Gillian Anderson confirmed as The Crown’s Margaret Thatcher

Asa Butterfield stars as main character Otis Milburn. Otis is a teenager who lives with his mum, a sex therapist - as is his father, who is divorced from his mum and lives away. He falls for Maeve Wiley in season one after they set up a sex therapy clinic at their school together, but considers her to be 'out of reach' and then falls for Ola Nyman. In season two, Maeve and Otis have feelings for each other, but circumstances keep them apart. The 24-year-old from London rose to fame after portraying Bruno in The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas and his role in Son of Rambow. He also played the titular character in Hugo, and had a main role in The Space Between Us.

Playing his sex therapist mother Dr Jean F. Milburn is Gillian Anderson, best known as Special Agent Scully in The X-Files. Golden Globe award-winner Gillian has starred in plenty of films, as well as quite a few period drama TV series, including The Crown and American Gods.Jean began a casual relationship with her plumber, Jakob, in the first season, but ended up falling for him. However, after she became overbearing towards Otis, she decided to keep her relationship with Jakob a secret as Otis was dating his daughter Ola. She began feeling trapped by the relationship after they went public, and cheated on him with her ex-husband Remi. By the end of the series, she was hoping to get back with Jakob - and then discovered she was pregnant.

Otis' potential love interest Maeve Wiley is portrayed by French-British actress Emma Mackey. She has previously worked as a model and also starred in TV film Badger Lane and Summit Fever. She will also be starring in Death on the Nile, which has been pushed back to 2022, as Jacqueline de Bellefort.Maeve is a street-smart, self-sufficient and incredible smart student at Otis' school. She convinced him to start the sex therapy clinic, and slowly fell for him despite her relationship with head boy Jackson Marchetti. Maeve lives on her own in a caravan, and we saw a brief appearance from her brother Sean in season one, with her mum and baby sister appearing in season two and three. Maeve was kicked out of school after taking the fall for her brother, but talked her way back in and joined the school quiz team. She befriended Isaac in season two after her relationship with Jackson broke down, and she thought it was over with Otis. Unfortunately, he betrayed her too right at the end of season two, after deleting a voicemail from Otis professing his love for her before she could hear it. Season three sees Isaac's conscience catch up with him...

Eric Effiong, best friend of Otis, is played by Ncuti Gatwa, who has had small TV roles previously. Since starring in Sex Education, Ncuti has had roles in Horrible Histories: The Movie – Rotten Romans and 2021's The Last Letter from Your Lover.Eric is Otis' outspoken and vivacious best friend. He was the target of a bullying campaign by Adam Groff - but at the end of season one, it turned out that they actually have feelings for each other. He was also the victim of a horrific homophobic assault, and blamed Otis after he left him on his own to be with Maeve, but they put their differences aside. In season two, he was caught up in a love triangle with his new boyfriend Rahim and Adam, who was coming to terms with his bisexuality. By season three, Eric and Adam become official.

Connor Swindells portrays Adam Groff in the series. He has a very tough home life with his totalitarian headmaster father and submissive mother, and struggles at school. In season one, he discovered feelings for Eric, and in season two comes to terms with his bisexuality. At the end of the season, he declares his love for Eric in front of the whole school. By season three, Eric and Adam become an official couple, with Adam and Rahim becoming some-what 'friends'.Connor starred in 2019 film The Vanishing alongside Gerard Butler, as well as the 2020 adaptation of Emma., alongside his Sex Education co-star Tanya Reynolds. In 2021, Connor appeared in the new BBC drama Vigil, alongside huge names like Suranne Jones and Martin Compston.Connor began dating his Sex Education co-star Aimee Lou Wood after the pair finished filming the first season back in 2018. Sadly, the pair split in 2020, but thankfully remain friends.

James Purefoy plays Otis' father Remi Milburn, and they mainly communicated via Skype in the first season - but his role was expanded in the second season. After seducing Jean and causing her split from Jakob, Remi comes to realise that he's not exactly a good person, and encourages Otis to be nothing like him. Otis' father does not make an appearance in the third season.He's best known for playing Mark Antony in HBO series Rome and also for his role in Solomon Kane. He also played Edward, the Black Prince of Wales in A Knight's Tale with Heath Ledger, and starred in 2019 film Fisherman's Friends.

