Matthew Richard Lucas (born 5 March 1974) is an English actor, comedian, writer and television presenter. He is best known for his work with David Walliams on the BBC sketch comedy series Little Britain (2003–2006) and Come Fly with Me (2010–2011).
Born
Matthew Richard Lucas
Citizenship
Occupations
Years active
1992–present
Partner
Kevin McGee (c. 2002–2008)
Lucas first came to prominence on the comedy panel show Shooting Stars, in which he portrayed scorekeeper George Dawes from 1995 to 2009. From 2015 to 2017, he portrayed the role of Nardole in the BBC series Doctor Who. He has also appeared in films, including Astro Boy (2009), Alice in Wonderland (2010), Bridesmaids, Gnomeo & Juliet (both 2011), Small Apartments (2012), Paddington (2014), and Wonka (2023). Lucas presented the baking competition show The Great British Bake Off, alongside Noel Fielding from 2020 to 2023.[1]
Matthew Richard Lucas was born on 5 March 1974 in the Paddington area of west London, the son of Diana (née Williams; born 1945) and chauffeuring business owner John Stanley Lucas (1944–1996).[citation needed] His family is Jewish; some of his mother's family fled Nazi Germany just before the Second World War. He was raised in a Reform Jewish household although his parents came from Orthodox Jewish families.[2] He has had alopecia since childhood,[3] having lost all his hair after being struck by a car at the age of 6.[4] When Lucas was 22, his father died of a heart attack.[5]
Lucas was educated at Aylward Primary School and Haberdashers' Boys' SchoolinBorehamwood, Hertfordshire. He studied drama at the University of Bristol between 1992 and 1995, although he did not complete his degree.[6][7] He also spent time with the National Youth Theatre, where he met his future collaborator David Walliams.[8]
Lucas's association with Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer began in 1992. He appeared in The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer in 1995, and went on to star with them in Shooting Stars. He quickly rose to fame as George Dawes, a giant baby (often dressed in an adult-sized romper suit) who would deliver a string of meaningless gags and insults before delivering the teams' scores, while sitting at and playing a drum kit. He also appeared on occasion as Marjorie Dawes, George's mother, who also appears in Little Britain.[9]
He again appeared with Reeves & Mortimer in the BBC TV series Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) and Catterick, in a variety of roles. In 1999, Lucas paired with David Walliams, with whom he had already worked in Mash and Peas and Sir Bernard's Stately Homes, to create Rock Profile, a comedy show spoofing famous musical personalities. It is notable for being one of their first comedic collaborations.
His music video appearances include the Damien Hirst-directed video for Blur's "Country House",[9] "Jesusland" by Ben Folds in 2005, "I'm with Stupid" by Pet Shop Boys,[10] and "Vindaloo" by Fat Les.[11]
Lucas ventured into stage musicals in 2002, when he took a role in Boy George's musical Taboo at The Venue in London. He played the performance artist Leigh Bowery.[9]
Little Britain is Lucas' most commercially successful work. The show came about when trainee BBC radio producer Ashley Blaker, tasked with coming up with ideas for a television or radio series, bumped into Lucas in London.[12] The two were old friends from Haberdashers' and Lucas took Blaker to the Groucho Club, where he told Blaker of his ideas for a sketch show. Little Britain was launched as a radio show on BBC Radio 4 and it later became a TV series.
Among the many characters he plays in the series, which he writes and acts in along with David Walliams, are apparently "disabled" Andy Pipkin, teenage Bristol chav Vicky Pollard, homophobic homosexual Daffyd Thomas, and insensitive slimming club organiser Marjorie Dawes.
In January 2005, Lucas and Walliams were named the most powerful people in TV comedybyRadio Times.[13]
In 2005, he took his first role in a television drama, a supporting part as a Venetian duke in the BBC historical serial Casanova, written by Russell T Davies. Also in 2005, he did voice work in the ITV children's program King Arthur's Disasters alongside Rik Mayall. Since 2006, Lucas has been the voice of the radio and television character Digit Al, devised as part of a public information campaign on digital switchover. On 26 November 2006 he appeared on the BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs. He made a cameo appearance in Shaun of the Dead as Tom, the cousin of Shaun's friend Yvonne.
