Stephen Tompkinson

Tompkinson was born in Stockton-on-Tees. When he was about age 4, his family moved to Scarborough, North Riding of YorkshireAt this point Scarborough was still part of the North Riding of Yorkshire. Please do not change. and then to Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, where he grew up and attended St Bede's Roman Catholic High School in Lytham and St Mary's Sixth Form in Blackpool.{{Cite web|url=https://www.lancashirelife.co.uk/people/celebrity-interviews/actor-stephen-tompkinson-has-fylde-at-heart-1-1634095|title=Actor Stephen Tompkinson has Fylde at heart|website=Lancashire Life|access-date=18 April 2019}}{{cite news |last=Bonner |first=Neil |date=2 February 2004 |title=A donkey, a tractor & the Boro |url=https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/local-news/donkey-tractor--boro-3834033 |work=Teesside Gazette |access-date=11 April 2019}} Tompkinson's first lead was as a red admiral butterfly in The Plotters of Cabbage Patch Corner.{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/4793054/Class-act.html|title=Class act|last=Hewitt|first=Roz D'Ombraine|date=4 April 2003|access-date=18 April 2019|issn=0307-1235}}

He went on to train at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, alongside James Nesbitt and Rufus Sewell, and graduated in 1988.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/IN+THE+FRAME+-+Stephen+Tompkinson;+MONDAY.-a080172440|title=IN THE FRAME - Stephen Tompkinson; MONDAY. - Free Online Library|website=www.thefreelibrary.com|access-date=18 April 2019}} Tompkinson's acting career began straight out of drama school.[http://www.northeasttimes.co.uk/ArticleDetail.aspx?id=2525 Keeping the faith: Alison Cowie speaks to actor Stephen Tompkinson, NorthEast Times, undated] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006222103/http://www.northeasttimes.co.uk/ArticleDetail.aspx?id=2525 |date=6 October 2013 }} During his last year at the London School of Speech and Drama he won the 1987 Carleton Hobbs Bursary,{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/soundstart/roll.shtml|title=BBC - Radio Drama - SoundStart - Who's won Radio Drama's acting prizes since 1953?|website=www.bbc.co.uk|access-date=18 April 2019}} gaining a contract as a member of the BBC's Radio Drama Company,"Radio and audio book companies", in Lloyd Trott, ed., Actors and Performers Yearbook 2016, pp. 353-354 and had roles in radio dramas.{{Cite web|url=http://www.radiolistings.co.uk/programmes/p/pr/pravda.html|title=Pravda|website=www.radiolistings.co.uk|access-date=18 April 2019}}

Along with Ewan Bailey, he performed a two-part radio drama titled Say What You Want to Hear (Swywth), written by Tim Wright and broadcast in 2010 on BBC Radio 4. His narrated radio documentaries include Brass Britain, which aired in 2008 and was reprised in 2010 on BBC Radio 2.[http://www.madeinmanchester.tv/2008/05/03/brass-britain-bbc-radio-2/ Brass Britain, BBC Radio 2, 3 May 2008] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006164235/http://www.madeinmanchester.tv/2008/05/03/brass-britain-bbc-radio-2/ |date=6 October 2013 }}

In 1988, Tompkinson appeared with Ken Goodwin and Freddie Davies in a Channel 4 short titled Treacle, directed by Peter Chelsom. It received a 1988 BAFTA nomination in the category of Best Short Film.{{Cite web|url=https://www.superiorpics.com/peter_chelsom/|title=The Peter Chelsom Picture Pages|website=www.superiorpics.com|access-date=18 April 2019}}

During the next few years he was cast in several single-episode parts on All at No 20, Shelley, After Henry, Casualty, Made in Heaven, and Boon. He also played in three episodes of The Manageress (1989).{{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0867017/|title=Stephen Tompkinson|website=IMDb|access-date=18 April 2019}}

Also in 1989 he appeared in his first full-length made-for-TV movie. Based on a 1977 play by C.P. Taylor, And a Nightingale Sang was a romantic comedy-drama adapted for television by Jack Rosenthal.

