Joanna Lumley
She captured the hearts of the nation playing feisty Purdey in The New Avengers and eccentric Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous.
However, it is Joanna Lumley's part in fighting for Gurkhas' rights that has cemented her place as a national treasure - and it is the role of which she's most proud.
Joanna, 63, took on the British Government in her quest to change legislation affecting the Gurkhas - Nepalese soldiers who have been an integral part of the British Army for 200 years. More than 200,000 fought in the two World Wars and, in the past 50 years, they have served in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Borneo, Cyprus, the Falklands, Kosovo and now in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet any Gurkhas who had retired before 1997 were banned from settling in the UK - a law which Joanna found abhorrent.
She joined the Gurkha Justice Campaign in 2007 after being approached by Peter Carroll, a Folkestone councillor who had been working for the cause since 2003. But it had long been an issue close to Joanna's heart as her own father, Major James Rutherford Lumley, served with the 6th Gurkha Rifles for 30 years. "Because I am a Gurkha soldier's daughter, this has been with me since I was born," she says.
Joanna, who is married with a son and two granddaughters, quickly became the figurehead for the campaign. She debated with Government ministers, rallied public support and attended High Court hearings in support of the Nepalese soldiers. In May this year, the Government finally relented and agreed that all Gurkhas who had served more than four years could live in Britain.
"This has been the most rewarding thing I have done," says Joanna. "It has been an almost fairytale ending." The Gurkhas' lawyer Martin Howe called the judgment, "A victory for the British sense of what is right". The campaign's success won Joanna accolades in Britain, but elevated her to even greater heights in Nepal where she had a holy hill named after her in the Himalayan state.
On a visit to the country she was mobbed by well-wishers calling her a goddess and a daughter of Nepal. Joanna was moved to tears by frail war hero Harka Bahadur Pun, 84, who had trekked for two days to see her.
She also met Nepal's Prime Minister, Madhav Kumar Nepal, and the President, Ram Baran Yadav. "We simply would not have won this fight without the massive, overwhelming backing of all those who have supported us," says Joanna. "The whole campaign has been based on the belief that those who have fought and been prepared to die for our country should have the right to live in our country. We owe them a debt of honour - a debt that will now be paid."
The People's Choice
This award was voted for by Daily Mirror readers and online. Joanna was the overwhelming choice, attracting praise such as "she has guts", "she's an inspiration" and "she used her high profile to do what was right".