 J. C. Trewin called Fancourt "the lord of Gilbert-and-Sullivan playing.... Fancourt is both a fine singer and, within the Savoy convention, a fine and zestful actor with the gift of a dominating personality.Roderic's song 'When the night wind howls', as Fancourt sings it in the second act of "Ruddigore", is at the meridian of that opera and one of the glories of Gilbert-and-Sullivan in the contemporary theatre."