He was cast in three episodes of Tales of Sherwood Forest (1989), nine episodes of Chancer (1990), and nine episodes of Minder (1991) It received the 1990 Prix Europa Special award for the film in the category "TV Fiction".{{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000752/1990/1/|title=Prix Europa (1990)|website=IMDb|access-date=23 April 2019}}

Between 1990 and 1998, Tompkinson starred in 66 episodes{{citation needed|reason=Including the pilot?|date=September 2014}} of the satirical comedy Drop The Dead Donkey. He played the ambitious but unethical reporter Damien Day, and won the 1994 British Comedy Awards "Best TV Comedy Actor" award.{{Cite web|url=http://www.britishcomedyawards.com/past-winners/1994.aspx|title=The British Comedy Awards - The British Comedy Awards - Winners 1994|website=www.britishcomedyawards.com|access-date=23 April 2019}}

In 1994, he was Private Simon 'Spock' Matlock, a history teacher and intellectual in BBC comedy drama All Quiet on the Preston Front, written by Tim Firth and set in Lancashire. Alistair McGowan replaced him after the first series because Tompkinson had other commitments.{{Cite web|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/preston_front/about/|title=About All Quiet On The Preston Front|website=British Comedy Guide|access-date=23 April 2019}} That same year he was in Downwardly Mobile – a Yorkshire Television sitcom about a group of Yuppies – aired for one season but failed to make an impression and was not recommissioned.[http://www.phill.co.uk/comedy/mobile/index.html British TV Comedy: Downwardly Mobile, undated] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120802124658/http://www.phill.co.uk/comedy/mobile/index.html |date=2 August 2012 }}

From 1996 to 1998 he portrayed, in the popular Ballykissangel, the struggles of a young English Roman Catholic priest assigned as curate to a church in Ireland's 'back of beyond'. In 1998 he starred as Jim Harper in the three-part ITV psychological thriller Oktober, about a naive English teacher at a posh school in Switzerland. His character becomes a guinea pig in the trials of a new mind-altering drug. Tompkinson performed his own stunts.[http://www.thefreelibrary.com/ALL-ACTION+HERO%3b+OKTOBER+Thursday+ITV+9pm.-a060689252 All-Action Hero: OKTOBER, The Mirror (London), 28 March 1998] He says that "I grabbed this project because I'd never been asked to do anything like this before. And the chance to do stunts was one reason it was so appealing."

Also in 1998, and again in 1999, he co-starred with Robson Green in two series of Grafters, about two Geordie labourers who attempt to go into business together renovating an old London house owned by a pair of Yuppies.[http://www.barb.co.uk/viewing/weekly-top-30?_s=3 Broadcasting Audience Research Board (BARB) Weekly Top 30 Programmes] Tompkinson's performance was praised by James Rampton of The Independent:

It is Tompkinson who – despite having the less showy part – really catches the eye. In the shadow of a more successful brother and a domineering wife, he precisely captures an air of despondent, hen-pecked resignation. Like Eeyore, he seems to be pursued by his own personal raincloud. Nobody does defeated better. Tompkinson is an actor who's become a winner by playing the loser....Trevor can be added to the actor's growing gallery of characters whom viewers watch and think, 'I know that bloke.'[https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/on-air-no-more-mr-nice-guy-1180789.html On Air: No more Mr Nice Guy, The Independent, 26 October 1998]

Tompkinson and Ballykissangel's Dervla Kirwan worked together again in 1999 on the TV version of Tim Firth's The Flint Street Nativity. They also co-starred in the 2001 mini-series Hereafter, which never aired in the UK but was released on DVD under the title Shades in the United States and Canada in 2012.[http://www.acornmedia.com/press/Shades.cfm Shades, starring Dervla Kirwan (Ballykissangel) and Stephen Tompkinson, released 14 February 2012] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120506041004/http://www.acornmedia.com/press/Shades.cfm |date=6 May 2012 }}

