- published: 17 Jan 2015
- views: 111847
Sarah Caroline Colman (born 30 January 1974), known professionally as Olivia Colman, is an English actress who first came to prominence for her supporting role as Sophie Chapman in the Channel 4 comedy series Peep Show (2003–15). Her other TV comedy roles include Green Wing (2004–06), Beautiful People (2008–09), Rev. (2010–14) and Twenty Twelve (2011–12). She also played various roles in That Mitchell and Webb Look (2006–08), alongside her Peep Show co-stars David Mitchell and Robert Webb.
Colman's move to drama saw her receive critical acclaim for her performance in the 2011 film Tyrannosaur. Her other film roles include Carol Thatcher in The Iron Lady (2011), Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother in Hyde Park on Hudson (2012), and Locke (2013). A three-time BAFTA TV Award winner, she won Best Female Comedy Performance for Twenty Twelve and Best Supporting Actress for Accused in 2013, before winning Best Actress in 2014 for her role as DS Ellie Miller in the ITV crime series Broadchurch.
David Tennant (born David John McDonald; 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor known for his roles as the Tenth Doctor in the British television series Doctor Who, Alec Hardy in Broadchurch, Giacomo Casanova in the TV serial Casanova, Kilgrave in Jessica Jones, and Barty Crouch, Jr. in the film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. In addition to his appearances on screen, he has worked as a voice actor and appeared in a critically acclaimed stage production of Hamlet. In January 2015, Tennant received the National Television Award for Special Recognition.
Tennant was born in Bathgate, West Lothian, to Dr. Alexander 'Sandy' McDonald (born 1937; later Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland) and Helen McLeod (now deceased). He grew up with his brother Blair and sister Karen in Ralston, Renfrewshire, where his father was the local minister. Tennant's maternal great-grandparents, William and Agnes Blair, were staunch Protestants from County Londonderry, and were among the signatories of the Ulster Covenant in 1912. William Blair was a member of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland. Tennant's maternal grandfather, footballer Archie McLeod, met William and Agnes's daughter Nellie while playing for Derry City. McLeod's parents were from the Isle of Mull and are descended from tenant farmers.
James Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE (born 11 June 1959) (/ˌhjuː ˈlɒri/), is an English actor, writer, director, musician, singer, comedian, and author. He first became known as one-half of the Fry and Laurie double act with his friend and comedy partner Stephen Fry, whom he joined in the cast of A Bit of Fry & Laurie, Blackadder, and Jeeves and Wooster in the 1980s and 1990s.
From 2004 to 2012, he played Dr. Gregory House, the protagonist of House, for which he received two Golden Globe awards and two Screen Actors Guild awards. Laurie was listed in the 2011 Guinness World Records as the most watched leading man on television and was one of the highest-paid actors in a television drama, earning £250,000 ($409,000) per episode in House.
Laurie was born in Oxford. The youngest of four children, he has an older brother named Charles Alexander Lyon Mundell Laurie and two older sisters named Susan and Janet. He had a strained relationship with his mother, Patricia (née Laidlaw). He notes that his mother "was Presbyterian by character, by mood" and that he was "a frustration to her... she didn't like me". His father, William George Ranald Mundell Laurie, was a doctor who also won an Olympic gold medal in the coxless pairs (rowing) at the 1948 London Games.