Trivia: Since performing in a play at the City of Leicester Boys School, Michael Kitchen has done practically all there is for an actor to do: motion pictures, TV films, TV miniseries, stage plays, radio plays, and audio cassettes. International film audiences probably know him best as Chief of Staff Bill Tanner in the Pierce Brosnan James Bond productions, although he has played major roles in other high-profile movies, such as Out of Africa (1985) and Mrs. Dalloway (1997). He is also well known to worldwide TV audiences for major roles in popular miniseries, including The Brontes of Haworth (1973), A Fall of Eagles (1974), Freud (1984), and Oliver Twist (1999). 2000 was a remarkable year for Kitchen -- incredibly, he completed the following productions during that year: Proof of Life, a major film in which he shared the screen with Russell Crowe and Meg Ryan; Lorna Doone, a three-hour TV miniseries; Always and Everyone, an eight-hour TV series resembling America's ER; The Secret World of Michael Fry, a TV miniseries; The Railway Children, a TV film shown in the U.K. and in the U.S. on Masterpiece Theatre; New Year's Day, a major motion picture; and Second Sight: Parasomnia, another TV film. For an encore in 2001, he played the title role in Foyle's War, an eight-hour TV series about a World War II-era detective, then played Foyle again in another eight-hour series in 2002. He also signed on for another James Bond film, his third. Between 1971 -- when he appeared in the film Unman, Wittering and Zigo -- and the present, Kitchen has never wanted for work. The reason, quite simply, is that he is one of Britain's finest and most versatile actors. He has walked across the stages of the most prestigious playhouses in England, performing the works of Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, and other important playwrights. In motion pictures, he has also acted parts in productions based on the works of Franz Kafka (The Trial, 1993), Robert Louis Stevenson (Kidnapped, 1995), John Le Carre (The Russia House, 1990), and Nevil Shute (Crossing to Freedom, 1990).

Trivia: Studied architecture at Manchester University before applying to drama school. Performed in the year-long international tour of Geometry of Miracles. Joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2000, performing in As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet and The Comedy of Errors. Played Paul Milner in Foyle's War from 2002 to 2010. In 2006, starred as Charles in the first stage adaptation of The French Lieutenant's Woman.

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: Made his television debut as DC Aplin in Prime Suspect: The Lost Child.Performed as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1995. Won the Ian Charleson award in 1997, for his performance as Konstantin in The Seagull. Played real-life figure Alistair Campbell in the 2006 film adaptation of The Queen. In 2017, starred as Jim Atwood in the third series of ITV crime drama Broadchurch.

Trivia: A slightly burly, heavyset British actor of cinema and television, Jeremy Swift seemed predestined for not merely character roles, but characterizations as a slightly blustery oaf. In the process of establishing himself, he grew into a performer venerated by audiences, and one of the busiest actors in British filmdom. Swift debuted on camera in the very early '80s, with bit parts in features including Fords on Water (1983) and Mr. Love (1985), but remained offscreen in the 10 years or so that followed. He reemerged as a prolific television player in the mid-'90s on U.K. series including Next of Kin, Making the Difference, and The Grand, then experienced a substantial change of venue in 2001, when the legendary Robert Altman cast him in the period murder mystery Gosford Park. That assignment inducted Swift into cinematic releases, and he followed it up with work in outings such as Mike Barker's To Kill a King (2002), Roman Polanski's Oliver Twist (2005) (as the aptly named Mr. Bumble), and the Vince Vaughn Christmas comedy Fred Claus (2007). Also in 2007, Swift enjoyed a plum supporting role in director John Crowley's acclaimed psychological drama Boy A.