In 2001, he co-starred with Heartbeat star Nick Berry in the mini-series In Deep, as part of BBC1's Crime Doubles season. The promotional material described his performance as "Tompkinson as you have never seen him before" and a career "gamble". He agreed with that assessment: "In Deep is a very gritty drama and not the kind of thing that I'm normally associated with".[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1174103.stm Tompkinson goes In Deep, BBC News: Entertainment, 18 February 2001]

Tompkinson and Claire Skinner appeared as a couple in Series 1 of the comedy Bedtime, which aired August and September 2001.[http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/feature/a3536/bbc-one-autumn-schedule.html BBC One Autumn schedule, Digital Spy, 14 August 2001]

Tompkinson returned to the TV screen in 2001 with his co-star from Ballykissangel, Dervla Kirwan in a six part series entitled Shades, in which their two characters are dead but temporarily stuck on the earth as spirits trying to redeem themselves by fixing some complications and wrongs they have left behind.

[http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/03/03/1078191378580.html The Age: Entertainment/TV & Radio (Australia), 4 March 2004] In 2002, he appeared as the character 'Ted' with co-star Dawn French in the comedy drama mini-series Ted and Alice.[http://www.thefreelibrary.com/A+deep+and+meaningful+police+role.-a082243956 A deep and meaningful police role, Liverpool Echo, 21 January 2002] The sitcom Mr. Charity (2001), which aired on BBC2, was panned by the critics, drew poor viewer ratings, and was axed after six episodes.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2001/dec/14/broadcasting.bbc|title=Mr Charity axed|last=Deans|first=Jason|date=14 December 2001|work=The Guardian|access-date=23 April 2019|issn=0261-3077}}

In 2003, after a long delay, ITV aired the mini-series Lucky Jim. Tompkinson had bought the rights to the Kingsley Amis novel, which had not been adapted for some time, with the intention of playing the central character. Jack Rosenthal did the screenplay. The cast included Keeley Hawes as his co-star and love interest Christine, Robert Hardy, Helen McCrory, Denis Lawson, Hermione Norris and Penelope Wilton.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/lucky+HIM;+Stephen+Tompkinson%27s+got+a+spring+in+his+step+and+a+real...-a099548749|title=lucky HIM; Stephen Tompkinson's got a spring in his step and a real purpose in life. - Free Online Library|website=www.thefreelibrary.com|access-date=23 April 2019}} The Guardian praised it as "deftly adapted by Jack Rosenthal ... immaculately done, not least because of Stephen Tompkinson's performance as Jim, with stellar support from [the rest of the cast, especially] Helen McCrory."{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2003/apr/13/features.review157|title=No one loves a fairy when he's 40|last=Flett|first=Kathryn|date=13 April 2003|work=The Observer|access-date=23 April 2019|issn=0029-7712}} In December 2004, he appeared as Detective Inspector Slack in a new adaptation of Agatha Christie's The Murder at the Vicarage.[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/mystery/vicarage/actors.html Mystery! – Marple: The Murder at the Vicarage, The Actors and their Roles, PBS website]

In 2004, Tompkinson played his first fact-based role in BBC1's two-part drama In Denial of Murder, playing the character of the journalist Don Hale.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2004/02_february/12/denial_murder_tompkinson.shtml|title=BBC - Press Office - In Denial of Murder Stephen Tompkinson|website=www.bbc.co.uk|access-date=23 April 2019}} The drama was based on Hale's 2002 book Town Without Pity.{{Cite book |last=Hale |first=Don |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bGq0ubxqIRAC&q=don+hale+town+without+pity |title=Town Without Pity |date=2002 |publisher=Don Hale |isbn=978-0-7126-1530-3 |language=en}} There was controversy surrounding how the case was depicted, and in preparing to portray Don Hale he struggled to make sense of it. When asked his opinion, he explained that although he had done research to prepare for the role, he was merely an actor working from a script in which he had total faith and that he believed to be fair.{{Cite web|url=https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle-2-15039/tompkinson-s-in-deep-1-929927|title=Tompkinson's in Deep|website=www.scotsman.com|access-date=23 April 2019}}

