Realy Name: Trevor Bannister's
On Stage Name: Mr DICK LUCAS

DICK LUCAS is the junior salesman who fancies his chances with the girls, especially Miss Brahms. Unpunctual and not particularly dedicated in his work, Lucas - who'd only been working a month for Grace Brothers when the show started - lives with his mother in Highgate. Always cracking jokes, usually at Mrs Slocombe's expense, his sarcasm and ridiculing of the company's old-fashioned ways are frowned upon by management.

Trevor Bannister's mail bag contains proof that Are You Being Served? is already
attracting a new generation of fans. Thanks to the recent run of repeats, many youngsters are writing to the actor, none of whom would have been alive when the series was first screened. 'I'm getting masses of mail from people discovering it for the first time,' enthuses Trevor.

'I also receive about thirty letters a week from American fans. It's amazing how popular it is over there. I'm often invited to appear on their public broadcasting stations to help fund-raising by simply talking about the show.'
Shortly after bumping into David Croft in a West London club one evening, Trevor was asked whether he'd be interested in playing Mr Lucas in the pilot. Trevor, who was appearing at the Vaudeville Theatre in the successful play Move Over, Mrs Markham at the time, liked the script and agreed to do it. And he had no problems deciding how to play the character.

'To be honest, characters in a show like Are You Being Served? are rather one-
dimensional,' he says. 'They're surface characters and have little depth, relying a great deal on the actors personality~ So I played him as I saw him: a newcomer to the old establishment, rebelling against authority the cheerful, cheeky chappie. Mr Lucas was a square peg in a round hole, someone who also took the Mickey out of everything, and I enjoyed playing him very much.'

Trevor was hot property in 1972: as well as appearing in the successful West End play, he'd just finished playing Heavy Breathing in the popular sitcom The Dustbin men, and was pleased to be involved in another popular sitcom. 'It was only a pilot so obviously we didn't know whether it would be a success; but the cast was wonderful -many of them being old friends - and the scripts very funny, so it had lots going for it.'

After playing the unruly Mr Lucas for seven series, another engagement prevented him furthering the role, as Trevor explains. A sitcom is about seven weeks' work a year, so you spend the rest of your year earning a living on other projects. The

BBC also never gave us much notice about a new series, and by the time they told me about series eight, I'd already replaced Richard Briers in a tour of Middle-Age Spread.
'The play offered months of work and a very good salary, so naturally I accepted it. I tried to arrange it so I could be in the new series as well, but it didn't work out and I stayed with the play.'

Trevor discovered that being involved in Are You Being Served? had negative and positive effects on his career. 'I've never had a problem being typecast, but casting directors sometimes have tunnel vision, and playing Mr Lucas seemed to preclude me from doing any more drama. But as far as the stage is concerned, it has helped bring in the audiences. My association with the show has been a blessing in many ways: its appeal is worldwide and consequently I've toured plays all over the world: Move Over Mrs Markham in Canada and Beirut; Boeing-
Boeing in South Africa; Rattle of a Simple Man in Australia, and Bedford of Foreigners across the Far and
Middle East. And, of course, playing Mr Lucas was a happy period of my life.'

Born in Durrington, Wiltshire, Trevor joined LAMDA upon leaving school. After completing national service, during which he was shipped off to Nigeria, he attended a refresher course at the drama school, where he met Arthur Brough. 'He was watching one of our productions and offered me the juvenile lead at his rep in Folkestone. He gave me my big break, and for that, as well as making me laugh during Are You Being Serve"?; I'll always be grateful.'
Eight years of repertory work around the country.