The Murder at the Vicarage
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. "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." In December 2004, he appeared as Detective Inspector Slack in a new adaptation of Agatha Christie's "The Murder at the Vicarage".