Tom Kingsley is good at letting comic actors make a quarrel feel personal. We recommend his character-led comedy with a reservation: in Alice and Steve, the increasingly busy revenge can get between us and the performers.
Fi1m perspective
In Alice and Steve (2026), Nicola Walker and Jemaine Clement take every grievance personally, which is where the comedy works best. We enjoyed their exchanges because the anger did not quite obscure the friendship that made it hurt. Tom Kingsley directs them with a proper interest in what each performer can get from the other. We rate that attention, even when the programme around them becomes too busy for its own good.
His route to television ran through two features co-directed with Will Sharpe, Black Pond (2011) and The Darkest Universe (2016). He then became a regular director of ensemble comedy, working across multiple series of Stath Lets Flats (2018–2021) and Ghosts (2019–2023). The move into episodes of This Is Going to Hurt (2022) and Doctor Who (2023) widened the sorts of story he handled. What connects these jobs is an interest in comedy that must live alongside something else, rather than keep everything safely light.
The limitations of Alice and Steve also help define what we value in his work. Clement has to remain recognisable as the friend Walker’s Alice valued while giving her good reason to be furious, and Kingsley handles their exchanges well. The writing attends so closely to her anger that Clement can seem underused, while the younger woman whose relationship triggers the dispute receives less attention than Alice’s response to it. As the revenge piles up, the programme begins to crowd out the simpler pleasure of watching Walker and Clement work. Some of those antics could go without costing us much.
His return to features with the action comedy Deep Cover (2025) gives that balance another test. For us, the useful question as he moves between sitcoms, drama and action comedy is how much space remains for the actors. Try Alice and Steve for Walker and Clement, with the warning that their company is sometimes more rewarding than the feud. Fi1m
Biography
Tom Kingsley is an English film and television director. Born in London in 1985, he was educated at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. He began his career directing short films and co-directed his debut feature Black Pond (2011) with Will Sharpe.
Kingsley is best known for directing the Channel 4 sitcom Stath Lets Flats (2018–2021) and the BBC comedy series Ghosts (2019–2023). He has also directed episodes of This Is Going to Hurt (2022) and Doctor Who (2023), as well as the series Alice and Steve (2026). His work includes the feature Deep Cover (2025). Stath Lets Flats won three BAFTA awards, and Black Pond received several nominations including at the BAFTAs and British Independent Film Awards.