In 2005, Marian, Again was a psychological drama about the horrors that could lie within any community and just beyond anyone's front door. Owen Teale co-starred, along with Kelly Harrison in the title role and Samantha Beckinsale.[http://www.companypictures.co.uk/production.aspx?id=30 Marian, Again, Company Pictures, September 2005] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110922091533/http://www.companypictures.co.uk/production.aspx?id=30 |date=22 September 2011 }}

Of his role in Prime Suspect, Tompkinson says "I had a call from my agent who told me they were to film the last-ever Prime Suspect with Helen Mirren. And I said, 'Yes!' before she could finish. She said, 'There is a part you might be interested in...' and I said, 'I meant Yes, I'll do it, not Yes, please continue! I mean, here is a chance to work with one of the greatest actresses there is. Taking a part in the final Prime Suspect was the quickest decision I've ever made!"[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/primesuspect7/notes_actors.html Production Notes: Prime Suspect By The Numbers — The Actors on Their Roles: Stephen Tompkinson]

ITV drama series Wild at Heart, created by Ashley Pharoah, began airing in the UK in January 2006 and ran for seven series. Tompkinson played Bristol veterinarian Danny Trevanion, who relocated with his family to South Africa where they attempted to build up a successful wildlife preserve and veterinary surgery. Tompkinson was also co-executive producer for 33 episodes and executive producer for one.[http://www.digitalspy.com/british-tv/interviews/a233222/stephen-tompkinson-dci-banks-aftermath.html Stephen Tompkinson (DCI Banks: Aftermath), Digital Spy, 17 September 2010]

In 2010 he was cast as Inspector Alan Banks in DCI Banks: Aftermath, a two-part television pilot adaptation of one of Peter Robinson's crime novels.{{Cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/viewers-face-a-very-different-crime-wave-as-a-new-set-of-police-heroes-hits-the-small-screen-1958011.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/viewers-face-a-very-different-crime-wave-as-a-new-set-of-police-heroes-hits-the-small-screen-1958011.html |archive-date=25 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Viewers face a very different crime wave as a new set of police heroes|date=30 April 2010|website=The Independent|access-date=23 April 2019}} DCI Banks: Aftermath drew seven million viewers, beating BBC1's Spooks in the ratings battle for the same timeslot.[http://www.people.co.uk/celebs-tv/celebrity-interview/2011/09/25/wild-at-heart-star-stephen-tompkinson-returns-as-dci-banks-in-dark-and-gritty-new-series-102039-23443290/ Wild at Heart star Stephen Tompkinson returns as DCI Banks in dark and gritty new series, The People, 25 September 2011] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111229191853/http://www.people.co.uk/celebs-tv/celebrity-interview/2011/09/25/wild-at-heart-star-stephen-tompkinson-returns-as-dci-banks-in-dark-and-gritty-new-series-102039-23443290/ |date=29 December 2011 }} On 14 June 2013, ITV announced that DCI Banks has been commissioned for a third six-part series.[http://www.itv.com/presscentre/press-releases/itv-recommissions-dci-banks-stephen-tompkinson ITV recommissions DCI Banks with Stephen Tompkinson, 14 June 2013] He played a role in the BBC series Truckers during the same year.

Barely out of drama school, he appeared in 1988 (as Stephen Duffell) with Ken Goodwin and Freddie Davies in Peter Chelsom's 11-minute short film titled Treacle. It was the tale of comedian Alfie Duffell's melodic legacy, set amid the Blackpool variety scene. The work received a 1988 BAFTA nomination in the category of Best Short Film.{{cite web |url=http://awards.bafta.org/award/1988/film/short-film |title=BAFTA: Short Film in 1988 |author= |date=n.d. |website=Awards.BAFTA.org |access-date=11 April 2019}}

In 1996 he starred in a British-made international feature film, Brassed Off, about a brass band in Grimley, a fictional Yorkshire colliery town where the mines are being shut down by the Tory government in the name of progress.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Brassed+Off.-a019757622|title=Brassed Off. - Free Online Library|website=www.thefreelibrary.com|access-date=23 April 2019}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.urbancinefile.com.au/home/view.asp?a=380&s=interviews|title=Urban Cinefile TOMPKINSON, STEPHEN: Brassed Off!|website=www.urbancinefile.com.au|access-date=23 April 2019}}