In 2007, he released "I'm Gonna Be", originally by The Proclaimers, with Peter Kay as a charity single for Comic Relief.[14] He performed the single as Little Britain character Andy Pipkin, along with Kay playing as Brian Potter. He also starred as Mr. ToadinThe Wind in the Willows, a 2006 television adaptation of the Kenneth Grahame novel.
He has appeared in Kath & Kim and Neighbours (the latter alongside David Walliams as Little Britain characters Lou and Andy), as well as a cameo role, playing 'Chris' or 'Jammy' at the wedding fayre, in the BBC Three sitcom Gavin & Stacey. Lucas has co-written (with Walliams) and performed in a new series of Little Britain USA for HBO. Lucas was the first celebrity to appear in 2008's Big Brother Celebrity HijackonE4.
On 9 April 2009, the series Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire, featuring Lucas as a regular performer, premièred on Comedy Central, the first major comedy series which Lucas had worked on since Little Britain. In 2010, Lucas played Tweedledee and TweedleduminTim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.[15]
Starting in February 2010, Lucas began hosting his own radio show, And The Winner Is, in which he handed out a fictional series of awards based on nominations by his guests.[16]
On 3 October 2010,[17] Lucas played Thénardier in the 25th Anniversary Concerts of Les Misérables, at the O2 Arena in London. A year later, from 23 June to 10 September 2011,[18] he reprised the role at the Queen's Theatre, in the West End. He has since collaborated with Alfie Boe, who played Jean Valjean, to record a duet of "The Impossible Dream" on Boe's debut album.
Also in 2011, Lucas lent his voice to the CGI film Gnomeo and Juliet and he played a small role as the roommate of Kristen Wiig in the comedy Bridesmaids.
On Christmas Day 2010, the BBC began showing Lucas and David Walliams' new series, Come Fly with Me. The show saw Walliams and Lucas each playing multiple characters but, unlike Little Britain, it focused entirely on the working environment of the airline industry. In an interview shown on BBC 3 on 9 February 2011, it was stated that the creators considered bringing travel agent character Carol Beer from Little Britain to the new series, but decided against it, as they did not want viewers to see the new show as merely a spinoff. Instead, all new characters were introduced.
On 28 March 2012, Lucas appeared as the "Generation X" guest on the Australian game show Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation. On 10 April 2012, Lucas's own BBC One show The Matt Lucas Awards began. It was a send-up of an awards program, with a panel of comedians giving their nominations for awards for a series of prizes concerning trivial topics.
Lucas also starred in the dark comedy Small Apartments released in February 2013 alongside James Caan, Billy Crystal, Johnny Knoxville, and Juno Temple with other cameo performances by notable actors. On 21 February 2013, Lucas appeared on the NBC series Community as Toby, an English friend of Abed Nadir. In 2014, Lucas played Ray Thomas in The Life of Rock with Brian Pern.
Lucas launched a new comedy series called Pompidou for BBC Two. The show began airing on 1 March 2015.
In May 2016, Lucas reprised his role as "Tweedledee/Tweedledum" in Tim Burton's Alice Through the Looking Glass, sequel to Alice in Wonderland.[19] Lucas joined the BBC series Doctor Who for its tenth series, reprising the character Nardole, which he had previously played in the 2015 and 2016 Christmas specials, "The Husbands of River Song" and "The Return of Doctor Mysterio" respectively.
On 16 February 2017, Lucas was awarded an Honorary Degree "Doctor of Letters" by the University of Bristol, where he had studied for two years in the 1990s but had left before completing his degree course.[20] On 3 October 2017, Lucas released his autobiography titled Little Me, published by Canongate Books in hardback. The paperback edition was released on 7 June 2018.[21]
From 2 July to 25 August 2018, Lucas played Bill Snibson in a revival of Me and My GirlatChichester Festival Theatre.[22]
In 2019, Lucas was the bank holiday cover host[clarification needed] for the Radio 2 Breakfast Show.[citation needed] He will also cover Paul O'Grady's Sunday 5–7pm show during the summer; Fearne Cotton will be the main holiday cover host.[23][needs update] In 2021, Lucas continues to sit in for Zoe Ball and host the Radio 2 Breakfast Show.[24]
From 10 August to 30 November 2019, Lucas appeared in Les Misérables at the Gielgud Theatre in London's West End, playing the role of Monsieur Thénardier in a fully staged concert adaptation of the musical. On 20 December 2019, Lucas returned to the role at the Sondheim Theatre, after actor Gerard Carey contracted vocal damage through pneumonia and was forced to pull out. On 10 January 2020, Lucas himself was forced to withdraw from the show following a back injury.[25]
In March 2020, he became the new co-host of the Channel 4 and Love Productions television show The Great British Bake Off, taking over from Sandi Toksvig.[26] He departed from the programme in December 2022.
