You may not know that a Plebs and Here We Go star is from Sutton.
Born in Sutton in 1980, English actor, writer, comedian and musician Tom Basden was educated at King’s College School in Wimbledon before going on to study at Pembroke College, Cambridge.
While at Cambridge, Basden became vice president of the Footlights comedy society, where his contemporaries included Tim Key, Katy Wix and Dan Stevens.
Tom first gained national recognition in 2007, when his one-man show Tom Basden Won’t Say Anything won the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Newcomer.
He later went on to co-create, co-write and star in the ITV sitcom Plebs, which aired from 2013 to 2019 and later returned as the television film Plebs: Soldiers of Rome.
In the series, Tom played Aurelius, also known as Water Boy or Water Man, who is often the hapless scapegoat.
Plebs was a critical and commercial success, winning the Royal Television Society award for Best Scripted Comedy in 2014 and establishing Tom as a major creative force in British television comedy.
As well as Plebs, Tom has appeared in a number of popular television comedies, including Fresh Meat, W1A, The Wrong Mans, Ghosts and Netflix’s After Life, where he played Matt, the brother-in-law of Ricky Gervais’ character.
In 2022, Tom created, co-wrote and starred in the BBC sitcom Here We Go.
He plays Robin, a family man whose well-meaning attempts to keep the peace often make situations worse.
The series uses a mockumentary style and has been praised for its natural performances and observational humour.
Tom also composed the music for the show.
Alongside his television work, Tom has had a successful career in theatre and radio.
His play Party, about a group of university students attempting to form a political party, was adapted for BBC Radio 4 and ran for three series and a Christmas special.
In 2025, Tom co-wrote and starred in the feature film The Ballad of Wallis Island alongside Carey Mulligan, also writing and performing the film’s music.
The film received multiple nominations at the British Independent Film Awards, with Tom winning awards for Best Joint Lead Performance, Best Screenplay and Best Original Music.