In 2000, he played the role of Dezmond Blanche in the bleakly satirical film Hotel Splendide.[http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/delighted-to-find-a-splendide-new-role-in-a-world-of-hype-stephen-tompkinson-remains-one-of-the-lads-1.217692 Delighted to find a Splendide new role, Herald Scotland, 19 September 2000]

In February 2012, he filmed his first lead role in a feature film titled Harrigan, described on its 2013 release in Britain as having "a thin budget and cartoonish script".{{cite news |work=The Guardian |date=19 September 2013 |title=Harrigsn – review |first=Steve |last=Rose |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/sep/19/harrigan-review |access-date=5 October 2013}}[http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/entertainment-leisure/cinema/2012/01/24/harrigan-hits-the-screen-at-last-61634-30184853/ Harrigan hits the screen at last, GazetteLive, 24 January 2012] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120609012147/http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/entertainment-leisure/cinema/2012/01/24/harrigan-hits-the-screen-at-last-61634-30184853/ |date=9 June 2012 }}[http://www.baitroomfilm.com/about_arthur_mckenzie.php Arthur McKenzie: Biography]

Tompkinson has said repeatedly that he enjoys the challenge of mixing television and film roles with live stage productions.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}} He has appeared on stage in London's West End and in theatres across the UK. Of the 1992 production of Michael Wall's Women Laughing at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Alan Hulme of the Manchester Evening News described the cast as "superb....and the acting has the shocking eloquence of picture postcards in acid."[http://www.royalexchange.co.uk/history/1992/WOMEN%20LAUGHING.htm Women Laughing by Michael Wall, 30 April – 16 May 1992] And The Independent described The End of the Food Chain (1994) at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough as "excellent" and "vividly acted."[https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre--all-shirk-and-low-pay-paul-taylor-on-a-new-comedy-by-tim-firth-at-the-stephen-joseph-theatre-scarborough-1398719.html THEATRE / All shirk and low pay, The Independent, 8 January 1994]

2003 saw him starring as Mortimer Brewster, along with Michael Richards of Seinfeld fame, in Arsenic and Old Lace at The Strand Theatre in London. The part required him to deliver his lines in a New York accent. One reviewer commented, "The fact that many American audience members...assumed that Stephen was a bone fide American confirms the authenticity of his twang."[http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/news/backstage-pass/article/item71477/stephen-tompkinson/ Official London Theatre: Stephen Tompkinson, undated]

In 2007, he toured in Charley's Aunt, playing the role of Donna Lucia D'Alvadorez. In a review in the British Theatre Guide Sheila Connor said:

This is Stephen Tompkinson as you have never seen him before – hilarious even before he dons the frock. His manner, voice, expression and actions are spot-on....totally uproariously funny....It is at Babb's entrance that the play really takes off, Tompkinson revealing himself to be an inspired comic genius to add to his multitude of diverse credits....A truly entertainingly hilarious performance, and it is to be hoped that Tompkinson will treat us to more of the same.[http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/charleysaunt-rev Charley's Aunt, British Theatre Guide, undated]

In 2008, he played the deeply sinister and complex lead character of Vindice in the Jacobean bloodbath The Revenger's Tragedy at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester. He felt sympathy for the character and explained why the play appealed to him:

He's not a villain, he's an anti-hero, really. You can see he has been wronged. The audience get to be voyeurs and enjoy watching him get his retribution. It's the black-and-white morality of the play, its bloodthirsty nature, that appealed to me. The way that things are dealt with, there was no red tape: it was out with the poison or the sword if you were wronged.[https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/the-revengers-tragedy-royal-exchange-manchester-834546.html The Revenger's Tragedy, Royal Exchange, Manchester, The Independent, 27 May 2008]

