Trivia: Left university to perform with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Was narrator of BBC series Airport between 1996 and 2005. Appointed an OBE in 2010. Awarded an honorary doctorate at the University of Plymouth in 2012. Patron of The Mare and Foal Sanctuary.

Trivia: Starred in the 1975 Birmingham Rep production of Equus. Played Sasha in a 1978 production of Ivanov at the Old Vic. Portrayed the role of Joyce Barnaby in Midsomer Murders between 1997 and 2011. Performed in a world tour of Hamlet throughout 1978, alongside Sir Derek Jacobi. Is a Drama tutor at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Trivia: At the age of nine, presented radio broadcasts for Children's Hour. Worked as a stage hand at the Birmingham Rep at the age of 16. Moved to London to become an actor immediately upon getting his O-Levels. Worked as a fight director and stunt man throughout the 1960s, under the name 'Jack Barry'. Portrayed Dr George Bullard in Midsomer Murders from 1998 to 2011.

Trivia: Made her television debut in the 1992 historical series Covington Cross.Landed her first leading television role in 1992, playing Tammy Rokeby in sitcom So Haunt Me. In 1996, appeared in drama series Soldier Soldier as Deborah Briggs. Is perhaps best known for playing Cully Barnaby in crime-mystery procedural Midsomer Murders between 1997 and 2011. Performed as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company's Making Mischief Season in 2016.

Trivia: Joined the Stockton Youth Theatre as a 14-year-old. Performed in the award-winning Dead Fish at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Reprised his role in the touring production of Dead Fish throughout 1994 and 1995. Played the role of DS Gavin Troy in Midsomer Murders between 1998 and 2003. Ran for Leukaemia Research in the 2003 Great north Run.

Trivia: Joined the National Youth Theatre as a teenager. Won the Alec Clunes award for Best Actor while studying drama at LAMDA. In 1998, performed in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of The Herbal Bed. Between 2005 and 2017, played DI Ben Jones in ITV Drama Midsomer Murders. In 2012, was nominated for the Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series award at the Monte Carlo TV Festival for his role in Midsomer Murders.

Trivia: British character actor Neil Dudgeon debuted in the late '80s in his native U.K., and specialized in working-class types with a forceful edge, such as policemen, constables, and inner-city taxi drivers. Dudgeon debuted in Stephen Frears' acclaimed Joe Orton biopic Prick Up Your Ears (1987), then graced the casts of numerous low-profile theatrical movies and telefilms over the following decades, including Revolver (1992), Dirty Tricks (2000), and Messiah 2: Vengeance Is Mine (2002). Dudgeon elevated his profile somewhat in the mid- to late 2000s with bit parts in two key films: the Renée Zellweger/Hugh Grant comedy Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004) and director Garth Jennings' bittersweet coming-of-age nostalgia Son of Rambow (2007).

Trivia: Made her television debut in a 1993 episode of Crime Story. Between 1998 and 2001, starred as Jackie Bradley in period drama Heartbeat. Between 2011 and 2018, starred as Sarah Barnaby in ITV Crime Drama Midsomer Murders. In 2012, was nominated for the Golden Nymph award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series, for her role in Midsomer Murders.

Trivia: An esteemed actress, known both for her portrayals of flinty, dry-witted women and her real-life role as the mother of actresses Emma and Sophie Thompson, Phyllida Law has been acting in her native Britain for over 40 years. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1932 and married to fellow actor Eric Thompson until his death in 1982, Law has spent much of her career working as a character actress both on television and in film. She has done particularly notable work in Douglas McGrath's 1996 adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma, which cast her as the meddlesome Mrs. Bates (and daughter Sophie Thompson as her equally meddlesome daughter Miss Bates); Alan Rickman's acclaimed drama The Winter Guest, in which she and daughter Emma starred as an estranged mother and daughter; and Nigel Cole's Saving Grace (2000), a comedy in which she portrayed the busybody neighbor of a woman (Brenda Blethyn) who has taken to growing pot in her backyard. An accomplished performer on stage, screen, and even radio plays, Law also authored books in which she discussed her experiences caring for her mother, who suffered from dementia, with refreshing, light hearted humor and wit.

Trivia: To refer to British actor Julian Ovenden as a "thespian" marks the understatement to end all understatements. The son of Queen Elizabeth II's chaplain, Ovenden came of age in a regal environment and, at an early point, demonstrated his sharpest and clearest talent in the musical realm. By seven years old, Ovenden received an invitation to sing at St. Paul's Cathedral; by the age of 13, he won a musical scholarship to Eton College. A tenure at Oxford University on a choral scholarship followed, as did post-graduate studies at London's esteemed Webber-Douglas Academy of Performing Arts, which found Ovenden acting opposite such legends as Nigel Hawthorne and under the aegis of director Michael Grandage.Ovenden pursued film and television acting alongside his theatrical and musical work from the earliest stages of his career. His first high-profile filmed role arrived around 2002, when cast in the Working Title telemovie Come Together opposite James D'Arcy. A popular turn as a doctor on the British series The Royal ensued, as did a role in the widely viewed miniseries Foyle's War (as Andrew Foyle) alongside the revered Michael Kitchen (Out of Africa). In 2004, Ovenden put his vocal and dramatic talents to use for a single television project: the Arthur Seidelman-directed telemovie A Christmas Carol: The Musical, starring Kelsey Grammer as Ebenezer Scrooge and Jane Krakowski as The Ghost of Christmas Past. Ovenden played Fred Anderson in that film. Meanwhile, the actor continued to pursue both theatrical and cinematic projects with equal vitality. Ovenden also signed for a regular supporting role on the 2008 series drama Cashmere Mafia, produced by Darren Star; however, the series didn't make it past its first season.

