Tom Basden Explained

Tom Basden
Birth Name:Thomas William Basden
Birth Date:30 November 1980
Birth Place:Sutton, Greater London, England
Occupation:Actor, comedian, writer
Years Active:2006 - present

Thomas William Basden (born 30 November 1980) is an English actor, writer and comedian. He is best known for co-creating and starring in Plebs, which won the Royal Television Society award for Best Scripted Comedy in 2014. He was nominated for Best Newcomer at the 2007 Edinburgh Comedy Awards and is a member of the sketch group Cowards.

Education

Tom Basden was born in Sutton, Greater London. He was educated at King's College School, a private school for boys in Wimbledon in South-West London, where he was in the same year as fellow actors Khalid Abdalla and Ben Barnes; followed by Pembroke College, Cambridge. He was vice-president of Cambridge Footlights and his contemporaries included Stefan Golaszewski, Sarah Solemani, Tim Key (who pretended to be studying for a Ph.D at Cambridge to be part of a Footlights production)[1] and Dan Stevens.[2]

Career

Performance

Basden's one-man show at the 2007 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Tom Basden Won't Say Anything, won the "if.comedy award" for Best Newcomer.[3] He starred with Tim Key in the 2007 short film The One and Only Herb McGwyer Plays Wallis Island, which won the UK Film Council Kodak Award for Best British Short Film.[4] The short was expanded into a feature film, The Ballad of Wallis Island, produced by Baby Cow.[5]

In 2008 Basden appeared as the resident musician for the second series of the BBC Radio 4 comedy show Mark Watson Makes the World Substantially Better, replacing Tim Minchin.[6]

He was a guest panellist on the BBC Two comedy show Never Mind the Buzzcocks in November 2009.[7]

In 2012 he appeared as Key's musical sidekick in the Radio 4 programme Tim Key's Late-Night Poetry.[8]

Since 2013, Basden has co-written and appeared in the ITV ancient-Rome sitcom Plebs.[9] He played a lead role the 2013 BBC Two comedy thriller The Wrong Mans.[10] He co-wrote the third and fifth episodes of series one, and wrote both episodes of series two which aired the following year.

He played Dan the sound engineer in the 2016 film , and Jeremy Corbyn in the 2018 Royal Wedding special of The Windsors.[11] He had a main role as Matt in the Netflix comedy series After Life.[12] He wrote and appeared in the 2022 BBC sitcom Here We Go.[13] He starred as Mr Short in the 2022 Netflix young adult sci-fi series The Last Bus.[14]

Writing

Basden's 2010 play Party, about a group of university students holding a meeting to found their own political party, was performed at the Arts Theatre in London. Brian Logan, writing for The Guardian, gave it a four out of a possible five stars and describing it "an idiosyncratic and highly enjoyable piece performed beautifully by a crack cast of upcoming comics",[15] while Dominic Cavendish for The Daily Telegraph called it "astute (and) stingingly amusing".[16] A radio adaptation of the play produced by Julia McKenzie was broadcast on Radio 4 for three series and a Christmas special from 2010 to 2018. In addition to writing the adaptation, Basden appeared, alongside Tim Key, Jonny Sweet, Anna Crilly and Katy Wix.[17]

His play Joseph K, based on Franz Kafka's novel The Trial and starring Tim Key, was longlisted for the 2011 Evening Standard Theatre Awards Most Promising Playwright: it also received positive reviews from The Guardian[18] and The Daily Telegraph.[19]

In 2011 he wrote There Is a War, starring himself and Phoebe Fox, for the National Theatre's Double Feature.[20]

Basden co-wrote the Channel 4 sitcom Fresh Meat, which earned him a nomination for the 2012 BAFTA Craft Awards Break-Through Talent Award.[21]

Works

Television

!Year!Title!Actor!Writer!Creator!Role!Notes
2006Vital SignsMr WoodleyOne episode
Jam & JerusalemKira's Dad
2006-2008Star StoriesVarious rolesFifteen episodes
2007Living with Two People You Like Individually... But Not as a CoupleMartinTV Movie
Ronni Ancona & CoVarious rolesOne episode
HyperdriveLallakkissOne episode
After You've GoneMikeOne episode
2008Comedy CutsSelf (stand-up)One episodeITV2 comedy showcase
No HeroicsFuseboxOne episode
2009CowardsVarious rolesThree episodesCo-written and co-created with Cowards
Things TalkCoat, Garlic (voice)TV Movie
Brave Young MenJamie HusbandCo-written with Sam Leifer
2010Dark RelicRobertTV Movie
The Armstrong & Miller ShowVarious characters
Me and My MonstersTwo episodes
2011Comedy Lab"Rick and Peter" episode
2012Job AdvisorOne episode
Games OnPaul Fairweather
Peep ShowCustomer (uncredited)One episode: "Big Mad Andy"
2013-2019PlebsAurelius35 episodes
2013DerekAutograph Expert
2013-2014The Wrong MansNoelTwo episodes co-written with Mathew Baynton and James Corden
2013Very Few FishNot commissioned
2014Dan ShephardThree episodes
2011-2016Fresh MeatFour episodes
2017Gap YearTrainee Monk, Full Moon Partygoer (uncredited)
JohnSix episodes
2018DamnedAidanOne episode
The WindsorsJeremy CorbynOne episode
Women on the VergeDanielOne episode
The Reluctant LandlordSimonOne episode
2019Island of DreamsDaniel CraigOne episode
2019-2022After LifeMatt18 episodes
2020PandemoniumRobinPilot episode of Here We Go
2020-2024MandyBenefits AdvisorSix episodes
2021DodoMr Turner, Mr Ralph, Additional VoicesAnimated series14 episodes
2022-presentHere We GoRobinAlso composer
2022Plebs: Soldiers of RomeAureliusTV MovieCo-written with Sam Leifer
The Last BusMr ShortThree episodes
Man vs. BeePolice OfficerFour episodes
2023GhostsCartwrightOne episode