In 2009, he toured in Sign of the Times, playing the character of Frank Tollit, who has spent the past 25 years putting up letters on buildings but dreams of becoming a novelist. His colleague Alan (Tom Shaw), 30 years his junior, wants to be a rock star. Tompkinson said, "The play is a comedy but much more. It is about having dreams and ambition; it's about happiness and failure. Frank's good at his job; he does enjoy it, but he has bigger dreams. I think everyone will be able to relate to it."[https://archive.today/20130420034411/http://www.epsomguardian.co.uk/leisure/4317013.Living_the_Dream/ Living the Dream, Epsom Guardian, 24 April 2009]

When Shaun Prendergast, who is a friend, wrote Faith and Cold Reading he created the part of a villain called Freddie the Suit for Tompkinson. The staging of that play at the Live Theatre in Newcastle in February–March 2011 is his most recent stage run.

Tompkinson made his musical theatre debut in London's West End in the lead role of King Arthur in Monty Python's Spamalot at the Playhouse Theatre 20 November 2012.[https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatre-news/news/stephen-tompkinson-to-play-king-arthur-in-spamalot Stephen Tompkinson to play King Arthur in Spamalot, LondonTheatre.co.uk, 22 October 2012]{{Cite web|url=https://www.broadway.com/buzz/165506/british-tv-favorite-stephen-tompkinson-on-donning-king-arthurs-crown-in-a-rebooted-west-end-spamalot/|title=British TV Favorite Stephen Tompkinson on Donning King Arthur's Crown in a Rebooted West End Spamalot|website=Broadway.com|access-date=23 April 2019}}

In 2018, he played Yvan in the UK tour of Art, having previously played the role at the Wyndham's Theatre in London's West End in 2000.

During the Christmas 2018 season he played Ebenezer Scrooge in Jack Thorne's new adaptation of A Christmas Carol at The Old Vic, London.

In 2019 he is touring a production of Willy Russell's Educating Rita, co-starring with Jessica Johnson. This has been very well received by both critics and audiences.

Tompkinson has hosted or narrated a number of other UK television programs, including a FIFA 100 Years of Football documentary. In 1999, he presented the BBC2 documentary Great Railway Journeys: Singapore to Bangkok, part of Series 4 of the popular Great Railway Journeys travel documentaries that aired over many years in the UK and on PBS in the U.S.{{Cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/my-life-in-travel-stephen-tompkinson-actor-2178835.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/my-life-in-travel-stephen-tompkinson-actor-2178835.html |archive-date=25 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=My life In Travel: Stephen Tompkinson, actor|date=8 January 2011|website=The Independent|access-date=23 April 2019}}

In 2009, he took part in the documentary, Stephen Tompkinson's Great African Balloon Adventure, a three-part series inspired by Jules Verne's first novel Five Weeks in a Balloon. It followed Tompkinson and his guide, hot air ballooning expert Robin Batchelor, as they travelled 6,108 miles in six weeks from coast to coast, above and on the ground in Tanzania, Rwanda, Zambia, Botswana and Namibia. The series aired on ITV in the UK in June 2009 and was later distributed by American Public Television in the U.S.{{Cite web|url=http://aptonline.org/catalog.nsf/vLinkTitle/GREAT+AFRICAN+BALLOON+ADVENTURE+THE|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120526233524/http://aptonline.org/catalog.nsf/vLinkTitle/GREAT+AFRICAN+BALLOON+ADVENTURE+THE|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 May 2012|title=GREAT AFRICAN BALLOON ADVENTURE, THE {{!}} American Public Television|date=26 May 2012|access-date=23 April 2019}} The African balloon series was well received, and ITV commissioned a three-part follow-up series that aired on ITV1 in 2010, titled Stephen Tompkinson's Australian Balloon Adventure.

