Lance Powell (Brookside)

Lance Timothy Powell is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Brookside, played by Mickey Poppins. The character debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 5 July 2000 and departed on 26 August 2003. Poppins had previously worked with the show's producer Paul Marquess and he created Lance especially for the actor. He was introduced with the returning characters of Leanne Powell (Vickie Gates) and Bev McLoughlin (Sarah White) to work in Bev's Bar as Marquess felt Brookside needed a "good bar with some great staff".

Lance's storylines do not feature "relationship problems or getting queer-bashed" and make no issue of his sexuality. This garnered criticism from the audience and Marquess received letters stigmatising Lance as a "betrayal of all gay men". But Marquess had played Lance as a "reaction" to gay characters from EastEnders who he believed only talked about their sexuality and suffered homophobia. Poppins described Lance as "a very truthful betrayal" of gay stereotypes.

Lance also strikes up a popular double act with Bev and begins a relationship with Fred Gonzalez (Richard Calkin). When Fred faces deportation, Bev marries Fred so he can stay. Poppins and White were subsequently nominated for a "Best On-screen Partnership" award. A Daily Record writer opined that Lance and Bev were "soul mates". Various critics have called Lance a camp character and Tony Stewart from the Daily Mirror thought that Lance made Graham Norton appear butch. A columnist from Inside Soap said that there was no other soap character offering the "entertainment value" that Lance did.