Tom Basden

Thomas William Basden (born 30 November 1980) is an English actor, writer, comedian, and musician. 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. He co-wrote and starred in the 2025 film The Ballad of Wallis Island. Basden was born in Sutton, Greater London, and was educated at King's College School followed by Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he was vice president of Cambridge Footlights.

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. 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, and which was expanded into the feature film The Ballad of Wallis Island. Since 2012, he has appeared as Key's musical sidekick in the Radio 4 comedy Tim Key's Late Night Poetry Programme. Since 2013, Basden has co-written and appeared in the ITV ancient-Rome sitcom Plebs.

He played Dan the sound engineer in the 2016 film David Brent: Life on the Road, and Jeremy Corbyn in the 2018 Royal Wedding special of The Windsors. He had a main role as Matt in the Netflix comedy series After Life. Basden's 2010 play Party was performed at the Arts Theatre in London. He co-wrote the Channel 4 sitcom Fresh Meat, which earned him a nomination for the 2012 BAFTA Craft Awards Break-Through Talent Award. With Tim Key, Basden co-wrote the 2025 feature film The Ballad of Wallis Island, and wrote and performed the music for the film.