Showtime meme

I've been tagged by Persiflage (an LJ friend) to identify my favourite performances by the following - relatively randomly chosen - actors. This means there are some where it is easy to choose some favourite performances, and others where there was an obvious favourite, and others where it was 'depends on my mood' (e.g. some days you just want to indulge ins something you shouldn't...) and others where I was pushed to think of a choice.

Hmm. Here goes:

Male

• David Tennant - Casanova /Hamlet - Doctor Who/Blackpool/Einstein and Eddington but I can watch/listen him in anything - does an addiction to the Hiccup audio books count against me?
• Ben Daniels - Conspiracy (because everyone in that was incredible) Law and Order-UK (because he nails the Sam Waterston righteous liberalism
• Paul McGann- Our Mutual Friend /Doctor Who (esp. on audio)
• Mark Gatiss - Funland (evil stuff, but everyone is brilliant in it)
• John Thaw - Kavanagh QC (which I think I like more than Morse)
• Douglas Henshall - Anna Karenina / This Year's Love / Primeval (especially s1) - The Crucible / Coast of Utopia - Voyage, and on radio 'Fragile!'/ 'The Long Farewell'/ Bampot Central, but again, anything will do. He's never less than worth turning up to watch/listen to - most particularly when that delicious Scottish voice comes through.
• Derek Jacobi - Cadfael, Breaking the Code, and anything on stage that I WISH I had seen him in (plus he was awesome in Doctor Who)
• John Simm - The Devil's Whore --- probably followed by Life on Mars, State of Play and Crime and Punishment
• Kevin Whately - Lewis (and he's certainly better in this than in Morse: room to breathe and plays well against Mr Billie Piper)
• Martin Freeman - Sherlock (because I couldn't bear The Office: though he is well sweet in Love Actually)

Female

• Judi Dench - Mrs Brown /A Fine Romance/As Time Goes By (but I wish I had seen her on stage)
• Kate Ashfield - WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?! --- sorry, that makes more sense if you read anything written on Marie Phillips's previous blog (Struggling Author) or read subsequent writings here. Otherwise, Shaun of the Dead
• Freema Agyeman - Doctor Who/ Law and Order UK
• Saskia Reeves - Butterfly Kiss (just a stunning performance, as was Amanda Plummer)
• Lalla Ward - Doctor Who
• Karen Gillan - Doctor Who
• Claire Ashfield - who??
• Hermione Norris - Wire in the Blood/Cold Feet/Spooks (though I never quite forgave her initial actions in the last of these)
• Maggie Smith - Tea with Mussolini (I must be the only person who doesn't mind her heartstrings being shamelessly pulled by this film)
• Julia Roberts - The Pelican Brief (because I love a conspiracy thriller)

Blimey, that was a fairly random list!!!!