Bill Paterson

Actor Jun 3 (age 80) Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland, UK 1964–2025 (61 year career)

6.5 avg rating

Biography

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 Wh…

Known For

Film

Chaplin

Stage Manager

Film

The Killing Fields

Dr. MacEntire

Film

The Witches

Mr Jenkins

Film

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

Henry Salt

Film

The Man Who Invented Christmas

Mr. Grimsby

Film

Rebecca

Dr. Baker

Film

Miss Potter

Rupert Potter

Film

How to Lose Friends & Alienate People

Richard Young

Filmography

Acting (174)

Movies (111)

The House Was Not Hungry Then

2025

as Father

4.5

Being Stanley Baxter

2025

as Self

Arthur's Whisky

2024

as Henry

5.5

A Bear Named Wojtek

2024

as Zoo Director (voice)

8.0

Children of the Wicker Man

2024

as Self

The Spirit of 1926

2022

as Family Lawyer

The Colour Room

as Gordon Forsythe

Rebecca

as Dr. Baker

Marionette

as Dr. Mandelbaum

Love Sarah

as Felix

The Day Mountbatten Died

as Narrator (voice)

Wonderdate

as Kolodon

Happy New Year, Colin Burstead

2018

as Gordon Burstead

6.4

The Man Who Invented Christmas

as Mr. Grimsby

Dad's Army

as Private Frazer

Churchill's Secret

as Lord Moran

Hitler on Trial: The Truth Behind the Story

High-Rise

as Mercer

The Vote

as Simon Featherstone

8.4

Documenting John Grierson

2014

as Narrator

The List

2013

as Reg Troughton

4.3

Scotland's Finest: The Story of the Highland Games

2012

as Narrator

The Man who Crossed Hitler

2011

as Kurt Ohnesorge

6.5

Fast Freddie, the Widow and Me

2011

as Judge Underwood

5.5

The Phoenix: A Century of Cinema

2011

as Narrator (Voice)

Creation

as Dr. Gully

Into the Storm

as Clement Attlee

1929: The Great Crash

2009

as Narrator

7.2

Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen

2009

as Dr James Niven

7.3

Ghosts in the Machine

2009

as Himself

How to Lose Friends & Alienate People

2008

as Richard Young

6.0

The Man Who Lives with Bears

2008

as Self - Narrator (voice)

The Madness and Misadventures of Munchausen

2008

as Self - 'Henry Salt'

7.8

Gone Fishing

2008

as Old Bill

8.0

The 50 Greatest Television Dramas

2007

as Self

Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars

as Dr Watson

Intervention

as Dr. Martin

Miss Potter

as Rupert Potter

A War on Science

as Narrator (voice)

Amazing Grace

as Lord Dundas

Fascism in Colour

as Narrator (voice)

Rag Tale

as Tulloch 'Lucky' Lloyd

Lie with Me

as DCI Collman

Bright Young Things

as Sir James Brown

Danielle Cable: Eyewitness

2003

as DI Nick Biddiss

Crush

as Gerald

The Entity

Home Road Movies

as Father

Othello

as Sinclair Carver

Behind Bars

as Narrator

The Whistle-Blower

2001

as D.I. Neil Sleightholme

Complicity

as Wallace Byatt

Sunshine

as Minister of Justice

The Match

as Tommy

Chrono-Perambulator

as Professor Teddy Knox

Heart

as Mr. Kreitman

Hilary and Jackie

as Cello Teacher

The Animal Train

as Walrus

Spice World

as Brian

Mr White Goes To Westminster

as Ben White

Victory

as Capt. Davidson

Chaplin's Goliath

as Narrator (voice)

The Writing on the Wall

1996

as Bull

2.3

Richard III

1995

as Sir Richard Ratcliffe

The Pen

The Turnaround

as James Webb

The Riddle of the Sands

1995

as Narrator

Hard Times

1994

as Stephen Blackpool

7.0

Wall of Silence

1993

as Howard Mullen

Chaplin

1992

as Stage Manager

7.4

God on the Rocks

1992

as Kenneth Marsh

In Dreams

1992

as Dr Gold

7.0

Tell Tale Hearts

1992

as Anthony Steadman

Truly Madly Deeply

as Sandy

The Object of Beauty

as Victor Swayle

The Witches

as Mr Jenkins

Yellowbacks

as Alex McPherson

The Rachel Papers

as Gordon Highway

The Return of the Musketeers

1989

as Charles I

6.2

Bearskin: An Urban Fairytale

1989

as Jordan

7.5

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

1988

as Henry Salt

7.0

Just Ask for Diamond

1988

as Chief Inspector Snape

4.3

Byrne About Byrne

1988

as Father/F.S. McDade

Franz Kafka's 'The Trial'

