Matt Lucas

Matt Lucas’s theatrical delivery makes an announcer’s part feel like a natural fit. As the Master of Ceremonies in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II (2024), he has a definite reason to draw attention to himself. His usefulness in a small part is how quickly he can establish an eccentric presence. We find Scott’s film handsome and rarely dull, but its central character is thinly written. A well-chosen cameo is welcome; it cannot do much about that.

That economy comes from a career in character comedy, beginning with Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer and developing through his sketch partnership with David Walliams. Little Britain (2003–2006) established his reputation for grotesque characters, with comic timing central to their appeal. Film work offered smaller spaces for those skills: Cousin Tom in Shaun of the Dead (2004), then Tweedledee and Tweedledum in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland (2010). Television also gave him longer to work with a character, as Nardole in Doctor Who from 2015 to 2017.

Shaun of the Dead is the film we would recommend first, though Lucas’s contribution is only a cameo. Edgar Wright makes the comedy depend on taking ordinary failings seriously, and Simon Pegg and the supporting cast give the danger weight. We laughed, then found ourselves anxious for the characters, because those failings remained recognisable when the horror arrived. The later horror business is more familiar, but by then the cast have earned our concern. Lucas belongs to the ensemble here, rather than being asked to carry the evening.

Wonka (2023) gives him Prodnose, an antagonist in Paul King’s musical fantasy. His vocal and physical comedy make the casting understandable, as does his musical theatre work as Thénardier in Les Misérables. Yet King’s film is sweet without pause, and the presence of a performer associated with grotesques does not restore Dahl’s missing bite. We would happily watch Lucas in another musical, provided the script gives him something less sugary to work with.