Actor
· Acting
Bill Paterson
Born 1945-06-03
📍 Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland, UK
William Tulloch Paterson (born 3 June 1945) is a Scottish actor. Throughout his career he has appeared regularly in radio drama and provided the narration for a large number of documentaries. Paterson has appeared in films and television series including Comfort and Joy (1984), Traffik (1989), Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (1986), Truly, Madly, Deeply (1990), The Witches (1990), Wives and Daughters (1999), Sea of Souls (2004–2007), Amazing Grace (2006), Miss Potter (2006), Little Dorrit (2008), Doctor Who (2010), Outlander (2014), Fleabag (2016–2019), Inside No. 9 (2018), Good Omens (2019), Brassic (2020) and House of the Dragon (2022). He is a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Scottish BAFTAs.
William Tulloch Paterson was born in Glasgow on 3 June 1945. Paterson was raised in Dennistoun by his father, a plumber, and his mother, a hairdresser. He states that his interest in acting began with a school trip to the Citizens Theatre in the Gorbals in 1961. However, after school he chose to initially pursue a career based on an interest in architecture and spent three years as a quantity surveyor's apprentice before deciding to attend the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama
Filmography 154
Being Stanley Baxter
as Self
2025
The House Was Not Hungry Then
as Father
2025
The Repair Shop on the Road
as Self - Narrator
2025
Arthur's Whisky
as Henry
2024
Children of the Wicker Man
as Self
2024
A Bear Named Wojtek
as Zoo Director (voice)
2023
The Spirit of 1926
as Family Lawyer
2022
House of the Dragon
as Lord Lyman Beesbury
2022
The Sandman
as Dr. John Hathaway
2022
Halo
as Ackerson's Dad
2022
The Colour Room
as Gordon Forsythe
2021
Britain’s Scenic Railways
as Narrator
2021
Rebecca
as Dr. Baker
2020
Between the Covers
as Self
2020
Marionette
as Dr. Mandelbaum
2020
Love Sarah
as Felix
2020
Guilt
as Roy Lynch
2019
Brassic
as Tony Tillerton
2019
The Day Mountbatten Died
as Narrator (voice)
2019
Good Omens
as Tadfield Neighbourhood Watch
2019
Happy New Year, Colin Burstead
as Gordon Burstead
2018
Wonderdate
as Kolodon
2018
The Man Who Invented Christmas
as Mr. Grimsby
2017
The Repair Shop
as Self - Narrator
2017
The Repair Shop
as Narrator (voice)
2017
Urban Myths
as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
2017
Fleabag
as Dad
2016
The Rebel
as Charles
2016
Churchill's Secret
as Lord Moran
2016
Dad's Army
as Private Frazer
2016
High-Rise
as Mercer
2015
The Vote
as Simon Featherstone
2015
Scot Squad
as Sir Neville Archibald
2014
Outlander
as Ned Gowan
2014
37 Days
as Lord Morley
2014
Inside No. 9
as Mr. Green
2014
The List
as Reg Troughton
2013
Shetland
as James Perez
2013
Them From That Thing
as Various
2012
Scotland's Finest: The Story of the Highland Games
as Narrator
2012
Dirk Gently
as Professor Jericho
2012
Fast Freddie, the Widow and Me
as Judge Underwood
2011
The Man who Crossed Hitler
as Kurt Ohnesorge
2011
Creation
as Dr. Gully
2009
Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen
as Dr James Niven
2009
Into the Storm
as Clement Attlee
2009
Law & Order: UK
as George Castle
2009
1929: The Great Crash
as Narrator
2009
Gone Fishing
as Old Bill
2008
Little Dorrit
as Mr. Meagles
2008
How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
as Richard Young
2008
Criminal Justice
as Harry Box
2008
The Madness and Misadventures of Munchausen
as Self - 'Henry Salt'
2008
The Man Who Lives with Bears
as Self - Narrator (voice)
2008
Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars
as Dr Watson
2007
The 50 Greatest Television Dramas
as Self
2007
Intervention
as Dr. Martin
2007
Miss Potter