On 3 April 2020, Lucas released a reworked version of his "Baked Potato Song" from Shooting Stars titled "Thank You Baked Potato", with all proceeds from the track going towards the Feed NHS campaign, which aims to provide meals for NHS workers in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK.[27][28] The song reached No. 34 in the charts. Lucas also wrote a children's picture book based on "Thank You, Baked Potato", published by Egmont and all proceeds again go to Feed NHS.
In 2020, Lucas, along with his Little Britain co-star David Walliams, apologised for their portrayal of characters using racial caricatures, "including an obese Caribbean woman called Desiree DeVere, portrayed in blackface, and a 'portly Thai bride' called Ting Tong." This was prompted after Netflix and BBC iPlayer removed the show from their catalogues.[29]
Lucas is a patron of the Karen Morris Memorial Trust, a UK charity for leukaemia patients and their families. In April 2003, he appeared on Celebrity Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and won £62,500 for the charity.[30]
Lucas is gay. He first suspected his sexuality at age seven.[4][31][32] At a ceremony in Central London in December 2006, he entered into a civil partnership with Kevin McGee.[33] In attendance were Barbara Windsor, Neil Tennant, Elton John, and Courtney Love.[34] They separated and had their civil partnership dissolved through the High Court in 2008.
Lucas was raised as Jewish but has variously described himself as an atheist[35] and a "fairly secular Jew".[36] In 2022, he was the subject of BBC's Who Do You Think You Are? and learned that many of his grandmother's cousins had been murdered in the Holocaust. His grandmother's cousin, Werner Goldschmidt, had lived with the family of diarist Anne FrankinAmsterdam in 1942.[37][38] In 2021, 83 years after his grandmother left Berlin, Lucas obtained German citizenship.[39]
Lucas is an avid supporter of Arsenal Football Club.[40]
From 2012 to 2015, Lucas lived with his Bridesmaids co-star Rebel WilsoninWest Hollywood.[41]
Year
Title
Role
Notes
1998
Jilting Joe
Air Steward
1999
Sir Oswald
2004
Cousin Tom
Cameo
2005
Cold and Dark
Dr. Elgin
2009
Sparx
Voice
2010
Rabbi
Thénardier
2011
Voice
Gil
2012
Franklin Franklin
2013
Divine
Olivier
Previously titled Thérèse
Otto
2014
Joe
2016
Alice Through the Looking Glass
Tweedledee and Tweedledum
2017
How to Talk to Girls at Parties
PT Wain
2018
Benny
Voice
2019
Mr. Blut
Mr. Collick[42]
Voice
Charlie
Voice
Thénardier
2022
Great British Bake-Off Host
2023
Gerald Prodnose
2024
TBA
Post-production
Year
Title
Role
Notes
1995
The Imaginatively Titled Punt & Dennis Show
1 episode
Mayor Hobson / Pub Landlord / Quivell Mills
4 episodes
1995–2009
George Dawes / Marjorie Dawes
1996
Danny Mash / Various roles
9 episodes; also writer
1997
Mr. Mills
It's Ulrika!
