Arabella Weir. His big break came when Daniel Day-Lewis dropped out of Withnail and I, and Grant took his place. The film was a cult smash. Since then, he's appeared in various films and TV shows, including Bram Stoker's Dracula, The Age of Innocence, LA Story, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Gosford Park, and The Hound of the Baskervilles. His film diary, With Nails, was a best-seller, but a novel, By Design, was disappointing. In 2005, he made his directing debut with the critically acclaimed, semi-autobiographical Wah-Wah. His recent work includes roles in Colour Me Kubrick, Penelope, Cuckoo and The Iron Lady, in which he played Tory politician Michael Heseltine.

Quote: 'Sometimes Hollywood doesn't seem a million miles from a Miss World contest. I just don't have strong enough mental furniture to withstand it.'

Trivia: In 2006, he helped to expose a $98million scam to sell a bogus AIDS cure.

Marcus Wilson (Series producer)

Denise Paul (Producer)

Colm McCarthy (Director)

Steven Moffat (Writer)

Mark Gatiss (Writer)

Born: October 17, 1966 in Sedgefield, County Durham

Best Known For: The League of Gentlemen.

Early-life: Born October 17, 1966, in Sedgefield, County Durham. He grew up opposite a Victorian psychiatric hospital, where both his parents worked. While at college, he had a job there as a gardener. Gatiss claims he always wanted to escape from what he regarded as a grim, northern childhood, although now accepts that Heighington, where he lived, is actually a pleasant village. After school, he took a year out to travel around Europe, then began a drama course at Bretton Hall near Leeds.

Career: Gatiss eventually settled in London, where he hoped to earn a living as an actor but made ends meet writing Doctor Who books. He and friends Steve Pemberton, Reece Shearsmith and Jeremy Dyson formed The League of Gentlemen in 1995, which had successful stints on stage, radio, TV and film. Since then he's appeared in Bright Young Things, Marple, The Quatermass Experiment, Nighty Night and Jekyll. Gatiss was also script editor on the first Little Britain series, and has penned episodes of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) and Doctor Who (in which he's also appeared). He portrayed Malcolm MacLaren in the 2010 drama Worried About the Boy and co-created Sherlock with Steven Moffat.

Quote: 'I've done lots of acting and been very pleased with the response to what I've done. I'd like to do a lot more.'

Trivia: Gatiss has also written several novels and appeared regularly on the stage.

Doctor Who: The Bells of Saint John

7:45 pm - 8:30 pm, Saturday, March 14 on BBC Three (23)

About this Broadcast

The Bells of Saint John
Season 7, Episode 7

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