Appeared in Series 2 and Series 3 of Knightmare, playing Olaf the Viking, Bumptious the dwarf and Mrs. Grimwold, as well as providing the voice of the raven.

Thomas Karol was born in London to Polish parents in 1948. He worked with the National Youth Theatre before training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, and spent a season at Derby Playhouse. In July 1973 he joined the Lancashire touring company TheatreMobile (set up by the Mid-Pennine Association for the Arts) who travelled around the area performing plays and pantomimes for all age groups in a range of venues; their shows included The Importance Of Being Earnest, rock musical versions of The Three Little Pigs and Shakespeare's Twelfth Night (What You Will), and 'The Jam Butty Show' which Tom would later cite as an inspiration for the miner Bumptious. He also appeared in various productions with the Farnham Repertory Company, Torch Theatre Company and Mobil Touring Theatre.

Tom's other screen credits include:
- Colditz (1 episode, 1972), as a Pole
- Merry-Go-Round (BBC Schools TV series, 1982-1983), as the presenter
- First Aid For Life (British Red Cross video series, 1984), as the presenter
- Brookside (1 episode, 1984), as the local MP Colin Trent
- Dempsey And Makepeace (1 episode, 1985), as a TV reporter
- Tickets For The Titanic: Keeping Score (TV play, 1987), as a newsreader
- Sorry! (1 episode, 1987), as an assertive man
- Catering With Care (Open College video series, 1987), as a chef
- The Bill (2 episodes, 1988 / 1991), as supermarket manager Mr Coombes
- Rockliffe's Folly (1 episode, 1988), as an assistant caravan site manager
- The Manageress (1 episode, 1989), as Peter Cummings
- Hale & Pace (3 episodes, 1993 / 1994), various roles
- To Play The King (1 episode, 1993), as a TV presenter of election coverage
- The Fragile Heart (1 episode, 1996), as a dermatologist
- Wycliffe (1 episode, 1996), as marine accident investigator Peter Marsh
- Get Well Soon (1 episode, 1997), as Bruno
- The Glass (1 episode, 2001), as a conference delegate
- Look Around You (1 episode, 2005), as a Russian interpreter for the ghost of Tchaikovsky in a spoof of Tomorrow's World
- New Tricks (1 episode, 2005), as an insurance rep
- Dipper (short film, 2005), non-speaking role as a businessman in the street

In 2002, Tom hosted the pilot of TimeGate, a proposed VR adventure gameshow with similarities to Knightmare. His nephew Kosmo and niece Holly played the dungeoneer and advisor. Tim Child chose him for the part because "Development/experimental programming is a risky business - so I tend to work with talent I can trust".

Tom discussed all of his Knightmare roles in a 2012 interview with James Aukett, revealing Mrs Grimwold to be his favourite. The documentary 25 Years Of Knightmare includes more of his thoughts on the show.

Like fellow KM cast member Bill Cashmore, Tom was also the co-founder of a London company that supplied professional actors for business training purposes: Virtually Real, formed in April 1990 with his wife Marian. The couple had two children.

Tom died suddenly in August 2022 at the age of 73. A memorial page set up in his name has raised over £3,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and Macmillan Cancer Support.

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