He has done a variety of voice-over work, including adverts,[http://www.castaway.org.uk/clients/voices/stto.htm Steve Tompkinson, voice-over credits, undated] audio books, and narration. His many adverts include{{citation needed|date=October 2013}} BT Childline, British Midland, Motorola, Alton Towers, Comet, Eurostar, Laphroaig Whisky, Mercury & Kwiksave, Bulmers Cider, Tetley Tea and the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals.[http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/news/rss/657699/Direct-Choice-PDSA/ Direct Choice: PDSA, 16 May 2007][http://www.pdsa.org.uk/about-us/media-pr-centre/news/782_pdsa-creates-animal-magic! PDSA creates animal magic!, undated] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131007043431/http://www.pdsa.org.uk/about-us/media-pr-centre/news/782_pdsa-creates-animal-magic! |date=7 October 2013 }}

His narrated TV programmes and shows include Little Red Tractor, Trail of Guilt: Harold Shipman: Addicted to Murder (2000), When Snooker Ruled the World (2002), A Band for Britain (2010){{Cite web |title=A Band for Britain[08/03/2010] (2010) |url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8dcdce97 |access-date=2023-06-07 |website=BFI |language=en}}{{dead link|date=October 2023|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} and Choccywoccydoodah (2014).{{cite web|url=http://www.radiotimes.com/episode/c44r5w/choccywoccydoodah--series-5---1-choccywoccydoodah-starstruck-wesley-snipes|title=Choccywoccydoodah|date=26 June 2023 |publisher=Radio Times}} In addition, he has narrated numerous audiobooks.

In 2006, Tompkinson made his directing debut in the Midlands, at the helm of the BBC1 afternoon drama The Lightning Kid. He was shadowed by a film crew making the documentary Director's Debut: Stephen Tompkinson's Story that aired immediately prior to the drama, with the intent of revealing the challenges faced by a new director.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4524972.stm Actor Tompkinson directs TV drama, BBC News: Entertainment, 13 December 2005]

Tompkinson has supported various causes by providing promotional videos or voiceovers. These include a fundraising effort toward research to find a cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD)[http://joiningjack.org/supporters/stephen-tompkinson.aspx VIDEO: Stephen Tompkinson, JoiningJack Appeal] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120827002824/http://joiningjack.org/supporters/stephen-tompkinson.aspx |date=27 August 2012 }} and a financial appeal by Chester Zoo{{cite news |author= |title=Actor Stephen Tomkinson gives his backing to Chester Zoo's £225m Heart of Africa biodome project |url=https://www.cheshire-live.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/actor-stephen-tomkinson-gives-backing-5219338 |work=Chester Chronicle |date=2 July 2009 |access-date=11 April 2019}} He has also supported causes such as the Westminster Carers Time Bank[http://westcarers.org.uk/wcs/blog/2012/03/02/time-bank-lunch-a-resounding-success/ Carers Time Bank lunch a resounding success, 2 March 2012] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006101148/http://westcarers.org.uk/wcs/blog/2012/03/02/time-bank-lunch-a-resounding-success/ |date=6 October 2013 }} and, in 2008, he became an Ambassador for Project African Wilderness (PAW), a not-for-profit organisation that seeks to protect and restore the Mwabvi Wildlife Reserve in Malawi.[http://www.freesun.be/news/index.php/join-the-mawabvi-ordeal-and-save-a-part-of-africas-wilderness/ Join the Mwabvi ordeal and save a part of Africa's wilderness, Freesun News, Brussels, 28 September 2008] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006113048/http://www.freesun.be/news/index.php/join-the-mawabvi-ordeal-and-save-a-part-of-africas-wilderness/ |date=6 October 2013 }}

In February 2012, Tompkinson supported the launch of a foundation established by Robbie Elliot, the former Newcastle United footballer who had helped Tompkinson improve his fitness for filming Harrigan. Elliott was proposing to complete a charity bicycle ride to raise funds for the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation and Breakthrough Breast Cancer.[http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/2012/02/16/stephen-tompkinson-lends-support-to-bike-for-bobby-event-84229-30342979/#ixzz1xlgV7O78 Stephen Tompkinson lends support to Bike For Bobby event, GazetteLive, 16 February 2010] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120420111046/http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/2012/02/16/stephen-tompkinson-lends-support-to-bike-for-bobby-event-84229-30342979/ |date=20 April 2012 }} Stories captured along the ride – from Lisbon to Newcastle – will be made into a documentary narrated by Tompkinson and premiered in London in late 2012.{{Cite web|url=http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/robbie-elliott-prepares-epic-cycling-1371603|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130505135457/http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/robbie-elliott-prepares-epic-cycling-1371603|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 May 2013|title=Robbie Elliott prepares for epic cycling challenge - Chronicle Live|date=5 May 2013|website=archive.is|access-date=23 April 2019}}