Alistair Petrie stars as Adam's overbearing and cold father Michael Groff in Sex Education. In the first season, Mr. Groff was mainly seen as a bit of a jobsworth in his role as headteacher at Moordale High, and as an unyielding member of his family. In the second season, his wife Maureen splits up with him after a counselling session with Jean, and he swears revenge against the sex therapist. The third season sees Michael struggle to find a new job, as well as a new place to live.Alistair starred in the Keira Knightley film The Duchess, as well as the film adaptation of Cloud Atlas and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story as General Draven. He also had a role in 2019 film Hellboy, and the 2016 TV adaptation of The Night Manager alongside Tom Hiddleston.

Aimee Lou Wood stars as Aimee Gibbs in the show. She started off as part of 'The Untouchables' - the popular crew at Moordale High, but had a secret friendship with Maeve. At the end of the first season, she ditched them to hang out with Maeve full time. She had a relationship with Adam, played by her real-boyfriend of the time Connor Swindells, but broke it off to date Steve. In the second series, she was the victim of a sexual assault on a bus, and spent the rest of the season trying to come to terms and deal with what happened to her.Season three sees Aimee continue to try and come to terms with her assault, seeking help from Otis' mother Dr. Jean. Aimee also introduces a new friend - Folly, the goat - her and Steve's commitment pet.Aimee Lou originally auditioned to play Lily, but was happy to land the role of Aimee instead. She starred alongside Benedict Cumberbatch, Claire Foy and Toby Jones in the 2021 film The Electrical Life of Louis Wain.

Patricia Allison joined the cast of Sex Education halfway through season one as Ola Nyman, the daughter of plumber Jakob. She and Otis took a liking to each other, and began a relationship at the end of season one. In season two, she noticed a connection between Otis and Maeve, and banned Otis from seeing his friend. Ola realised she was pansexual and broke up with Otis, realising that she had feelings for her friend Lily, and after some initial reluctance from Lily, began a relationship with her. She also struck up a friendship with Adam, which blossomed in season three.Patricia is a relative newcomer to the acting world, having starred in the BBC adaptation of Les Misérables in 2018.

Tanya Reynolds plays the role of Lily on the show - an offbeat, quirky student at the school who is desperate to lose her virginity before leaving school and creates pornographic alien zines. After trying it on with Otis in season one, Lily became good friends with Ola, and eventually began a relationship with her in season two - despite being initially reluctant. She also wrote and directed the school play at the end of the second season.Tanya starred in Fanny Lye Deliver'd in 2018 alongside Maxine Peake, Charles Dance and Freddie Fox, who she's now in a relationship with after meeting on the set. Tanya played Teresa Benelli in series Delicious, and also had roles in Outlander and Death in Paradise. She also starred in the 2020 adaptation of Emma. alongside her Sex Education co-star Connor Swindells.

Kedar Williams-Stirling plays head boy and overachiever Jackson Marchetti in the show. In the first series, his storyline revolved around the love triangle with himself, Maeve and Otis, as well as dealing with the pressure of being himself. In the second season, we saw how that developed and he ended up self-harming, coming to the conclusion that there's more to life than sports, and he took part in the school play with the help of his new friend Viv.Kedar has had roles in The Bill, Silent Witness and Doctors with a main role in Wolfblood. He also starred in crime drama Death in Paradise, as well as 2019 film Changeland.

Mikael Persbrandt plays Jakob Nyman on the show, a Swedish handyman who Jean employed to fix various things in her house before the pair started a relationship. He's the widowed father of Ola, and broke things off with Jean after finding out she kissed her ex-husband Remi. The pair stay apart for a matter of months, before Jean reveals to him, in season three, that she is in fact pregnant!Mikael starred in The Hobbit film series as Beorn and also in King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, as well as a very prolific career in Swedish TV and films. You may also recognise him from Will Ferrell's 2020 comedy film Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga.

Samantha Spiro stars as the quiet and meek wife of Mr. Groff, and mother to Adam. She did not feature very heavily in the first season, but was shown to be very caring towards Adam and ignored by her husband. In the second season, she plucked up the courage to leave her husband after striking up a friendship with Jean and seeking her advice. It's safe to say that by season three, Maureen comes out of her shell!Samantha is best known for playing Barbara Windsor in the stage play Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick, as well as starring in Game Of Thrones as Melessa Tarly. She starred in a 2017 episode of Doctor Who, and played Barbara Windsor once again in Babs, the 2017 biopic of her life.

