Matt Lucas admits starring in Doctor Who was 'emotional' for him

5 April 2017

Matt Lucas admits starring in 'Doctor Who' was an "emotional" experience for him because he and his late former partner were both huge fans of the show.

Matt Lucas

The 43-year-old comic actor is returning to the BBC sci-fi series as alien companion Nardole after making his first appearance in the 2015 Christmas special 'The Husbands of River Song'.

Matt always wanted a role in the programme but was reluctant to pursue a part for many years because the memories of him and Kevin McGee - who tragically took his own life in 2009 - watching the programme together were in his thoughts.

Speaking at a screening of the upcoming first episode of the new series 'The Pilot' in London on Tuesday night (04.04.17), he said: "After the Christmas episode I was quite pushy and I kept ringing Steven Moffat and would say, 'I'm very happy to come back.' It had taken me a while to be in it. I wanted to be in the show for a while but had been a bit nervous about being in the show, partly because I'm a fan and partly because my late partner was a huge fan of it, so it was a bit of an emotional thing for me and I needed to be ready and enough time had passed for me to say, 'OK, I'm ready to do this.' Then once I was ready then I wanted to be in it more because I'd had such fun in 'The Husbands of River Song'. I hope I haven't spoiled it for too many people."

Matt and Kevin made a commitment to one another in a civil partnership in December 2006 at a ceremony which was celebrated by a host of celebrity guests including Dame Barbara Windsor, Sir Elton John, 'EastEnders' actor Steve McFadden and Matt's 'Little Britain' co-star David Walliams.

Their civil partnership was eventually dissolved through the High Court in 2008 bringing an end to their six-year relationship.

Matt's decision to wait to try for a role in 'Doctor Who' did mean that he got to work with one of his favourite actors, Twelfth Doctor Peter Capaldi.

The 'Alice in Wonderland' star said: "It's just great to be in it and it's just great to work with Peter. It sounds like a bit of a love-in but I have long been a fan of Peter's work, we were in 'Paddington' together and we were in the same scene but we didn't have any interaction with each other but I was very excited just to be in the same space as him."

Matt and Peter are joined in the TARDIS for Series 10 by Pearl Mackie, who plays new companion Bill Potts, and their adventures kick off on BBC One on Saturday April 15.