Bill Paterson
Known for Acting · 181 credits
- Born
- 1945-06-03 (age 81)
- Place of birth
- Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland, UK
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
TV Shows (67)
House of the Dragon
2022
as Lord Lyman Beesbury
Doctor Who
2005
as Edwin Bracewell
Outlander
2014
as Ned Gowan
Horizon
1964
Play for Today
1970
as Luke / Archie MacLean
The Sandman
2022
as Dr. John Hathaway
The One Show
2006
as Self - Guest
Shetland
2013
as James Perez
Agatha Christie's Marple
2004
as Bradley
Halo
2022
as Ackerson's Dad
Foyle's War
2002
as Patrick Jamieson
Omnibus
1967
BBC2 Play of the Week
1977
as Girling
Good Omens
2019
as Tadfield Neighbourhood Watch
Inside No. 9
2014
as Mr. Green
Brassic
2019
as Tony Tillerton
Fleabag
2016
as Dad
The Repair Shop
2017
as Narrator (voice)
Law & Order: UK
2009
as George Castle
ScreenPlay
1986
as Colin / Det. Supt. Chase
Murder Most Horrid
1991
as Chief Inspector
The Play on One
1988
as Alex McPherson
Screen One
1989
as PC Howard Mullen
Born and Bred
2002
as Harry Woolf
Urban Myths
2017
as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Little Dorrit
2008
as Mr. Meagles
Shoebox Zoo
2004
as The Storyteller (voice)
Canterbury Tales
2003
as Theo
Guilt
2019
as Roy Lynch
Criminal Justice
2008
as Harry Box
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
1983
as Ally Fraser
Sea of Souls
2004
as Dr. Douglas Monaghan
ShakespeaRe-Told
2005
Wives and Daughters
1999
as Mr Gibson
Scot Squad
2014
as Sir Neville Archibald
The Michael Ball Show
2010
as Self
Smiley's People
1982
as Lauder Strickland
The Modern World: Ten Great Writers
1988
as Titorelli
Between the Covers
2020
as Self
Arthouse
1997
as Self
Kill Jackie
as Owain
Dirk Gently
2012
as Professor Jericho
The Singing Detective
1986
as Dr Gibbon
The Ghostbusters of East Finchley
1995
as Joe Small
Doctor Zhivago
2002
as Alexander Maximovich Gromeko
Traffik
1989
as John Lithgow
Junior Masterchef
1994
37 Days
2014
as Lord Morley
Sharman
1995
as James Webb
Trust
2003
as John Tilson
Shrinks
1991
as Matt Hennessey
Melissa
1997
as DCI Cameron
The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne
2000
Rebel Heart
2001
as James Connolly
Tomb Raider
as Winston
Life of Shakespeare
1978
as King James I
Them From That Thing
2012
as Various
Hard Times
1994
as Stephen Blackpool
The Rebel
2016
as Charles
The Crow Road
1996
as Kenneth McHoan
Movies (114)
Ladies First
2026
as Louis
The Witches
1990
as Mr Jenkins
Love Sarah
2020
as Felix
Chaplin
1992
as Stage Manager
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
1988
as Henry Salt
Miss Potter
2006
as Rupert Potter
High-Rise
2015
as Mercer
The Killing Fields
1984
as Dr. MacEntire
Rebecca
2020
as Dr. Baker
The Man Who Invented Christmas
2017
as Mr. Grimsby
Sunshine
1999
as Minister of Justice
Dutch Girls
1985
as Mr Mole
How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
2008
as Richard Young
Spice World
1997
as Brian
Bright Young Things
2003
as Sir James Brown
Hilary and Jackie
1998
as Cello Teacher
Zanzibar
2018
as Mr Green
Amazing Grace
2006
as Lord Dundas
Licking Hitler
1978
as Archie MacLean
Dad's Army
2016
as Private Frazer
The Cherry Orchard
1981
as Lopakhin
Othello
2001
as Sinclair Carver
Being Stanley Baxter
2025
as Self
Creation
2009
as Dr. Gully
The Colour Room
2021
as Gordon Forsythe
Richard III
1995
as Sir Richard Ratcliffe
A Private Function
1984
as Wormold
The Ploughman's Lunch
1983
as Lecturer
The Return of the Musketeers
1989
as Charles I
The Object of Beauty
1991
as Victor Swayle
The Rachel Papers
1989
as Gordon Highway
Chaplin's Goliath
1996
as Narrator (voice)
Into the Storm
2009
as Clement Attlee
Truly Madly Deeply
1991
as Sandy
Defence of the Realm
1986
as Jack Macleod
Churchill's Secret
2016
as Lord Moran
The Animal Train
1998
as Walrus
Rag Tale
2005
as Tulloch 'Lucky' Lloyd
Byrne About Byrne
1988
as Father/F.S. McDade
Mr White Goes To Westminster
1997
as Ben White
Lily My Love
1987
as Colin
Arthur's Whisky
2024
as Henry
The White Room
as Jackie Jordan
Intervention
2007
as Dr. Martin
1929: The Great Crash
2009
as Narrator
Lie with Me
2004
as DCI Collman
Franz Kafka's 'The Trial'
1988
as Titorelli
United Kingdom
1981
as Tony
Passing Places
1973
Danielle Cable: Eyewitness
2003
as DI Nick Biddiss
The Match
1999
as Tommy
Happy New Year, Colin Burstead
2018
as Gordon Burstead
Marionette
2020
as Dr. Mandelbaum
The List
2013
as Reg Troughton
The Entity
2002
Friendship's Death
1987
as Sullivan
The Day Mountbatten Died
2019
as Narrator (voice)
Wonderdate
2018
as Kolodon
Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars
2007
as Dr Watson
One Fine Day
1979
as Third Man in Lift
The Whistle-Blower
2001
as D.I. Neil Sleightholme
The Man who Crossed Hitler
2011
as Kurt Ohnesorge
A War on Science
2006
as Narrator (voice)
Fascism in Colour
2006
as Narrator (voice)
Suilven Spring
1974
God's Chosen Car Park
1986
as Victor Rosen
The Vote
2015
as Simon Featherstone
The Vanishing Army
1978
as Girling
Hard Times
1994
as Stephen Blackpool
Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen
2009
as Dr James Niven
Just Ask for Diamond
1988
as Chief Inspector Snape
Hidden City
1987
as Anthony
Documenting John Grierson
2014
as Narrator
The Spirit of 1926
2022
as Family Lawyer
The Odd Job
1978
as Sergeant Mull
Wall of Silence
1993
as Howard Mullen
Crush
2002
as Gerald
In Dreams
1992
as Dr Gold
Comfort and Joy
1984
as Alan
The Writing on the Wall
1996
as Bull
Complicity
2000
as Wallace Byatt
Behind Bars
2001
as Narrator
Gone Fishing
2008
as Old Bill
The 50 Greatest Television Dramas
2007
as Self
Bearskin: An Urban Fairytale
1989
as Jordan
Victory
1996
as Capt. Davidson
A Bear Named Wojtek
2023
as Zoo Director (voice)
God on the Rocks
1992
as Kenneth Marsh
The Interrogation of John
1987
as Det. Supt. Chase
Children of the Wicker Man
2024
as Self
Jackie McCafferty's Romance
1978
as Bus Conductor
Ghosts in the Machine
2009
as Himself
Home Road Movies
2002
as Father
Coming Up Roses
1987
as Mr. Valentine
Heart
1999
as Mr. Kreitman
The House Was Not Hungry Then
2025
as Father
Chrono-Perambulator
1999
as Professor Teddy Knox
Hitler on Trial: The Truth Behind the Story
2015
The Turnaround
1995
as James Webb
Fast Freddie, the Widow and Me
2011
as Judge Underwood
Tell Tale Hearts
1992
as Anthony Steadman
The Thin End of the Wedge
1977
as Luke
The Story of a Recluse
1987
as The Producer
Clydescope
1974
as Model Boat Show Commentator (voice) (uncredited)
The Madness and Misadventures of Munchausen
2008
as Self - 'Henry Salt'
The Pen
1995
The Riddle of the Sands
1995
as Narrator
The Phoenix: A Century of Cinema
2011
as Narrator (Voice)
Yellowbacks
1990
as Alex McPherson
The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil
1974
as Various
The Garden Beyond
1977
as Jim Finlayson
The Man Who Lives with Bears
2008
as Self - Narrator (voice)
Scotland's Finest: The Story of the Highland Games
2012
as Narrator
Shooting from the Heart: Chris Menges, Cameraman
1985
as Self
About Bill Paterson
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),… With 181 credits spanning from 1964 to 2026, Bill Paterson has appeared in 114 films and 67 TV shows.
Fans searching for Bill Paterson movies, Bill Paterson filmography, or the latest projects starring Bill Paterson can stream many of these titles on Bowood.TV, free and in HD, with no subscription required.
Most Popular Bill Paterson Movies
- Ladies First (2026) — as Louis
- The Witches (1990) — as Mr Jenkins
- Love Sarah (2020) — as Felix
- Chaplin (1992) — as Stage Manager
- The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) — as Henry Salt
Where to Watch Bill Paterson Films
Most Bill Paterson movies and series are available to stream on Bowood.TV in full HD, completely free and without signup. Browse the complete filmography above to jump directly to any title. For more films and the latest web series featuring Bill Paterson, check our movies catalogue and browse page.