Doctor Who - Death in Heaven - 03:05 am Sunday, June 14 on BBC Three

Peter Capaldi (Actor) .. The Doctor

Born: April 14, 1958 in Glasgow

Best Known For: The Thick of It and Doctor Who.

Early-life: Peter Dougan Capaldi was born in Glasgow on April 14, 1958. He is Irish on his mother's side and his father's family was from Italy. While attending Glasgow School of Art, he was the lead singer in a punk rock band called the Dreamboys. The drummer in the band was Craig Ferguson, who went on to become comedian and American chat show host. It was also while studying that Peter landed his breakthrough acting role in Local Hero in 1983.

Career: Playing mainly minor roles, Capaldi went on to feature in episodes of Minder, C.A.T.S. Eyes, The Lair of the White Worm, Rab C Nesbitt, Ruth Rendell Mysteries, Agatha Christie's Poirot and the miniseries Selling Hitler. He returned to the big screen when he wrote and starred in 1993's low-budget Soft Top Hard Shoulder. Guest starring roles followed in Prime Suspect 3, The Vicar of Dibley, Judge John Deed, My Family and Midsomer Murders. His profile raised significantly in 2005 when he began playing foul-mouthed spin doctor Malcolm Tucker in BBC comedy The Thick of It, a role that won him a Bafta. He also played Tucker in movie spin-off In the Loop. Always in-demand, his other TV credits include Skins, Torchwood: Children of Earth, The Nativity, Getting On and The Hour. He is currently playing the twelfth incarnation of the Time Lord in Doctor Who, a role he had long coveted.

Quote: 'There is no such thing as too much swearing. Swearing is just a piece of linguistic mechanics. The words in-between are the clever ones.'

Trivia: A lifelong Doctor Who fan, Capaldi was invited to audition for the role of the Eighth Doctor, which was eventually taken by Paul McGann, but turned it down, saying, 'I loved the show so much, and I didn't think I'd get it, and I didn't want to just be part of a big cull of actors.'

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.

Samuel Anderson (Actor) .. Danny

Best Known For: Playing Danny Pink in Doctor Who.

Early-life: Born in 1982 in Handsworth, Birmingham. Samuel decided early on in life that he wanted to be an actor. He attended the Catholic secondary school Stuart Bathurst. Samuel stopped studying A levels after a year and went to Birmingham Theatre School before going on to attend the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts in London. Samuel originated the role of Crowther in the National Theatre's 2004 production of Alan Bennett's The History Boys. He went on to perform the role in the Broadway, Hong Kong, Sydney and Wellington productions, as well as radio and film versions.

Career: Anderson appeared in Sky One's Hex in 2004 and Channel 4's Totally Frank in 2006 and 2007. He played Fingers in the comedy series Gavin & Stacey. From 2007 until 2009, Anderson played Ross Kirk in Emmerdale. He appeared in the TV comedy film Stuck (2007) and had a number of guest appearances in such shows as Doctors, Casualty, Bedlam, Midsomer Murders and Death in Paradise. Anderson played Danny Pink in 11 episodes of Doctor Who in 2014. Since then, he has played DC Vince Grady in DCI Banks, Daniel in Trollied, Patrick in Witless and Leon in Loaded.

Quote: 'When I'm having a bad time and can't get any work, I say to my friend, ‘This is not my life! I'm not supposed to be at this bar, I'm supposed to be acting. Quantum Leap me back into my life, Sam!''

Trivia: He was voted best male guest star by readers of Doctor Who magazine.

Michelle Gomez (Actor) .. Missy

Born: April 21, 1971 in Glasgow

Best Known For: Playing Sue White in Green Wing.

Early-life: Michelle Gomez was born on April 21, 1971, in Glasgow. She caught the acting bug at the age of seven after seeing a production of Kiss Me Kate. She attended Shawlands Academy and trained at The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Theatre.

Career: In 1998, Gomez landed parts in The Bill, The Acid House and Il Mio West, while Ticks, Taggart, Highlander: The Raven and New World Disorder also boosted her profile. In 2001 she was snapped up to star in hit comedy The Book Group. That eventually paved the way for her role as HR manager Sue White in Green Wing. Recent projects have included Chromophobia, Murder in Suburbia, Carrie and Barry, and Feel the Force. On the stage, she has starred in Boeing-Boeing, and The Taming of the Shrew.

