Rupert Graves

We all know him as that silver fox detective DI Lestrade, but Rupert Graves got his first role on TV when he was just fifteen. In TV movie Return of the Saint, Graves played a posh schoolboy prefect with a cutglass accent – pretty different from Lestrade!

Mark Gatiss

Everyone knows that besides Sherlock Holmes, Mark ‘Mycroft’ Gatiss’ other great love is Doctor Who. He’s such a big fan that in the early 1990s Mark wrote and starred in a trilogy of Doctor Who fan films, called P.R.O.B.E. Impressively, these featured a number of past Doctors and companions.

If you think Mark looks very young and innocent in these GIFS, don’t worry – he still had that love of horror which would later feed into certain episodes of Sherlock. 

Bleurgh!

Benedict Cumberbatch

It’s hard to remember a time when Benedict Cumberbatch wasn’t one of the most famous men in the world, but go back 13 years and Ben was just starting out. One of his first recurring roles was in long-forgotten comedy-drama Fortysomething. It actually should be a must-watch for TV fans as it manages to feature the future Sherlock Holmes, Gregory House (Hugh Laurie) and Doctor Who (Peter Capaldi) all in one!

Cumberbatch plays Laurie’s eldest son, Rory, in what is now a bizarrely normal role for the actor who is most known for playing geniuses. You can check out some other roles of Cumberbatch’s you might have missed here.