1988

as Titorelli

Friendship's Death

as Sullivan

Coming Up Roses

as Mr. Valentine

Hidden City

as Anthony

Lily My Love

as Colin

The Interrogation of John

1987

as Det. Supt. Chase

God's Chosen Car Park

1986

as Victor Rosen

Defence of the Realm

as Jack Macleod

Dutch Girls

as Mr Mole

Shooting from the Heart: Chris Menges, Cameraman

1985

as Self

The Killing Fields

as Dr. MacEntire

Comfort and Joy

as Alan

A Private Function

as Wormold

The Ploughman's Lunch

1983

as Lecturer

4.8

United Kingdom

1981

as Tony

The Cherry Orchard

1981

as Lopakhin

One Fine Day

1979

as Third Man in Lift

4.5

Licking Hitler

1978

as Archie MacLean

The Odd Job

1978

as Sergeant Mull

5.7

The Vanishing Army

1978

as Girling

Jackie McCafferty's Romance

1978

as Bus Conductor

The Garden Beyond

1977

as Jim Finlayson

The Thin End of the Wedge

1977

as Luke

Clydescope

1974

as Model Boat Show Commentator (voice) (uncredited)

7.0

The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil

1974

as Various

Suilven Spring

1974

Passing Places

1973

The White Room

as Jackie Jordan

Television (63)

The Repair Shop on the Road

2025

as Self - Narrator

House of the Dragon

2022

as Lord Lyman Beesbury

The Sandman

as Dr. John Hathaway

Halo

as Ackerson's Dad

Britain’s Scenic Railways

2021

as Narrator

Between the Covers

as Self

Brassic

as Tony Tillerton

Good Omens

as Tadfield Neighbourhood Watch

Guilt

as Roy Lynch

The Repair Shop

as Narrator (voice)

Urban Myths

as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Fleabag

as Dad

The Rebel

as Charles

Outlander

as Ned Gowan

Inside No. 9

as Mr. Green

Scot Squad

as Sir Neville Archibald

37 Days

as Lord Morley

Shetland

as James Perez

Dirk Gently

as Professor Jericho

Them From That Thing

as Various

The Michael Ball Show

2010

as Self

Birds Britannia

Law & Order: UK

as George Castle

Criminal Justice

as Harry Box

Little Dorrit

as Mr. Meagles

The One Show

as Self - Guest

Doctor Who

as Edwin Bracewell

ShakespeaRe-Told

A Passion for Churches

2005

as Narrator

Agatha Christie's Marple

2004

as Bradley

7.8

Shoebox Zoo

2004

as The Storyteller (voice)

7.8

Sea of Souls

2004

as Dr. Douglas Monaghan

Canterbury Tales

as Theo

Foyle's War

as Patrick Jamieson

Born and Bred

as Harry Woolf

Doctor Zhivago

as Alexander Gromyko

Battle of the Atlantic

2002

as Himself - Narrator

6.9

Rebel Heart

2001

as James Connolly

6.0

The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne

Wives and Daughters

as Mr Gibson

Melissa

as DCI Cameron

Arthouse

as Self

The Crow Road

1996

as Kenneth McHoan

6.8

Sharman

1995

as James Webb

Ghostbusters of East Finchley

as Joe Small

Oliver's Travels

as Baxter

Junior Masterchef

Hard Times

as Stephen Blackpool

Murder Most Horrid

as Chief Inspector

Traffik

as John Lithgow

A Wanted Man

as Det. Supt. Chase

The Modern World: Ten Great Writers

1988

as Titorelli

The Play on One

1988

as Alex McPherson

6.0

The Singing Detective

as Dr Gibbon

Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

as Ally Fraser

Smiley's People

as Lauder Strickland

Life of Shakespeare

as King James I

Will Shakespeare

1978

10.0

BBC2 Play of the Week

as Girling

Play for Today

as Luke

Horizon

Tomb Raider

as Winston

Kill Jackie

as Owain