The Office’s Lucy Davis ‘grateful’ for support after cancer diagnosis

Telegraph reportersSun, August 23, 2026 at 9:28 AM UTC

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Lucy Davis, daughter of Jasper Carrott, the comedian, made her mark in The Office as Dawn, the receptionist - BBC

Lucy Davis, the actress, has said she is grateful for the support she has received since revealing she has incurable breast cancer.

The 53-year-old star of The Office appeared at the For The Love of Fantasy and Sci-Fi convention at Excel London on Saturday to talk about Shaun of the Dead, the 2004 zombie comedy in which she played Dianne.

It was her first public appearance since announcing on Aug 11 that she had incurable stage-four cancer that had metastasised to her bones since a diagnosis a year and a half ago.

Speaking on a panel with Edgar Wright, the film’s director, and Simon Pegg, its main character, Davis thanked an audience of hundreds for their support.

Saying she had been signing autographs and posing for photographs at the convention, she added: “It’s like this whole second family you never knew you had, everyone is like a community, friendly, supportive of not only us but you guys and each other.

“We need a bit more niceness in the world, so I’m grateful.”

Davis (front right) with the cast of The Office, the sitcom that launched her career and that of Ricky Gervaise, its co-creator - BBC /Adrian Rogers

Davis, whose father is Jasper Carrott the comedian, needed assistance to get on and off the stage for the 30-minute appearance. She was not asked directly about her health.

Best known for playing receptionist Dawn Tinsley in Ricky Gervais’s hit BBC series The Office, Davis was given a round of applause when asked for advice about getting into the film industry.

She said: “Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t do or be anything you want to do or be. We all grow up with a different life with a different world telling us we all have limitations.

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“None of us do, our only limitations are things that we think are limiting. We can do anything, or be anybody, and don’t apologise for that.”

Davis thanked fans two days after she announced her condition, which has spread to her spine, right hip and ribs, and said it was “too late” for chemotherapy.

In a post on Instagram, she said: “Ok, so the last two days have been utterly overwhelming, in that I had zero idea my cancer post would have the attention it did.

“Truly, I am in shock. That said, thank you to everyone for the tremendous amount of kindness and support you have sent me. Good grief it was emotional.”

Davis at the Sean of the Dead premiere in London in 2004 - Dave Benett/Getty

Fans in the audience on Saturday told the actress “I love you so much” and heard her tell stories of filming Shaun of the Dead with a cast that included Nick Frost, Dylan Moran and Bill Nighy.

She spoke of being driven home in Los Angeles by Quentin Tarantino, being recognised after The Office first aired, and the difficulty of filming with seven cast members in a car.

When asked for her favourite memories on set, she said: “Comradery. In terms of actually filming, I loved when we all pretended to be zombies and walked across the square. It was like being naughty school kids.

“Our first week of filming, we were all in the car, Nick was driving, and it was almost like the seven stages of grief in those few days, I’d been sat on Dylan’s lap for so long.

“At one point it all got really quiet and suddenly out of nowhere Bill Nighy went ‘let’s all get into our pyjamas and out of our normal clothes’ and just stopped talking. We all loved it, but couldn’t express it!

“It was a fun time, we went a bit mad!”

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”