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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: An actor who had plied his trade on the stage and screen for nearly a decade by the time he was cast as brilliant but traitorous Dr. Gaius Baltar on the hit sci-fi series Battlestar Galactica, James Callis displayed the pitch-perfect combination of swaggering arrogance and dangerous cowardice needed to betray the human race to its robotic oppressors. It was after studying English and literature at the University of York that the English-born actor enrolled in the prestigious London Academy of Music and Art, and after graduating in 1996, Callis quickly moved on the West End stage -- where he made his professional debut opposite Bob Hoskins in a production of Old Wicked Songs. Dubbed "Most Promising Newcomer" at the London Critic's Circle for his performance in that play, Callis subsequently appeared in an Almeida Theatre production of The Doctor's Dilemma and a Soho Theatre production of Things You Shouldn't Say Past Midnight. A brief appearance in the British television series Murder Most Horrid helped to kick-start Callis's television career, with roles in The Ruth Rendell Mysteries and Sex, Chips and Rock n' Roll following in quick succession. In 2001, Callis made his move into features with a supporting role in the hit comedy Bridget Jones's Diary (a role he would later reprise in the film's 2004 sequel, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason). Callis also made his feature directorial debut in 2001 when he collaborated with writer/director Nick Cohen on the independent comedy Beginner's Luck, in which he also acted. While Callis's feature roles no doubt helped to improve his profile, it was the actor's memorably devious performance as the scientist who sells out the human race on Battlestar Galactica that established him as a true international star.

Trivia: Statuesque British comic actress Eleanor Bron rose to fame on radio, stage, and television as a member of the Establishment, a London revue troupe. Her gift for mimicry was generously showcased in her first film appearance as the Middle-Eastern cultist/spy in the Beatles' Help! (1965). She was also effective as a pretentious American tourist in Two for the Road (1967) and as the less-than-bright waitress heroine in Bedazzled (1967). In the last two decades, Eleanor Bron has augmented her film work with one-woman stage presentations and various satirical British television weeklies.

Trivia: Born to a Spanish mother and an English father. Started working on a PhD in biological anthropology, but abandoned it to pursue an acting career. Is fluent in Spanish and also speaks French and German. Played Viola in Twelfth Night at the Royal National Theatre in 1997. Did a world tour with Macbeth, playing Lady Macbeth, in 2004. Became famous for her role as reformed thief and lady's maid Phyllis Baxter in Downton Abbey from 2013-2015.

Trivia: New Zealand actress Kerry Fox can claim to have led one of the industry's more steadfastly international careers. Born in New Zealand, based in London, a resident of Sydney, and an actress in films that take her to all corners of the globe, Fox has led a life as varied as the films in which she appears.Born in Wellington on July 30, 1966, Fox had her screen breakthrough as the star of Jane Campion's An Angel at My Table (1990). Her portrayal of New Zealand writer Janet Frame earned great acclaim, essentially jump-starting Fox's career. She next gave a strong performance in Gillian Armstrong's The Last Days of Chez Nous (1992), a family drama that cast her as the emotionally needy younger sister of a woman struggling with the disintegration of her marriage. Two years later, Fox earned cult credibility as one of the stars, along with Ewan McGregor and Christopher Eccleston, of Danny Boyle's Shallow Grave. A moody, stylish black comedy about three Edinburgh flatmates attempting to deal with a dead flatmate and his suitcase full of money, the film was an unanticipated international success.Fox subsequently did steady work in a number of international productions, including Canadian Thom Fitzgerald's acclaimed The Hanging Garden (1997), Michael Winterbottom's Welcome to Sarajevo (1997), To Walk with Lions (1999), which was shot entirely in Kenya, and Fanny and Elvis (1999), a British comedy that cast Fox as a 30-something woman desperate to conceive a child.

Trivia: Appeared in Coram Boy and Coast of Utopia at the National Theatre. Played Alexander in Troilus and Cressida for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Performed opposite Helen Mirren in the play The Audience in the West End in 2013 when she stormed out to quiet a drumming troupe playing outside the theatre in order to finish the play.

Trivia: Tall, soulful-eyed British actor Murray Melvin had the look of a sensitive "punker" at a time when such youths were called "Teddy Boys." Melvin received his training and first blush of prominence with the Theatre Workshop. In films since 1960, Melvin's most conspicuous early assignment was as the sympathetic homosexual in 1962's A Taste of Honey. Back in those days, a role of this nature was but one step away from flamboyance; Melvin took that one step, and has spent most of his career in extroverted, often outrageous roles. Evidently a favorite of enfant terrible director Ken Russell, Murray Melvin was shown to excellent advantage in such Russell-directed films as The Devils (1970), The Boy Friend (1971) and Lisztomania (1974).

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: 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: 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: 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: Joined Sir Ian McKellen's Actors' Company, and later the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford after drama school.Made her film debut in the 1977 Terry Gilliam film Jabberwocky, playing Griselda Fishfinger.Started her career in radio in 1992 with a role in David Halliwell's comedy Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs for BBC Radio 3.Played the recurring villain Blon Fel-Fotch Pasameer-Day Slitheen a.k.a. Margaret Blaine on the 2005 series of Doctor Who.