This plays with the conceit that House of Cards is a long running TV show. What follows is an "interview" with the actor behind the creation of Lucas, after the style of lifestyle magaizne interviews.

See this interview in Word format here

It's been a busy year for Lucas.

Directing episodes of the popular Amberama Ask Not of Amber - the Enclaves, directing and appearing in the long-running series Galactic Renaissance, and now, of course, playing the part of Lucas, son of Flora in the legendary House of Cards.

I catch up with Lucas during a break in filming - "They're casting a new set of twins for Paige today," he explains. "Really, it's a lifesaver - at the moment it means we get a day off every week. Long may the nippers keep swigging the growth hormone." And he laughs.

That's the first shock - Lucas laughs. You feel you should be flagging it up on billboards, like they did with Ninotchka - Garbo Laughs! One has just got so used to the half smiles, the veiled smiles, the rueful smiles, the scornful, mocking smiles ... it's quite a shock to find that the real Lucas laughs openly, and easily.

Of course, he has a lot to laugh about.

We met in a room in the Waldorf Astoria. Lucas keeps a suite here when he's filming in New York - but that's not where we met. Instead he has arranged a sitting room downstairs for the interview.

I ask him why the hotel, and not an apartment.

"When I was younger, there was a terrific American actress called Elaine Stritch," he says. "Tremendous memsahib. Very upper crust - despite being from this side of the pond. And she lived in a suite at the Savoy - oh, for years. I thought it a great idea. Room service, bedding changed every night, all your wants catered to ... and no worries about paying rent when you weren't there. As soon as I could afford it ... well, here I am."

So why are we meeting downstairs and not in the suite?

"That's private, and this is business," he says cheerfully. Nevertheless, the first thing he does when he comes into the room is set a coloured silk scarf over a table lamp and switch it on. The light is a mix of golds and blues - not Lucas's colours, are they, I ask. The laugh comes again.

"No," he says. "It's just a quick and easy way of personalising a room - something I learned from Keith Richards. He's always done it ... although he tends to go in for reds.

So ... is Lucas as fixated on style as the character he plays?

He considers. "I'd say not," he says at last. "Mind you, if I was as fixated as Lucas, it would be taking up a serious part of my life just looking stylish. As it is, I can leave that to wardrobe to worry about. Although I've made a few suggestions. And a few vetos too."

Today he's wearing the existentialist look that we've seen Lucas in a few times - black polo neck and jeans. I ask him if Lucas' style on screen is affecting his own style offscreen too. He nods more readily at this.

"Some things just feel right," he says. "It's probably made me bolder in what I wear too. You could say that I used to be a dedicated follower of fashion. Well ... a bit more than that, I hope. But my character - what he wears =is= fashion. He sets the trend. And that, I'll admit, is rather nice. What I need to do is pick on something really neat - and then corner the market. Wear it on a few shows ... and make a killing on the merchandising."

Well, obviously he's aware of the rumours concerning the percentage of the production budget now spent on Lucas' wardrobe but is it true that he only accepted the role if he could appoint his own personal dresser?

"Only one?" he asks - a real pained Lucas expression. Then he laughs again. "Actually, I bet my wardrobe budget is minor compared with some of the CGI stuff they've done. Jovian's dragons aren't exactly cheap you know.

" There's also an aspect of product placement - some of the suits I wear are actually donated by designers. They want to be seen. And the producers are more than happy to cut a deal - but only if we all agree the look is right for Lucas."

This time there's a grin. Lucas in the flesh gives the impression of being more relaxed, more open and more friendly than the character he plays. I put this to him, and he considers.

"I think you'd find that with quite a few of the cast," he says at last. "It's the nature of Amber. With a few exceptions - like Folly - people are guarded, watchful, suspicious. And, taking it further, some are devious, conniving, twisted ...

"Strangely enough, we're not all as bad as that in real life!"

So, what part of his own personality does bring to the role of Lucas? Also, how is he most different?

He reflects for a moment. "I suppose," he says, "I share something of Lucas' sense of humour. Although I lack his capacity for outraging others - I hope! Or perhaps it's just his audacity. And Lucas does get accused of arrogance. I can see that in me too, but I like to think I'm nice enough to try and correct it. Lucas isn't, of course.