Various roles
Television film
1998
Various Roles
You Are Here
Pat Magnet
Television film
1999
Bang Bang, It's Reeves and Mortimer
Various roles
1 episode
Sir Bernard Chumley
6 episodes
1999–2022
Various characters
31 episodes; also writer
2000
Wrote 1 episode
Voice, English BBC dub of Urusei Yatsura; 2 episodes
2001
Father Titmus / Isaac Hunt
2 episodes
Nesbit
Episode: "Revenge of the Bog People"
2002
Surrealissimo: The Scandalous Success of Salvador Dalí
Television film
Captain V
Television film
2003
Comic Relief 2003: The Big Hair Do
Su Pollard: Blankety Blank
Television film
2003–2006
Various Roles
23 episodes; also writer
2004
Roy Oates / Dan the Shellfish Man / Webster
6 episodes
1 episode
The All-Star Comedy Show
Various roles
Television film
God
Television film
2005
Dr. Phillip Lavender
2 episodes
Villars
Mini-series; 2 episodes
2005–2006
2006
Cardinal One / Jackie Cohen
10 episodes
Mr. Toad
Television film
2007
The National Television Awards 2007
Lou
Television film
Jammy
1 episode
Andy Pipkin
Episode: "British Bulldog"
Karen
2 episodes
2008
Various roles
6 episodes; also writer and executive producer
2009
Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire
Chancellor Dongalor
6 episodes
Comic Relief 2009
Julie / Matt Van-Laaast / Ellie Grace
Television film
Pride of Britain Awards 2009
Andy
Television film
2010
Graham Rhys Grahamcox
Episode: "The Carpet Brothers"
Various characters
Television film
2010–2011
Various roles / Fearghal O'Farrell / Keeley St Clair / Mickey Minchin
6 episodes; also writer and associate producer
2012
The Greatest Footie Ads Ever
Andy
Television film
2012–2013
Stu
2 episodes
2013
Toby Weeks
Episode: "Conventions of Space and Time"[43]
Derrick
Guest appearance[44]
2014
The Life of Rock with Brian Pern
Ray Thomas
2015
Pompidou
Also writer and director
Mr. Fisher
Episode: "Boy II Man"
Igor
Episode: "Teacup"
2015–2017
15 episodes
2016
Mr. Richards
Episode: "A Faberge Egg"
Peasant John
Episode: "Aw, Hell, the King"
Admirable Matt
Episode: "A Spectrum of Possibilities"
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Nick Bottom
Television film
Round Planet
Narrator
10 episodes
2017
Himself
Episode: "The Sexual Spectrum"
Wes
Episode: 6.1
2018
—
Writer ("104")
2019
Teety-Woo
In production
2020
Reasons to Be Cheerful with Matt Lucas
Presenter
2020–2023
Co-presenter
Alongside Noel Fielding; replaced Sandi Toksvig
2021
Guest panelist
Series 2, Episode 7; Semi-final
50 Years of Mr Men with Matt Lucas
Presenter
TV documentary[45]
2 episodes
Guest Judge
Episode: "The Return of Royalty"
Himself
Series 18, episode 5 (Su2c special)
2022
Deep Heat
Administrator
The Showcase
2022–2024
Co-presenter
Co-writer[46]
Year
Title
Role
Notes
1996
Shooting Stars: Unviewed and Nude
George Dawes
Video
1997
Dennis Pennis R.I.P.
'The Quill'
Video
2003
Moo(n)
Bee
Short
2003
Welcome to Glaringly
Various roles
Short
2005
Alan Partridge Presents: The Cream of British Comedy
Daffydd Thomas
Video
2007
Fievel Throws Down
Short
2010
The RRF in New Recruit
Sparx
Voice, video short
2020
The Best of Days
Nardole
Voice, video short
Year
Title
Role
Notes
2020
Man from Hounslow[47]
Episode: "What's wrong with London's boroughs?"
Year
Title
Role
Notes
2001
Doctor Who: The One Doctor[48]
Cylinder / The Jelloid[48]
Year
Production
Role
Venue
Notes
2002
2005–2007
Writer and performer (various roles)
Various
UK and Australian tours
2009
2010
The O2, London
2011
Queen's Theatre, London
2014
Monty Python Live (Mostly) - 5 July show
Himself (The 'Blackmail' sketch)
The O2, London
2018
Bill Snibson
2019
Gielgud Theatre, London
West End Concert
2019–2020
Sondheim Theatre, London
2020
West End Concert
Mr. Collick (voice)
Lucas also has a small role in Country House by Blur
