Lucas was the brother of annoyingly-perfect Dan Fitzgerald, who spent much of his time locked into an interminable courting battle with Libby Kennedy, she a stubborn ambassador of the mantra that "a man is still wrong if there's no woman in the room to hear him speak", he a sparkly-smiled fan of the "let's talk it over" approach to relationships (at length). Lucas was by comparison, refreshingly flawed, with his goofy smile and motorbike. We would later find out that Lucas was a gambling addict, giving him a bond with his best friend Sonya (she seemed to be addicted to everything, viewers almost afraid to ask if there was anything she wasn't addicted to. Maybe she just enjoys going to support meetings). This provided some interesting storyline opportunities, as if he wasn't falling for the assertive women on the Street (Libby, Elle, Steph) he could always be relied upon to fall off his motorbike or be lured into an illegal gambling den to spice up the more pedestrian goings on with sheep and goats over at the Kennedys.

Lucas' other major trait was his work as a mechanic. In the first of a series of stunning coincidences, following the difficult death of his Father (they hadn't spoken for years) Lucas was left enough money to set up Fitzgerald Motors, soon to become the one-stop shop for oily drama. On many subsequent occasions fistful of dubious cash would be thrust between individuals over a car bonnet, a vehicle would be sneakily repaired after a hit and run or one of either Lucas or Chris would collapse, unseen, behind a Yeut in need of desperate medical attention. Being a mechanic also meant that, naturally, a mechanics course started up at Erinsborough High, although so far Chris is the only graduate, the generous Lucas taking him on as an apprentice.

Vanessa Villante was, interestingly, brought in entirely to spice up Lucas' storyline potential. In one of the more risqué Neighbours storylines, the tortured grease monkey had been behaving rather "loosely" by bringing young women back to the one-time Ramsay House (what would Mrs Mangel have said?). I forget why he was living at Number 24 at the time, but Lucas has moved his oily bags into just about every house - and men's shed - in the Street over the last six years. Some time later, ushered in by shots of classy high heels stepping from a taxi, Vanessa swept back into Lucas' life and announced she was pregnant with his child. This would force him to finally settle down, although not, regrettably, for a long time yet, as it was the start of the infamous Lucas/Vanessa/Doctor Rhys love triangle. Doctor Rhys was a champion in the screwed-up stakes, making Lucas seem as level-headed as Helen Daniels by comparison, but he fell in love with Vanessa and promised his poor wheelchair-bound mother that he would bring home his bride (a Yoda-like figure, she seemed almost to know this was never destined to happen). Ever fickle, Vanessa then had no choice to but to finally relent and agree to marry Lucas - only it wasn't a real wedding, not yet. First, the odd couple tried to convince her parents they were in a real relationship, when it was only a pretend one, even though Lucas wished it was a real one which it wasn't despite her expecting his baby. Things were pretty confusing for all of us back then. Being Italian, this involved lots of scenes with Vanessa's mother throwing her hands up and crying "Moncha Bella!" when the deception was uncovered. For a time it seemed like Lucas was doomed to watch the suave medical genius bring up his child, until luckily, after months of viewers screaming “JUST TELL HER!” at the screen, fate dealt a lucky hand of cards to Lucas, and Doctor Rhys dropped down dead in a car park.