Chaneil Kular stars as the head of 'The Untouchables' - the school's cool clique. He is shown to be quite disparaging towards pretty much every single character, and leads the group made up of Aimee, Ruby and Olivia. He got a boyfriend in the second season, played by former Emmerdale actor Thomas Atkinson (Lachlan White).Chaneil had a small role in 12 episodes of Doctors, but his role in Sex Education is his biggest role yet.

Mimi Keene plays the conceited Ruby in the show, the meanest of 'The Untouchables'. In the first season, she was the victim of a revenge porn crime - which turned out to have been sent by her best friend, Olivia, who had become tired of her cruelty. In the second season, she took Otis' virginity after a raucous house party, and the pair went to get the morning after pill together afterwards. In season three, we see a relationship blossom between Otis and Ruby, with her even dropping the L-bomb. Mimi is probably best known for playing Cindy Williams in EastEnders between 2013 and 2015. She had a small part in Our Girl as Jade Dawes, and played Young Edith Bratt in 2019 film Tolkien alongside Nicholas Hoult and Lily Collins.

Simone Ashley plays the final 'Untouchable', Olivia Hanan. Olivia was shown to be a bit of a follower in the first season, submitting to her best friend Ruby, but she also released an intimate photo of Ruby as revenge for her horrible treatment. In the second season, she was shown to have a secret boyfriend that her family didn't approve of.Simone has previously starred in Wolfblood, Broadchurch as Dana, Doctors and the 2019 film Pokémon Detective Pikachu. She is also set to star in the highly anticipated second series of Netflix's Bridgerton.

Jim Howick plays music and science teacher Colin Hendricks in the show. He's shown to be kind of inept when it comes to science and biology in particular, but seemed to genuinely care about the students. He also teaches band, and encouraged Eric to join - despite the fact that he wasn't hugely gifted with the French horn to begin with. Colin encouraged Lily to follow her creativity when it came to the rather risqué school production at the end of season two, and is also in a relationship with fellow teacher Miss Sands.Fans may recognise Jim the most from his role in Peep Show as Gerard, the sickly colleague of Mark who is also his love rival in his pursuit of Dobby. He also starred in Horrible Histories, had a role in Broadchurch as well as Ghosts.

Rakhee Thakrar is the supportive and occasionally sassy English teacher at Moordale, Miss Sands. She saw potential in Maeve, and encouraged her to enter the poetry competition as well as a special programme for gifted children. In the second season, she was shown to be in a relationship with fellow teacher Colin Hendricks, and leads Maeve and her teammates in the quiz hosted by Stephen Fry.Rakhee might be best recognised for her role in EastEnders as Shabnam Masood, as well as small roles in Doctors, Holby City and Peep Show. She also voices the Eighth Doctor's companion Bliss in the Doctor Who: The Time War audio dramas.

Anne-Marie Duff joined the cast of the show in the second season as Erin, Maeve and Sean's mum. Known to be a drug addict, she was absent in the first season, and it's hinted that she left Maeve a long time ago. When she returns in the second season, she has a young daughter with her - Maeve's new sister, and tells Maeve she's clean. Although the three of them start to bond and begin a life together, Maeve unfortunately discovers traces of drugs in the caravan, and calls social services to take her sister away at the very end of the second season.Anne-Marie might be best known for her role as Fiona Gallagher in Shameless, where she met her now-ex-husband James McAvoy. She also played Queen Elizabeth I in The Virgin Queen, and John Lennon's mum in Nowhere Boy. More recently, she played Ma Costa in the TV adaptation of His Dark Materials.

Sami Outalbali was a newcomer to the show in season two, playing Rahim, a French exchange student. Although Ruby from 'The Untouchables' was originally interested in him, he showed interest in Eric, and the pair began a relationship. Unfortunately, Eric broke things off with Rahim after he realised his true feelings for Adam.So far, Sami has appeared in some French TV shows like Les Grands (Grown Ups), Vive la colo! and Mortel.