Film

!Year!Title!Role
2016Dan Harvey
2022Venice at DawnStephen

Short film

!Year!Title!Actor!Writer!Creator!Role!Notes
2007The One and Only Herb McGwyer Plays Wallis IslandHerb McGwyerNominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Short Film
2010The Boot SaleThe Hunk
Trouble BrewingMatt
2012WormPhilip
2013The Return of BrentDan
2014AnthonyAnthony

Awards

Year Award Category Work Result
2007 Best Newcomer[22] "Won't Say Anything"
2008 Best Short Film The One and Only Herb McGwyer Plays Wallis Island
Best Full Show "Won't Say Anything"
Breakthrough Act
Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright Joseph K
2012 Break-Through Talent Award[23] Fresh Meat

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Gibsone . Harriet . 2015-08-13 . Tim Key, the superstar standup poet, on fishcakes, Footlights and the fringe . 2024-02-13 . The Guardian . en-GB . 0261-3077.
  2. Web site: Alumni 2000–2009. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20121015035210/http://footlights.org/alumni-archive?name=2000-2009. 15 October 2012. Cambridge Footlights.
  3. Web site: The winners. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20070928194112/https://www.if.com/eddies/2007-winners.html. 28 September 2007. if.comedy.
  4. Web site: Awards History. dead. http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20091001010131/http://www.edfilmfest.org.uk/awards/winners. 1 October 2009. Edinburgh International Film Festival.
  5. Web site: April 2, 2024. Carey Mulligan Comedy ‘The Ballad of Wallis Island’ Acquired by Focus Features (EXCLUSIVE). 2 April 2024. K.J.. Yossman. Variety.
  6. Web site: Mark Watson Makes the World Substantially Better 13 August - 17 September 2008. BBC Radio 4. 1 May 2022.
  7. Web site: Never Mind The Buzzcocks Series 23. British Comedy Guide. 1 May 2022.
  8. Web site: Tim Key's Late Night Poetry. BBC Radio 4. 1 May 2022.
  9. Web site: ITV2 orders ancient Roman sitcom Plebs. British Comedy Guide. 23 August 2012. 1 May 2022.
  10. Web site: Cast announced for The Wrong Mans on BBC Two. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130223082832/https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2013/wrong-mans-cast.html. BBC Media Centre. 23 February 2013.
  11. Web site: The Windsors Royal Wedding Special review – gloriously brazen satire. The Guardian. Sam. Wollaston. 15 May 2018. 1 May 2022.
  12. Web site: After Life cast: who stars with Ricky Gervais in new Netflix series – and where else you've seen them. i. Victoria. Sanusi. 8 March 2019. 8 April 2019.
  13. Here We Go: Meet the cast of the new BBC comedy series. BBC Media Centre. 19 April 2022. 1 May 2022.
  14. Web site: The Last Bus. British Comedy Guide. 2 May 2022.
  15. News: Party (review). The Guardian. Brian. Logan. 11 March 2010. 1 May 2022.
  16. News: Party at the Arts Theatre, review. The Daily Telegraph. Dominic. Cavendish. 4 March 2010. 1 May 2022.
  17. Web site: Party. British Comedy Guide. 1 May 2022.
  18. News: Joseph K – review. The Guardian. Lyn. Gardner. Lyn Gardner. 17 November 2010. 1 May 2022.
  19. News: Joseph K, Gate Theatre, Notting Hill, review. The Daily Telegraph. Dominic. Cavendish. 23 November 2010. 1 May 2022.
  20. Web site: There Is A War, Double Feature. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110901221526/http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/65892/productions/double-feature-2.html. 1 September 2011. National Theatre.
  21. News: Kwadjo Dajan Wins the Break-Through Talent Award in 2012. BAFTA. 9 May 2012. 1 May 2022.
  22. Web site: 2007 Best Newcomers Winner - Tom Basden Won't Say Anything. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160303235941/http://www.comedyawards.co.uk/biogs/Newcomer_tomBasden.html. 3 March 2016. British Comedy Guide.
  23. News: Television Craft Awards Winners in 2012. BAFTA. 13 April 2012. 1 May 2022.