In late 2011, he recorded an advert for Text Santa, a charity initiative set up by ITV to support nine UK charities at Christmas. Stars of other ITV shows made similar adverts. In January 2012, it was announced that £4,120,000 was raised for the various charities.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9Nhp4Wn6xc Text Santa Advert, 2011]

Over the years he has participated in Comic Relief's Red Nose Day. In 2001, he was one of the team describing the work the charity does in Britain, helping victims of early Alzheimer's or teenagers who are HIV positive.{{Cite web |url=http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/discussion/comic-relief-red-nose-day-in-general/229506/ |title=£22 Million To Get Your Knickers Off? Comic Relief (Red Nose Day) in general, 17 March 2001 |access-date=19 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006061615/http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/discussion/comic-relief-red-nose-day-in-general/229506/ |archive-date=6 October 2013 |url-status=dead }} In 1997, Tompkinson and Kirwan did a Comic Relief sketch titled Ballykissdibley – with Dawn French and the cast of The Vicar of Dibley – in which they played their Ballykissangel characters, Fr. Peter Clifford and Assumpta Fitzgerald.[http://www.comedy.co.uk/guide/tv/the_vicar_of_dibley/episodes/1997/1/ Comic Relief Special – Ballykissdibley, 14 March 1997]

He was married to Celia Anastasia and subsequent to the couple's divorce he became engaged to Ballykissangel co-star Dervla Kirwan. He then married Nicci Taylor, with whom he has a daughter, Daisy Ellen.{{cite news|last1=Randall|first1=Tim|title=Interview: Stephen Tompkinson - Daisy's My Ballykissangler|url=https://advance-lexis-com.rpa.laguardia.edu/api/permalink/4c11aa25-f6b0-4882-ad91-e550fef322b5/?context=1516831|access-date=27 May 2018|work=Daily Mirror|date=19 August 2001}}{{subscription required|s}} It was announced in December 2006 that they had separated and would divorce.{{Cite web|url=http://www.standard.co.uk/news/ballysplitangel-for-stephen-tompkinsons-five-year-marriage-7201782.html|title=Ballysplitangel for Stephen Tompkinson's five-year marriage|date=16 December 2006|website=Evening Standard|access-date=23 April 2019}}

He is an avid cricket fan. He once said that if he wasn't an actor he "wouldn't mind travelling the world as a cricket commentator, enjoying endless summers."{{Cite web|url=https://www.northeastlifemag.co.uk/home|title=Home|website=North East Life|access-date=23 April 2019}} In 2008 he wrote an article for The Wisden Cricketer about Darren Gough.{{Cite web|url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/368733.html|title=My dazzling mate|date=11 September 2008|website=Cricinfo|access-date=23 April 2019}}

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(see above for additional detail)

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*90-minute radio play presented on the centenary of Agatha Christie's birth

(Source: [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0867017/awards Internet Movie Database (IMDB)], unless otherwise cited)

{{Reflist}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Stephen Tompkinson}}
• {{IMDb name|id=0867017|name=Stephen Tompkinson}}
• [https://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/faces/stephen_tompkinson.shtml Stephen Tompkinson at bbc.co.uk] (last updated October 2005)

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tompkinson, Stephen}}

Category:1965 births

Category:Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama

Category:English male film actors

Category:English male radio actors

Category:English male stage actors

Category:English male television actors

Category:English male voice actors

Category:Living people

Category:Male actors from County Durham

Category:Male actors from Lancashire

Category:Actors from Stockton-on-Tees

Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire

Category:20th-century English male actors

Category:21st-century English male actors

Category:Male actors from Scarborough, North Yorkshire

Category:Actors from Lytham St Annes