as Rupert Potter
2006
Amazing Grace
as Lord Dundas
2006
The One Show
as Self - Guest
2006
A War on Science
as Narrator (voice)
2006
Fascism in Colour
as Narrator (voice)
2006
ShakespeaRe-Told
2005
Rag Tale
as Tulloch 'Lucky' Lloyd
2005
Doctor Who
as Edwin Bracewell
2005
Agatha Christie's Marple
as Bradley
2004
Lie with Me
as DCI Collman
2004
Shoebox Zoo
as The Storyteller (voice)
2004
Sea of Souls
as Dr. Douglas Monaghan
2004
Bright Young Things
as Sir James Brown
2003
Canterbury Tales
as Theo
2003
Danielle Cable: Eyewitness
as DI Nick Biddiss
2003
Doctor Zhivago
as Alexander Maximovich Gromeko
2002
Foyle's War
as Patrick Jamieson
2002
Battle of the Atlantic
as Himself - Narrator
2002
Crush
as Gerald
2002
Born and Bred
as Harry Woolf
2002
The Entity
2002
Othello
as Sinclair Carver
2001
The Whistle-Blower
as D.I. Neil Sleightholme
2001
Behind Bars
as Narrator
2001
Rebel Heart
as James Connolly
2001
The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne
2000
Complicity
as Wallace Byatt
2000
Wives and Daughters
as Mr Gibson
1999
Sunshine
as Minister of Justice
1999
The Match
as Tommy
1999
Heart
as Mr. Kreitman
1999
Hilary and Jackie
as Cello Teacher
1998
The Animal Train
as Walrus
1998
Mr White Goes To Westminster
as Ben White
1997
Spice World
as Brian
1997
Melissa
as DCI Cameron
1997
Victory
as Capt. Davidson
1996
The Crow Road
as Kenneth McHoan
1996
The Writing on the Wall
as Bull
1996
Chaplin's Goliath
as Narrator (voice)
1996
Richard III
as Sir Richard Ratcliffe
1995
Oliver's Travels
as Baxter
1995
The Turnaround
as James Webb
1995
Sharman
as James Webb
1995
The Riddle of the Sands
as Narrator
1995
Hard Times
as Stephen Blackpool
1994
Hard Times
as Stephen Blackpool
1994
Wall of Silence
as Howard Mullen
1993
God on the Rocks
as Kenneth Marsh
1992
Chaplin
as Stage Manager
1992
Murder Most Horrid
as Chief Inspector
1991
Truly Madly Deeply
as Sandy
1991
The Object of Beauty
as Victor Swayle
1991
Yellowbacks
as Alex McPherson
1990
The Witches
as Mr Jenkins
1990
Bearskin: An Urban Fairytale
as Jordan
1989
Traffik
as John Lithgow
1989
The Rachel Papers
as Gordon Highway
1989
The Return of the Musketeers
as Charles I
1989
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
as Henry Salt
1988
Franz Kafka's 'The Trial'
as Titorelli
1988
Just Ask for Diamond
as Chief Inspector Snape
1988
Byrne About Byrne
as Father/F.S. McDade
1988
The Play on One
as Alex McPherson
1988
The Modern World: Ten Great Writers
as Titorelli
1988
The Interrogation of John
as Det. Supt. Chase
1987
Friendship's Death
as Sullivan
1987
Lily My Love
as Colin
1987
Hidden City
as Anthony
1987
Coming Up Roses
as Mr. Valentine
1987
The Singing Detective
as Dr Gibbon
1986
Defence of the Realm
as Jack Macleod
1986
Shooting from the Heart: Chris Menges, Cameraman
as Self
1985
Dutch Girls
as Mr Mole
1985
The Killing Fields
as Dr. MacEntire
1984
A Private Function
as Wormold
1984
Comfort and Joy
as Alan
1984
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
as Ally Fraser
1983
The Ploughman's Lunch
as Lecturer
1983
Smiley's People
as Lauder Strickland
1982
United Kingdom
as Tony
1981
The Cherry Orchard
as Lopakhin
1981
One Fine Day
as Third Man in Lift
1979
The Vanishing Army
as Girling
1978
Jackie McCafferty's Romance
as Bus Conductor
1978
The Odd Job
as Sergeant Mull
1978
Life of Shakespeare
as King James I
1978
Will Shakespeare
1978
Licking Hitler
as Archie MacLean
1978
The Thin End of the Wedge
as Luke
1977
BBC2 Play of the Week
as Girling
1977
The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil
as Various
1974
Clydescope
as Model Boat Show Commentator (voice) (uncredited)
1974
Play for Today
as Luke
1970
Play for Today
as Archie MacLean
1970
Horizon
1964
Tomb Raider
as Winston