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, 2020) and Come Fly With Me (2010–2011). 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, Lucas portrayed the role of Nardole in the BBC series Doctor Who. He has also appeared in films, including Alice in Wonderland (2010), Bridesmaids (2011), Small Apartments (2012), and Paddington (2014). Lucas presented The Great British Bake Off, alongside Noel Fielding from 2020 to 2023.
Early life
Matthew Richard Lucas was born on 5 March 1974 in the Paddington area of London, the son of Diana (née Williams; born 1945) and chauffeuring business owner John Stanley Lucas (1944–1996). 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 although his parents came from Orthodox Jewish families. He has had alopecia since childhood, before losing all of his hair at the age of 6. When Lucas was 22, his father died of a heart attack at the age of 52.
