Matt Lucas

Born: 5th March 1974 (as Matthew Richard Lucas)
Episodes Broadcast: 2015-2017

Biography

Matt Lucas was born in Stanmore, London. He became bald at six years old, having suffered severe alopecia. Lucas gained admission to Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School in Elstree, Hertfordshire, where he became involved in various stage productions. This led to his first television appearance, aged twelve years, when he posed a question to singer Owen Paul on a September 1986 edition of Saturday Superstore. Lucas joined the National Youth Theatre in 1990, where he met David Walliams, who would later play Gibbis in the 2011 Doctor Who story The God Complex.

From 1992, Lucas continued his involvement with the stage at the University of Bristol, while he also began working as a stand-up comic. His act attracted the notice of comedians Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, who invited Lucas to work with them; as a result, he wound up abandoning his undergraduate degree in drama. He took various roles in Reeves and Mortimer projects like Shooting Stars and The Smell Of Reeves And Mortimer. Lucas also appeared in Blur's music video for the song Country House, and opened for them during their 1995 tour. However, he was coming to dislike the solitary nature of the stand-up life, so he invited Walliams to collaborate with him. The immediate result was Mash And Peas, followed by Barking, Sir Bernard's Stately Homes, Rock Profile and the 1999 movie Plunkett & Macleane. Separately, Lucas also had a recurring role in Sunnyside Farm.

Lucas could be heard in The One Doctor, a Sixth Doctor audio drama released by Big Finish Productions in 2001

After the turn of the century, Lucas maintained his involvement with Reeves and Mortimer, appearing in shows like Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) and Catterick. However, he and Walliams had now created a massive popular hit in the form of Little Britain, which debuted as a radio programme in 2000. It shifted to television in 2003, and its success had prompted a move from BBC Three to BBC One by 2005. Voice acting became more prominent in Lucas' resume, and he could be heard in animated programmes such as King Arthur's Disasters and Popetown, as well as The One Doctor, a Sixth Doctor audio drama released by Big Finish Productions in 2001. His other credits during the decade included Kath & Kim, a small role in the cult classic movie Shaun Of The Dead, and Casanova, which starred the future Tenth Doctor, David Tennant, and was created by Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies. Indeed, Doctor Who had now taken a rather prominent place in Lucas' life by virtue of his relationship with Kevin McGee, who was a huge fan. They entered into a civil partnershp in 2006, but the relationship had fallen apart by 2008 and their union was dissolved; sadly, McGee committed suicide the following year.

During the early 2010s, Lucas sought work in Hollywood. The result was a variety of movie roles, including Bridesmaids, Paddington, and both Tweedledee and Tweedledum in Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland and its sequel. On television, his credits included Portlandia and Community, while amongst his work in the United Kingdom were another Walliams collaboration, Come Fly With Me, and Pompidou. In 2015, Lucas was offered the role of Nardole in that year's Doctor Who Christmas special, The Husbands Of River Song, and despite his complicated feelings towards the show, he agreed to appear opposite Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor. He then took a role in Davies' A Midsummer Night's Dream, which was made by the Doctor Who crew during the extended hiatus between its 2015 and 2017 seasons.

Now comfortable working with the BBC Wales team, Lucas indicated his interest in reprising the role of Nardole. Executive producer Steven Moffat initially anticipated Lucas' involvement in only a handful of episodes during the 2017 season, but he ultimately appeared throughout the run, including Nardole's reintroduction in the 2016 Christmas special, The Return Of Doctor Mysterio>. Although Nardole was written out in the 2017 season finale, The Doctor Falls, Lucas returned for Capaldi's swansong, Twice Upon A Time, that Christmas.

Lucas' subsequent work included programmes such as Stella and movies like How To Talk To Girls At Parties. His autobiography, Little Me: My Life From A-Z was published by Canongate Books in 2017. During the Twenties, Lucas could be seen in the super-hero show Legends Of Tomorrow, and he became a presenter on The Great British Bake Off.

Credits
Actor, Nardole
The Husbands Of River Song
The Return Of Doctor Mysterio
The Pilot
Smile
Thin Ice
Knock Knock
Oxygen
Extremis
The Pyramid At The End Of The World
The Lie Of The Land
Empress Of Mars
The Eaters Of Light
World Enough And Time / The Doctor Falls
Twice Upon A Time

Updated 16th February 2023