George Robinson joined the cast of Sex Education in the second season as Isaac, Maeve's new neighbour in the caravan park who lives with his brother, Joe. The pair became close, as they'd both endured troubled childhoods, and there were some romantic sparks flying between the pair by the end of the second season. However, viewers were shown that Isaac discovered a voicemail from Otis to Maeve professing his love for her - but deleted it before she could hear it. Season three sees Isaac's conscience catch up with him, confessing his actions to Maeve.Sex Education is George's first acting role. He spoke to Teen Vogue about being the show's first disabled actor, saying: "Everyone pretty much knows someone who has a disability and yet the representation in media doesn't seem to be there in the same way, even though it's certainly changing. There's been the precedent in the past of having wheelchair characters not being played by people in wheelchairs. I just thought that was such a refreshing thing when I got the call."

Chinenye Ezeudu joined the show in the second season as Vivienne 'Viv' Odusanya. Shown to be incredibly intelligent but uninterested in forming social connections, Viv was shown to have a softer side through her friendship with Jackson. As she coached him through his role as Romeo in the school production of Romeo and Juliet, he helped her talk to her crush, Dex. She also stepped in to help when Jackson self-harmed.Despite Viv and Jackson's friendship blossoming in season three, we begin to see some ructions between the pair...Viv is Chinenye's first major role, but she also had a role in Netflix's thriller The Stranger as Zoe Denmoor, alongside Richard Armitage, Siobhan Finneran, Jennifer Saunders, Dervla Kirwan and Hannah John-Kamen.

Hannah Waddingham plays Sofia Marchetti, one of Jackson's mums. She's married to Roz, and is shown to be very pushy about Jackson's swimming career. Jackson thought his parents may split up in the first season, as Sofia's attitude was coming between them. In the second season, it's revealed that Sofia is sensitive to the fact that she's not biologically connected to Jackson, and pushes his swimming career because it's something they have in common. She did not approve of Maeve as his girlfriend.Hannah is possibly mostly recognised as Septa Unella in Game of Thrones, AKA the nun who terrorised Cersei when she was imprisoned in the tower, and forced her to walk naked through the streets whilst she shouted 'Shame' at her. She had a small role in the 2012 Les Misérables film adaptation, and has had a hugely successful theatre career, being particularly recgonised for her role as the Lady of the Lake in Spamalot on the West End and Broadway.

Sharon Duncan-Brewster plays Roz Marchetti, another of Jackson's mums. She is shown to be more supportive of Jackson and seems to be more caring towards him and concerned about his wellbeing. Her different attitude towards Jackson causes rifts between herself and her wife, Sofia. Sharon is well-known in British TV, having starred in the Doctor Who episode The Water of Mars, EastEnders as Trina Johnson (Denise Fox's love rival), Bad Girls as Crystal Gordon and, more recently, Years and Years as Fran Baxter. She also had a role in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

Edward Bluemel played Maeve's brother, Sean Wiley, in the first season. He dropped by towards the end of the first season to see his sister, and was shown to be in some trouble. He also got Maeve into trouble by dealing drugs at her school dance, with her taking the fall for him and getting kicked out of school. Edward is possibly best known for his role as Marcus Whitmore in the TV adaptation of A Discovery of Witches. He had a small role in The Crown, and also played Hugo in the second series of Killing Eve. He had a role in the Liam Neeson film The Commuter, and has also had a successful theatre career.

Lino Facioli joined Sex Education in series two as Dex, a member of the school quiz team and object of Viv's affections. Although she is initially impressed by his intelligence and ability to solve a Rubik's cube very quickly, she soon realises that there's not much more substance to him than that. He's also the culprit of the chlamydia epidemic at Moordale High.Lino played Russell Brand's son Naples in Get Him to the Greek, but is most famously known for his role as Lord Robin Arryn in Game of Thrones, a role he played from 2011 to 2019.

Joe Wilkinson plays Jeffrey in the show, the husband of Cynthia and Maeve's neighbour on the caravan site. The couple constantly argue, and he is shown to not really respond to his wife's comments.Joe is a comedian in real life, often appearing on panel shows like 8 Out of 10 Cats as well as the Countdown mash-up show, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, along with Have I Got News for You, Mock the Week and Never Mind the Buzzcocks. He also starred in Ricky Gervais' Netflix series After Life as Pat the Postman.