"In some ways, it's great therapy playing him - I can say things that no-one could get away with in real life - and just helplessly indicate the script when anyone protests. And it would be disingenuous of me to pretend I don't enjoy that."

He smiles, disingenuously.

Drinks arrive - a selection. Lucas pours our drinks himself - a gin and tonic for him, a mineral water (my choice) for me. He's dispensed with minders for this interview; when I comment on this, he looks a little startled, and then grins. It's clearly not occurred to him that he might need minding.

Still pursuing the subject of clothes - well, it's hard not to with Lucas - I point out we've all seen Lucas in his cricket whites; is this merely a fashion statement or does he really follow the game?

"I follow the game," he says at once. "So do many of the other Brits on the show. Daeon's pretty keen - he's a demon fast bowler, you know. I'm more of a spin bowler myself. I played at school - and we're talking about putting a team together to take on some of the other shows. Who knows, we might even get the fans forswearing baseball in favour of a little cricket. But somehow I doubt it. Cricket teas are never going to replace hotdogs."

I ask him how he came to be involved with the prestigious House of Cards series in the first place.

He answers almost straight-faced. "Well, it was felt that HoC (as we call it) had reached that stage in its cycle where the injection of a classically trained Brit character actor would do no harm to the ratings.

"The directors had seen me in a couple of other shows - I played a rather lordly Begman, I seem to recall ... and I was called to audition.  Clearly I did something right and ... here I am."

So I try another ... When he came in, Lucas had essentially been written out of the picture for a while, after playing a key role in several of the Amberside events prior to Random's return. Widespread rumour had even intimated that the character was facing a rather more permanent end. How does it feel to step into a role created by somebody else? Is it difficult to make the part your own while still preserving those elements that the fans had so obviously adored in the first Lucas?

"Actually," he says slowly, "there's always a worry when you're coming into an established series, that the fans aren't going to like you. When you're taking over an existing character, that's doubly true - you have the whole previous interpretation thing to get over. There's always going to be a section of the fan base who want their Lucas, or their Miss Ellie, or their Stephen Carrington back. And what you've got to do is grab the part with both hands, and make it your own.

"I was helped of course by the fact that Lucas had been off screen for a while. There'd been work with body doubles ... Lucas a shadowy figure in the background and all that. But ... yes. He was due for the final push, all the weeping at the graveyard, Solace and Silken fighting over the coffin ... no, no, that's just a private fantasy ... But there were howls going up on the fan sites - it clearly wasn't going to be a ratings grabber (apart from the crunch episode, of course). So they thought again and - as my predecessor wasn't coming back - pitched on moi.

"The whole recovery from illness thing was a help - it gave me a chance to play myself in. Swanning around in an invalid chair, in fact. Money for jam.

"I also had the opportunity to sit down with the producers and make some choices about Lucas' hinterland too. The family aspect was pretty much established, of course, but I wanted to build up Lucas's staff around him - so he's acquired Gaston, Pert, Nanny Starch, Gouter and Cheval. There's probably more, but the budget so far only stretches so far ... and you'll note we've never actually seen Gouter.

"But having that crowd to play off has been a big bonus - especially as quite a few of the cast have been out of Amber off and on over the last year. And, of course, more are about to head off."

Any spoilers there, I ask.

Lucas laughs - and then the grin is particularly Lucas-like. "More than my life's worth. Or my salary, perhaps."

So will we be seeing Lucas in Shadow?

He shrugs. "Hard to say if he's fully recovered yet. It may be more than a year real time, but in Amber it's a matter of days."

Ah yes, that ear. How long do you spend in makeup to get the 'ear done'?

His hand half lifts towards his ear in a gesture that followers of the series are very familiar with. He sees me looking and laughs.

"That's been the worst part of it!" he tells me ruefully. "I suggested the gesture to the producers - something involuntary, you know? They liked it ... and then I found myself doing it off screen, when people asked me about the ear. Now ... I'm guessing the ear will grow back in time in the show - whether I'll ever cure myself of the gesture ...

"As for make-up - it takes about an hour getting it to look right - and it pinches a bit too. So ... when we can, we cheat. Hats - hairstyles. Shot from the right. That sort of thing. Of course, periodically we do have to have to show the ear in its full splendour, lest people forget.