Trivia: An attractive and talented actress who is as comfortable in historical dramas as in modern day thrillers and comedies, Emily Mortimer was born in Great Britain in 1971. Mortimer's father is author John Mortimer, best known for his series of Rumpole of the Bailey mystery novels, and she seems to have absorbed her father's literary influence -- before her career as an actress took off, Mortimer wrote a column for the London Telegraph, and she's served as screenwriter for an screen adaptation of Lorna Sage's book Bad Blood. Mortimer was a student at the prestigious St. Paul's Girls School when she first developed an interest in acting, appearing in several student productions. After graduating from St. Paul's, she moved on to Oxford, where she majored in Russian. Mortimer found time to perform in several plays while studying at Oxford, and while acting in a student production she impressed a producer who cast her in a supporting role in a television adaptation of Catherine Cookson's The Glass Virgin in 1995. Several more television roles followed, including the British TV movie Sharpe's Sword, before she won her first film role, playing the wife of John Patterson (Val Kilmer) in 1996's The Ghost and the Darkness. Mortimer had a much showier role in the Irish coming-of-age story The Last of the High Kings, released later the same year, and in 1998, Mortimer played Miss Flynn in the TV miniseries Cider With Rosie, which was adapted for television by her father, John Mortimer. Also in 1998, Mortimer appeared as Kat Ashley in the international hit Elizabeth, and in 1999, she enjoyed three showy roles that raised her profile outside the U.K.: She was the ill-fated "Perfect Girl" dropped by Hugh Grant in Notting Hill, appeared as Esther in the American TV miniseries Noah's Ark, and was Angelina, the star of the film-within-a-film, in the upscale slasher flick Scream 3. In 2000, Mortimer was cast as Katherine in Kenneth Branagh's ill-fated musical adaptation of Love's Labour's Lost, but the experience had a happy ending for her -- she met actor Alessandro Nivola, and the two soon fell in love and have been together ever since. That same year, Mortimer took on her biggest role in an American film to date, playing opposite Bruce Willis in The Kid, and 2002 promised to be a big year for her, with major roles in two major releases -- The 51st State, starring opposite Samuel L. Jackson, and a key supporting character in John Woo's war drama Windtalkers.

Trivia: Father went bankrupt when she was ten, leading the family to lose all their possessions. Won a scholarship to the Elmhurst Ballet School at 13, but failed to get into the Royal Ballet School years later. Danced on stage in The Ocean Revue with Roy Hudd in Clacton-on-Sea, inspiring her to enroll at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in the 1960's. Adopted the stage name David, taken from her mother's first name, Davida. Big break was the BBC's Sense and Sensibility in 1971, after which she worked prolifically in costume dramas. Played Francesca Annis's daughter in Lillie in 1978, although she is only eighteen months younger. Underwent brain surgery in 1993 to correct a congenital malformation. Acted with daughter Emilia in Pride and Prejudice in 1995. Married Edward Fox in 2004 after 33 years of living together. Is a patron of the Pancreatic Cancer Action charity. Is vice-president of the Theatrical Guild. Contracted Ménière's disease in 2008. Has been friends with Downton Abbey co-star Dame Maggie Smith for over four decades. Is a trustee of the National Brain Appeal, the charity dedicated to the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London. Is a member of the RADA Council.

Trivia: Attended Bradford's Scala Kids Stage School at the age of 7 for 12 years with his sister, Sarah-Jane Potts. Made his first TV appearance at the age of 10 in Children's Ward. Founded Keychain Productions in 2006 so he could collaborate with other filmmakers to produce original content. Was among the finalists at the 2012's Virgin Media Short Film Awards for the short Little Larry. Best known for his role as eccentric Connor Temple on ITV's British science fiction programme Primeval and Space's Canadian spin-off Primeval: New World. Also starred as the Hatter in the SyFy mini-series Alice and was a regular on the long-running programme Ideal. Was cast in 2019 in the role of astronaut Michael Collins in the Netflix series The Crown.

Trivia: Made her television debut in a 1996 episode of A Touch of Frost. Between 1996 and 1997, starred as Alison Dangerfield in medical drama Dangerfield. Between 2002 and 2004, starred as Penny Neville in drama series Teachers. Between 2011 and 2015, starred as Dr. Kate Wilding in crime drama Midsomer Murders. In 2017, opened a diner in Stroud with partner Keith Allen.

Trivia: On stage since age 17, British actress Rosalie Crutchley established her predilection for gloomy, tragic roles early on. She set a precedent for her film career by being killed off halfway through her first film Take My Life (1948). Slight, dark and sharp-featured, Rosalie found herself typed as mystery women, wronged wives and sinister housekeepers; among her best film assignments were A Tale of Two Cities (1958) (as Madame LeFarge), and The Return (1974). Like many "pigeonholed" film actors and actresses, Rosalie Crutchley enjoyed a wider range of roles on stage and in TV.

Trivia: Supporting actor, onscreen from 1969.

Trivia: The brother of film star James Fox, British actor Edward Fox spent the first few years of his career in the shadow of his longer-established younger sibling. All this changed when Edward was cast as the charismatic but cold-blooded international assassin The Jackal in 1973's Day of the Jackal; so determined was Fox's character to go through with his assignment to kill Charles De Gaulle that at times the audience believed he was actually going to get away with it! Never a major box-office attraction, Fox has aged into a dynamic character player, busy throughout the 1980s in such films as Never Say Never Again (1983), The Shooting Party (1984) and Wild Geese II. In 1991, Fox could be seen by TV fans as King Richard in Robin Hood, the "rival" production to Kevin Costner's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.