Bill Paterson
Known for: Acting
Born: June 3, 1945
Place of birth: 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
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Filmography
113 movies · 67 TV shows, newest first
6.0
Ladies First
2026
NR
Being Stanley Baxter
2025
4.2
The House Was Not Hungry Then
2025
NR
The Repair Shop on the Road
2025
5.7
Arthur's Whisky
2024
NR
Children of the Wicker Man
2024
8.0
A Bear Named Wojtek
2023
NR
The Spirit of 1926
2022
8.4
House of the Dragon
2022
7.9
The Sandman
2022
8.2
Halo
2022
6.1
The Colour Room
2021
NR
Britain’s Scenic Railways
2021
6.3
Rebecca
2020
5.5
Between the Covers
2020
6.3
Marionette
2020
6.2
Love Sarah
2020
6.6
Guilt
2019
8.4
Brassic
2019
10.0
The Day Mountbatten Died
2019
8.0
Good Omens
2019
6.4
Happy New Year, Colin Burstead
2018
6.0
Wonderdate
2018
NR
Zanzibar
2018
6.8
The Man Who Invented Christmas
2017
7.0
The Repair Shop
2017
7.4
Urban Myths
2017
8.3
Fleabag
2016
7.2
The Rebel
2016
6.3
Churchill's Secret
2016
5.0
Dad's Army
2016
5.6
High-Rise
2015NR
Hitler on Trial: The Truth Behind the Story
2015
8.4
The Vote
2015
6.8
Scot Squad
2014
8.2
Outlander
2014
7.5
37 Days
2014NR
Documenting John Grierson
2014
8.1
Inside No. 9
2014
4.3
The List
2013
7.5
Shetland
2013
6.0
Them From That Thing
2012
NR
Scotland's Finest: The Story of the Highland Games
2012
7.1
Dirk Gently
2012
5.5
Fast Freddie, the Widow and Me
2011
6.5
The Man who Crossed Hitler
2011NR
The Phoenix: A Century of Cinema
2011NR
Birds Britannia
2010NR
The Michael Ball Show
2010NR
Ghosts in the Machine
2009
6.4
Creation
2009
7.3
Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen
2009
6.4
Into the Storm
2009
7.0
Law & Order: UK
2009
7.2
1929: The Great Crash
2009
8.0
Gone Fishing
2008
7.9
Little Dorrit
2008
6.0
How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
2008
7.6
Criminal Justice
2008
7.8
The Madness and Misadventures of Munchausen
2008
NR
The Man Who Lives with Bears
2008
6.8
Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars
2007
NR
Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars
2007
NR
The 50 Greatest Television Dramas
2007
5.5
Intervention
2007
6.7
Miss Potter
2006
6.9
Amazing Grace
2006
4.4
The One Show
2006
8.0
A War on Science
2006
7.5
Fascism in Colour
2006NR
A Passion for Churches
2005
7.4
ShakespeaRe-Told
2005
3.3
Rag Tale
2005
7.6
Doctor Who
2005
7.8
Agatha Christie's Marple
2004
NR
Lie with Me
2004
7.7
Shoebox Zoo
2004
8.0
Sea of Souls
2004
6.3
Bright Young Things
2003
6.9
Canterbury Tales
2003
8.5
Danielle Cable: Eyewitness
2003
6.5
Trust
2003
6.7
Doctor Zhivago
2002
7.9
Foyle's War
2002
7.4
Battle of the Atlantic
2002
5.7
Crush
20026.4
Home Road Movies
2002
9.0
Born and Bred
2002
8.0
The Entity
2002
6.9
Othello
2001
7.8
The Whistle-Blower
2001
NR
Behind Bars
2001
7.3
Rebel Heart
2001
7.1
The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne
2000
5.8
Complicity
200010.0
Chrono-Perambulator
1999
7.3
Wives and Daughters
1999
6.4
Sunshine
1999
6.0
The Match
1999
5.4
Heart
1999
6.6
Hilary and Jackie
1998
7.0
The Animal Train
1998
5.0
Mr White Goes To Westminster
1997
4.9
Spice World
1997NR
Arthouse
1997
6.8
Melissa
1997
5.2
Victory
1996
6.9
The Crow Road
1996
3.6
The Writing on the Wall
1996
6.6
Chaplin's Goliath
1996
6.8
Richard III
19957.0
The Ghostbusters of East Finchley
1995NR
The Pen
1995
6.0
Oliver's Travels
1995
5.0
The Turnaround
1995
NR
Sharman
1995
NR
The Riddle of the Sands
19955.5
Junior Masterchef
1994
7.7
Hard Times
1994
NR
Hard Times
1994
8.0
Wall of Silence
1993
7.0
God on the Rocks
19928.5
In Dreams
1992
7.4
Chaplin
19928.0
Tell Tale Hearts
1992
6.9
Murder Most Horrid
1991
6.9
Truly Madly Deeply
1991
5.3
The Object of Beauty
1991
NR
Shrinks
1991
8.0
Yellowbacks
1990
6.9
The Witches
1990
8.3
Bearskin: An Urban Fairytale
1989
7.2
Screen One
1989
7.6
Traffik
1989
5.1
The Rachel Papers
1989
6.2
The Return of the Musketeers
1989
7.0
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
1988
NR
Franz Kafka's 'The Trial'
1988
5.6
Just Ask for Diamond
1988
NR
Byrne About Byrne
1988
6.0
The Play on One
1988
8.0
The Modern World: Ten Great Writers
1988
NR
The Story of a Recluse
1987
NR
The Interrogation of John
1987
6.8
Friendship's Death
1987
NR
Lily My Love
1987
5.4
Hidden City
1987
6.7
Coming Up Roses
1987NR
God's Chosen Car Park
1986
7.6
The Singing Detective
1986
6.0
ScreenPlay
1986
6.4
Defence of the Realm
1986
NR
Shooting from the Heart: Chris Menges, Cameraman
1985
4.1
Dutch Girls
1985
7.5
The Killing Fields
1984
6.4
A Private Function
1984
6.6
Comfort and Joy
1984
7.9
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
1983
4.8
The Ploughman's Lunch
1983
7.7
Smiley's People
1982
7.0
United Kingdom
1981
7.0
The Cherry Orchard
1981
5.3
One Fine Day
1979
NR
The Vanishing Army
1978
NR
Jackie McCafferty's Romance
1978
5.9
The Odd Job
1978
NR
Licking Hitler
1978
NR
The Thin End of the Wedge
1977
7.0
BBC2 Play of the Week
1977NR
The Garden Beyond
1977
8.0
The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil
1974
7.0
Clydescope
1974NR
Suilven Spring
1974NR
Passing Places
1973
6.6
Play for Today
1970
7.2
Omnibus
1967
7.5
Horizon
1964NR
The White Room
—
NR
Tomb Raider
—
5.5
The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo
—