"Actually, on the Amber After Hours DVD - the adult content experiment one - there's a scene at the Red Mill where the hat slips and Lucas is miraculously revealed to have a whole ear again. To be honest, the shot lasts no more than two seconds, and none of the team noticed it, but no sooner was the DVD launched than it was spotted, grabbed - and a whole series of screen captures turned up all over the web. Well, makes a change from them trying to grab shots of our private parts, I guess."

He grins. "It's almost like people really expect me to have lost that slice of ear and to be busy regrowing it ... "

He offers another drink - and this time I join him in a gin and tonic - mixed strong, but not searingly so. I point out, while he's pouring that of course, everyone says one of the great strengths of House of Cards is the cast but who among his co-stars do you think is most deserving of an academy award nomination?

If I'm hoping for Lucas witty bitchy, I'm disappointed. It's the standard trope about the whole cast being marvellous and an honour to work with and ...

"Seriously," he says, seeing my sceptical look. "What I would say is that the producers are very clever in giving everyone a chance to shine. People get to have huge great jaw-dropping scenes - but it's an ensemble thing. No-one gets to dominate."

And what would be his huge great jaw-dropping scene?

Lucas laughs. "Well, I'm a newbie, so I have to join the queue and wait my turn. But I was pretty pleased with the way my entrance went ... and I've had a few moments since then, I think. Lucas is more of a rapid fire merchant - the one liners, you know? And then - well, they're not the great drama moments, but watching Lucas and Harmony spar is very popular with the viewers I believe."

Ah yes, the appalling Harmony Vesper.

"And doyenne of the English stage," he points out. "Most critics would put her up there with Judi Dench and Maggie Smith. We're bloody lucky to have her on the show. She also mixes a mean Manhattan . And she can drink almost every member of the cast - including yours truly - under the table."

And the other great strength is the writing of the show, most people would say, particularly the plotlines. As an insider to the production, what would Lucas say the writer/directors are trying to do? What issues do they address?

For a moment, he looks grave. "That's a hard one, you know? A lot of people say that all the Amber dramas are really elaborate allegories - there are some well wicked websites exploring that. And other people treat them like psycho-drama - you know, giving people a chance to work out their personal problems ... not the actors, the viewers.

"Personally, I'd say that's a load of ... well, whatever I'm allowed to call it in a family paper. I mean, these interpretations can be put on it - but really, it's more than that, and less than that. It's more - in that it does address some universal human themes - love, trust, loyalty. Other things. But, on the other hand, it's not going to cure cancer or end war. It's fun. That's what it's there to be. And if we can make people laugh, cry, gasp or - heaven help us - think a bit ... well, that's an added bonus."

Of course, there's a side to Lucas that some viewers find particularly fascinating - his unexpected evolution into Family Man. I ask him, being one of the few family men in the cast, how does he balance the supportive caregiver within the true Son of Amber?

He grins. "In terms of the character, I think it adds a new dimension. A level of complexity, which is all to the good. And it's also bringing out Solace - who's a super actress, by the way. Lucas speaks of her gentle malice ... and she gets a chance to display it sometimes. It gives a sense that she's not a doll he's playing with - both of Lucas' women are interesting in their own right. And the children ... well, of course, it might just all be an evil plot to beguile his more susceptible cousins. Or he could be a fond father. All sorts of characters have had that reputation, you know."

And does Lucas himself enjoy working with the children, and what kind of ... spontaneity do they cause?

Here a strange look crosses Lucas's face - a faint frisson of remembered horror, perhaps.

"More and more," he says, "I find myself in agreement with the late and very great W.C.Fields."

Well, after all, the family man is only one side to Lucas. And there have been the recent shows, specifically with Martin talking about mayhem. I wondered if Lucas was enjoying the new side of the character or was this a bit of foreshadow overall with Lucas leading what will become a darker arc in HoC?

"I think there's always been that potential there," he says. "If you look at the fan sites, you'll see there's always been a popular strand of Bad Lucas fics. Of course, if you look hard enough, there's Bad Everyone fics. But Lucas seems to get more than his fair share. And not just Bad, I'm happy to say. There's a rather nice Lucas-as-Scarlet-Pimpernel genre.

"So ... I'm looking forward to showing new sides to Lucas over the coming weeks and months ... "

And, I assure him, as I take my leave, so are we.

See this interview in Word format here