Quote: 'It is always nice to play somebody who is slightly dour, and a Scot seems to manage to do that quite well for some reason.'

Trivia: Married to This Life star Jack Davenport since 2000. They have a son, Harry.

Chris Addison (Actor) .. Seb

Ingrid Oliver (Actor) .. Osgood

Jemma Redgrave (Actor) .. Kate Stewart

Born: January 14, 1965 in London

Best Known For: Being a member of the Redgrave acting dynasty.

Early-life: Born Jemima Rebecca Redgrave on January 14, 1965, in London. She is the daughter of actor Corin Redgrave and his first wife, former model Deirdre Hamilton-Hill. Her parents divorced when she was nine. She has a brother, Luke, who's a cameraman, and two half-brothers from her father's second marriage to actress Kika Markham. Redgrave claims her childhood home was always full of her mother's friends, some of whom she didn't like. The open house nature of her upbringing made her long for discipline and structure. At 18, she enrolled at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).

Career: Redgrave followed her father, grandparents Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson, aunts Vanessa and Lynn Redgrave, and cousins Natasha and Joely Richardson into acting. She started in the theatre, eventually making her movie debut in Dream Demon, and her first TV appearance in Tales of the Unexpected, in 1988. Other early projects include Howards End, Diana: Her True Story, and The Buddha of Suburbia. She became a star thanks to TV series Bramwell, which ended in 1998. Since then she's appeared in such projects as I'll Be There, The Grid, Amnesia, Tom Brown's Schooldays, Frankie and Doctor Who (including the 50th anniversary episode). Redgrave also continues to work on stage.

Quote: 'I think acting can be very self-absorbed, and I find that slightly embarrassing. Sometimes it seems such an uninquiring profession.'

Trivia: One of Redgrave's hobbies is calligraphy, which she began as a teenager to help improve her poor handwriting.

Sanjeev Bhaskar (Actor) .. Colonel Ahmed

Born: June 28, 1964 in Ealing

Best Known For: The Kumars at No 42.

Early-life: Born on June 28, 1964, in Ealing, London, to Asian immigrants living in Hounslow. He gained a degree and worked in marketing for seven years, writing monologues and sketches as a hobby. After realising he didn't like working in an office, he began performing comedy routines in clubs. His friend, musician Nitin Sawhney, encouraged him after the duo realised nobody was doing stand-up about being Asian and British. They formed a double act called The Secret Indians (Non-Asian) in 1996.

Career: As Bhaskar and Sawhney's stage act grew in popularity they were noticed by the producer of sketch show The Real McCoy, who introduced Bhaskar to Kulvinder Ghir, Nina Wadia and Meera Syal - who then formed the Goodness Gracious Me team. It began on radio, before making its TV debut in 1998. It was an instant success. Since then, he's appeared in Notting Hill, The Guru, Anita and Me, and cult chat-show The Kumars at No 42. He's also starred in the West End in long-running hit Art and visited his ancestral home in what is now Pakistan during the travelogue India with Sanjeev Bhaskar. Other acting gigs include sitcom Mumbai Calling and daytime drama The Indian Doctor.

Quote: 'Most of my characters are based on truth. The Kumars at No 42 are basically my parents.'

Trivia: He married actress Meera Syal in 2005. They have a son, Shaan.

James Pearse (Actor) .. Graham

Antonio Bourouphael (Actor) .. Boy

Shane Keogh-Grenade (Actor) .. Teenage boy

Katie Bignell (Actor) .. Teenage girl

Jeremiah Krage (Actor) .. Cyberman

Nicholas Briggs (Actor) .. Voice of the Cybermen

Rachel Talalay (Director)

Peter Bennett (Producer)

Steven Moffat (Writer)

Brian Minchin (Executive producer)

Doctor Who: Death in Heaven

03:05 am - 04:00 am, Sunday, June 14 on BBC Three (23)

About this Broadcast

Death in Heaven
Season 8, Episode 12

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