Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was an English writer and social critic who is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. His major works include: The Pickwick Papers (1836), Oliver Twist (1837–9), Nicholas Nickleby (1838–9), A Christmas Carol (1843), Martin Chuzzlewit (1843–4), David Copperfield (1849–50), Bleak House (1852–3), Hard Times (1854), Little Dorrit (1855–7), A Tale of Two Cities (1859), Great Expectations (1860–1), Our Mutual Friend (1864–5) and the unfinished The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1870), as well as other novels, books and short stories. None of his major works has ever gone out of print.

Mark Gatiss is an actor, writer and producer. He first found success with The League of Gentlemen, with whom he won the Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1997, and went on to enjoy a radio series and three TV series on the BBC and big-screen outing in 2005. He has written nine episodes of Doctor Who since its return to television in 2005 and has appeared in the show twice. He is perhaps best known as the co-creator and co-writer of the award-winning global phenomenon Sherlock in which he also plays Mycroft Holmes. Other notable television credits include London Spy, Wolf Hall, Coalition, Mapp and Lucia, The Crimson Petal and the White, Nighty, Night, The Wind and the Willows and Sense and Sensibility. Film credits include The Knot, Denial, Absolutely Fabulous, Dad's Army, Our Kind of Traitor, Bright Young Things and Starter for Ten. Theatre credits include Coriolanus, The Recruiting Officer, The Vote (Donmar Warehouse), All About My Mother (The Old Vic), Season's Greetings (National Theatre), 55 Days (Hampstead), and Three Days in the Country (National Theatre), for which he won an Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor.