Personal Info
Known For:
Acting
Birthday:
June 3, 1945
Place of Birth:
Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland, UK
Social Media
Bill Paterson
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 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
Known For
Filmography
| Year | Movie | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | The House Was Not Hungry Then | Father |
| 2024 | Arthur's Whisky | Henry |
| 2024 | A Bear Named Wojtek | Zoo Director (voice) |
| 2024 | Children of the Wicker Man | Self |
| 2022 | The Spirit of 1926 | Family Lawyer |
| 2021 | The Colour Room | Gordon Forsythe |
| 2020 | Marionette | Dr. Mandelbaum |
| 2020 | Love Sarah | Felix |
| 2020 | Rebecca | Dr. Baker |
| 2019 | The Day Mountbatten Died | Narrator (voice) |
| 2018 | Happy New Year, Colin Burstead | Gordon Burstead |
| 2018 | Wonderdate | Kolodon |
| 2017 | The Man Who Invented Christmas | Mr. Grimsby |
| 2016 | Dad's Army | Private Frazer |
| 2016 | Churchill's Secret | Lord Moran |
| 2015 | The Vote | Simon Featherstone |
| 2015 | High-Rise | Mercer |
| 2014 | Documenting John Grierson | Narrator |
| 2013 | The List | Reg Troughton |
| 2012 | Scotland's Finest: The Story of the Highland Games | Narrator |
| 2011 | The Man who Crossed Hitler | Kurt Ohnesorge |
| 2011 | Fast Freddie, the Widow and Me | Judge Underwood |
| 2011 | The Phoenix: A Century of Cinema | Narrator (Voice) |
| 2009 | Ghosts in the Machine | Himself |
| 2009 | Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen | Dr James Niven |
| 2009 | Creation | Dr. Gully |
| 2009 | 1929: The Great Crash | Narrator |
| 2009 | Into the Storm | Clement Attlee |
| 2008 | The Man Who Lives with Bears | Self - Narrator (voice) |
| 2008 | How to Lose Friends & Alienate People | Richard Young |
| 2008 | The Madness and Misadventures of Munchausen | Self - 'Henry Salt' |
| 2007 | The 50 Greatest Television Dramas | Self |
| 2007 | Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars | Dr Watson |
| 2007 | Intervention | Dr. Martin |
| 2006 | Miss Potter | Rupert Potter |
| 2006 | Amazing Grace | Lord Dundas |
| 2006 | A War on Science | Narrator (voice) |
| 2006 | Fascism in Colour | Narrator (voice) |
| 2005 | Rag Tale | Tulloch 'Lucky' Lloyd |
| 2004 | Lie with Me | DCI Collman |
| 2003 | Bright Young Things | Sir James Brown |
| 2003 | Danielle Cable: Eyewitness | DI Nick Biddiss |
| 2002 | Crush | Gerald |
| 2002 | The Entity | |
| 2002 | Home Road Movies | Father |
| 2001 | Othello | Sinclair Carver |
| 2001 | The Whistle-Blower | D.I. Neil Sleightholme |
| 2001 | Behind Bars | Narrator |
| 2000 | Complicity | Wallace Byatt |
| 1999 | Sunshine | Minister of Justice |
| 1999 | The Match | Tommy |
| 1999 | Heart | Mr. Kreitman |
| 1999 | Chrono-Perambulator | Professor Teddy Knox |
| 1998 | Hilary and Jackie | Cello Teacher |
| 1997 | Mr White Goes To Westminster | Ben White |
| 1997 | Spice World | Brian |
| 1996 | Victory | Capt. Davidson |
| 1996 | The Writing on the Wall | Bull |
| 1996 | Chaplin's Goliath | Narrator (voice) |
| 1995 | The Riddle of the Sands | Narrator |
| 1995 | Richard III | Sir Richard Ratcliffe |
| 1995 | The Turnaround | James Webb |
| 1995 | The Pen | |
| 1994 | Hard Times | Stephen Blackpool |
| 1993 | Wall of Silence | Howard Mullen |
| 1992 | Chaplin | Stage Manager |
| 1992 | In Dreams | Dr Gold |
| 1992 | Tell Tale Hearts | Anthony Steadman |
| 1992 | God on the Rocks | Kenneth Marsh |
| 1991 | Truly Madly Deeply | Sandy |
| 1991 | The Object of Beauty | Victor Swayle |
| 1990 | The Witches | Mr Jenkins |
| 1990 | Yellowbacks | Alex McPherson |
| 1989 | The Return of the Musketeers | Charles I |
| 1989 | Bearskin: An Urban Fairytale | Jordan |
| 1989 | The Rachel Papers | Gordon Highway |
| 1988 | Byrne About Byrne | Father/F.S. McDade |
| 1988 | The Adventures of Baron Munchausen | Henry Salt |
| 1988 | Franz Kafka's 'The Trial' | Titorelli |
| 1988 | Just Ask for Diamond | Chief Inspector Snape |
| 1987 | Friendship's Death | Sullivan |
| 1987 | Coming Up Roses | Mr. Valentine |
| 1987 | The Interrogation of John | Det. Supt. Chase |
| 1987 | Lily My Love | Colin |
| 1987 | Hidden City | Anthony |
| 1986 | Defence of the Realm | Jack Macleod |
| 1986 | God's Chosen Car Park | Victor Rosen |
| 1985 | Dutch Girls | Mr Mole |
| 1985 | Shooting from the Heart: Chris Menges, Cameraman | Self |
| 1984 | Comfort and Joy | Alan |
| 1984 | The Killing Fields | Dr. MacEntire |
| 1984 | A Private Function | Wormold |
| 1983 | The Ploughman's Lunch | Lecturer |
| 1981 | The Cherry Orchard | Lopakhin |
| 1981 | United Kingdom | Tony |
| 1979 | One Fine Day | Third Man in Lift |
| 1978 | Licking Hitler | Archie MacLean |
| 1978 | Jackie McCafferty's Romance | Bus Conductor |
| 1978 | The Odd Job | Sergeant Mull |
| 1978 | The Vanishing Army | Girling |
| 1977 | The Garden Beyond | Jim Finlayson |
| 1977 | The Thin End of the Wedge | Luke |
| 1974 | The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil | Various |
| 1974 | Clydescope | Model Boat Show Commentator (voice) (uncredited) |
| The White Room | Jackie Jordan |
| Year | TV Show | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | The Sandman | Dr. John Hathaway |
| 2022 | House of the Dragon | Lord Lyman Beesbury |
| 2022 | Halo | Ackerson's Dad |
| 2021 | Britain’s Scenic Railways | Narrator |
| 2020 | Between the Covers | Self |
| 2019 | Good Omens | Tadfield Neighbourhood Watch |
| 2019 | Brassic | Tony Tillerton |
| 2019 | Guilt | Roy Lynch |
| 2017 | Urban Myths | Sir Arthur Conan Doyle |
| 2017 | The Repair Shop | Self - Narrator |
| 2017 | The Repair Shop | Narrator (voice) |
| 2016 | Fleabag | Dad |
| 2016 | The Rebel | Charles |
| 2014 | 37 Days | Lord Morley |
| 2014 | Outlander | Ned Gowan |
| 2014 | Scot Squad | Sir Neville Archibald |
| 2014 | Inside No. 9 | Mr. Green |
| 2013 | Shetland | James Perez |
| 2012 | Them From That Thing | Various |
| 2012 | Dirk Gently | Professor Jericho |
| 2010 | The Michael Ball Show | Self |
| 2010 | Birds Britannia | |
| 2009 | Law & Order: UK | George Castle |
| 2008 | Criminal Justice | Harry Box |
| 2008 | Little Dorrit | |
| 2006 | The One Show | Self - Guest |
| 2005 | ShakespeaRe-Told | |
| 2005 | Doctor Who | Edwin Bracewell |
| 2005 | A Passion for Churches | Narrator |
| 2004 | Sea of Souls | Dr. Douglas Monaghan |
| 2004 | Shoebox Zoo | The Storyteller (voice) |
| 2004 | Agatha Christie's Marple | Bradley |
| 2003 | Canterbury Tales | Theo |
| 2002 | Foyle's War | Patrick Jamieson |
| 2002 | Doctor Zhivago | Alexander Gromyko |
| 2002 | Born and Bred | Harry Woolf |
| 2002 | Battle of the Atlantic | Himself - Narrator |
| 2001 | Rebel Heart | James Connolly |
| 2000 | The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne | |
| 1999 | Wives and Daughters | Mr. Gibson |
| 1997 | Melissa | DCI Cameron |
| 1997 | Arthouse | Self |
| 1996 | The Crow Road | Kenneth McHoan |
| 1995 | Oliver's Travels | Baxter |
| 1995 | Sharman | James Webb |
| 1994 | Junior Masterchef | |
| 1994 | Hard Times | Stephen Blackpool |
| 1991 | Murder Most Horrid | Chief Inspector |
| 1989 | Traffik | John Lithgow |
| 1989 | A Wanted Man | Det. Supt. Chase |
| 1988 | The Play on One | Alex McPherson |
| 1988 | The Modern World: Ten Great Writers | Titorelli |
| 1986 | The Singing Detective | Dr. Gibbon |
| 1983 | Auf Wiedersehen, Pet | Ally Fraser |
| 1982 | Smiley's People | Lauder Strickland |
| 1978 | Life of Shakespeare | King James I |
| 1978 | Will Shakespeare | |
| 1970 | Play for Today | Luke |
| 1964 | Horizon |