6. David Schneider - Mission Impossible
Paramount PicturesSteve Coogan's long road to tinsel town started out on shows such as The Day Today, a satirical Panorama style news programme. Co-created by by Armando Ianucci, now known over here for The Thick Of It and across the pond for Veep, it also starred David Schneider in a variety of roles, including weatherman Sylvester Stuart, and physical cartoonist Brandt. Despite several collaborations with Coogan and Ianucci, Schneider never really achieved the same level of fame, but still played a pivotal part in one of 90's sit-com's most oft quoted moments: as BBC Chief Commissioning Editor Tony Hayers, Schneider was the "Mother" asked by Alan Partridge to smell his cheese. Just five years after The Day Today however, he would appear in the Tom Cruise starring, Brian De Palma directed, before-it-was-cool TV show adaptation that was Mission: Impossible. Credited as "Train Engineer" it was a hardly a starring role, but brought his talents with facial expressions to a much wider audience. After all, how many other comedians can claim to be the tension relieving punchline for an adrenaline fuelled action climax between Cruise, Jean Reno, and Jon Voight?