* Hiam Abbass as Iris.
* Adrian Lester as Ian Richard Wright.
* Jim Broadbent as John Bailey.
* Timothy Spall as Maurice.
* Hugh Bonneville as John Lehman.
* Penelope Wilton as Eleonor Bron.
* Samantha Bond as Margaret Thatcher.
* Simon Callow as Kenneth Tynan.
* Rafe Spall as Young John Bayley.
* Sinéad Cusack as Lady Longford.
* Anne Reid as Amy Jenkins.