Harry William Thompson was an English radio and television producer, comedy writer, novelist, and biographer. He was the creator of the dark humour television series Monkey Dust, which was screened between 2003 and 2005.

Born in London, Thompson was educated at Highgate School and Brasenose College, Oxford. He joined the BBC as a trainee in 1981, where he began focusing on comedy. He worked as a researcher for Not the Nine O'Clock News and BBC Radio's The Mary Whitehouse Experience.

As he rose to the level of producer, he produced the BBC radio shows The News Quiz and Lenin of the Rovers. He was later employed by Hat Trick Productions to produce a television adaptation of The News Quiz, entitled Have I Got News for You, which became a critical and commercial success.

Thompson was also a biographer and novelist, authoring six books including an investigation into the story of The Man in the Iron Mask, a biography of Hergé with commentary on his Adventures of Tintin series, biographies of Peter Cook and Richard Ingrams, a novel titled This Thing of Darkness, and the semi-autobiographical Penguins Stopped Play.