Matthew Richard Lucas (born 5 March 1974) is an English actor, comedian, writer and television host. 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).
Lucas first came to prominence in the BBC TV comedy series The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer and Shooting Stars. In the latter, he portrayed score-keeping baby George Dawes from 1995 to 2009. From 2015 to 2017, he played 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), Wonka (2023) and Gladiator II (2024). Lucas presented the baking competition show The Great British Bake Off, alongside Noel Fielding, from 2020 to 2023.
On stage, Lucas has appeared as Monsieur Thénardier in the musical Les Misérables for the 25th anniversary concert at The O2 (2010), the long-running West End production (2011 and 2019), the All-Star Staged Concert (2019-20) and worldwide in the Arena Concert Spectacular (2025-26). He has also appeared in Taboo (2002), Prick Up Your Ears (2009), Me and My Girl (2026) and Oliver! (2026).
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Early life
Matthew Richard Lucas was born in the Paddington area of central London, the son of Diana (née Williams) and chauffeuring business owner and convicted fraudster John Stanley Lucas. 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. He has had alopecia since childhood, having lost all his hair after being struck by a car at the age of six. When Lucas was 22, his father died of a heart attack.
Lucas was educated at Aylward Primary School in Stanmore, north-west London, and Haberdashers' Boys' School in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire. He studied drama at the University of Bristol between 1992 and 1995, although he did not complete his degree. He also spent time with the National Youth Theatre, where he met his future collaborator David Walliams.
Career
Early work
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.
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 was one of their first collaborations.
His music video appearances include the Damien Hirst-directed video for Blur's "Country House", "Mudslide" by the Bluetones, alongside Walliams in 2000, "Jesusland" by Ben Folds in 2005, "I'm with Stupid" by Pet Shop Boys, and "Vindaloo" by Fat Les.
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.
Little Britain
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. 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 wrote and acted 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 comedy by Radio Times.
Later career
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) 500 Miles", originally by The Proclaimers, with Peter Kay as a charity single for Comic Relief. He performed the single as Little Britain character Andy Pipkin, along with Kay playing as Brian Potter. He also starred as Mr. Toad in The 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 Hijack on E4.
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 Tweedledum in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.
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.
On 3 October 2010, Lucas played Monsieur Thénardier in the 25th Anniversary Concert of Les Misérables, at The O2 Arena in London for two performances. The following year from 23 June to 10 September 2011, he reprised the role at the Queen's Theatre, in the long-running West End production. He has since collaborated with Alfie Boe, who played Jean Valjean, to record a duet of "The Impossible Dream" on Boe's debut album.
Personal life
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.
Lucas is homosexual. He first suspected his sexuality at age seven. At a ceremony in Central London in December 2006, he entered into a civil partnership with Kevin McGee. In attendance were Barbara Windsor, Neil Tennant, Elton John, and Courtney Love. 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 and a "fairly secular Jew". 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 Frank as a sub-tenant in Amsterdam in 1942. In the episode, it is disclosed that his cousin is mentioned by name in Anne's diary, and was present in the apartment at the time of the family's last night there, before they went into hiding. In 2021, 83 years after his grandmother left Berlin, Lucas obtained German citizenship. On 16 February 2026, Lucas was followed on the London Underground by a pro-Palestinian supporter, who repeatedly shouted "Free Palestine" and called Lucas a "Zionist". The incident, captured on video, drew widespread media criticism; Lucas has rarely spoken publicly about Israel-Palestine matters, although he was a signatory to an open letter in October 2023 sent by Hollywood stars to President Biden, calling for the release of Israeli hostages.
Lucas is an avid supporter of Arsenal Football Club.
From 2012 to 2015, Lucas lived with his Bridesmaids co-star Rebel Wilson in West Hollywood.
Lucas was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2026 New Year Honours for services to drama.
Lucas has stated he is autistic and has ADHD.
Filmography
Stage guest appearances
Monty Python Live (Mostly) - The O2 (2014)
The Comeback - Noël Coward Theatre (2020)
Inside No. 9 Stage/Fright - Wyndham's Theatre (2025)
