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), 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
176 acting credits
Acting · 176
Ladies First
2026
Outlander
2014
Doctor Who
2005
House of the Dragon
2022
Horizon
1964
Play for Today
1970
The One Show
2006
Agatha Christie's Marple
2004
Shetland
2013
Halo
2022
The Sandman
2022
Good Omens
2019
Foyle's War
2002
Inside No. 9
2014
Omnibus
1967
Brassic
2019
Law & Order: UK
2009
Fleabag
2016
The Repair Shop
2017
Murder Most Horrid
1991
BBC2 Play of the Week
1977
Urban Myths
2017
ScreenPlay
1986
Born and Bred
2002
Little Dorrit
2008
Shoebox Zoo
2004
Screen One
1989
Between the Covers
2020
ShakespeaRe-Told
2005
Smiley's People
1982
Sea of Souls
2004
Guilt
2019
The Modern World: Ten Great Writers
1988
Criminal Justice
2008
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
1983
Wives and Daughters
1999
Scot Squad
2014
Junior Masterchef
1994
The Michael Ball Show
2010
Arthouse
1997
The Singing Detective
1986
Rebecca
2020
Melissa
1997
Canterbury Tales
2003
The Witches
1990
Doctor Zhivago
2002
Dirk Gently
2012
Life of Shakespeare
1978
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
1988
Rebel Heart
2001
Spice World
1997
The Killing Fields
1984
Sharman
1995
Chaplin
1992
High-Rise
2015
How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
2008
37 Days
2014
The Crow Road
1996
Oliver's Travels
1995
The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne
2000
Traffik
1989
Miss Potter
2006
Dad's Army
2016
Amazing Grace
2006
The Man Who Invented Christmas
2017
Sunshine
1999
Tomb Raider
—
Them From That Thing
2012
Richard III
1995
Kill Jackie
—
Bright Young Things
2003
The Rebel
2016
Creation
2009
Hard Times
1994
The Return of the Musketeers
1989
Into the Storm
2009
Hilary and Jackie
1998
Complicity
2000
The Match
1999
The 50 Greatest Television Dramas
2007
Britain’s Scenic Railways
2021
Crush
2002
The Rachel Papers
1989
Arthur's Whisky
2024
Truly Madly Deeply
1991
Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars
2007
Churchill's Secret
2016
Marionette
2020
The Repair Shop on the Road
2025
The Vote
2015
Ghostbusters of East Finchley
1995
Heart
1999
Love Sarah
2020
A Private Function
1984
Being Stanley Baxter
2025
Intervention
2007
Battle of the Atlantic
2002
Happy New Year, Colin Burstead
2018
The Object of Beauty
1991
Victory
1996
Defence of the Realm
1986
The Madness and Misadventures of Munchausen
2008
Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen
2009
Hard Times
1994
Dutch Girls
1985
The Ploughman's Lunch
1983
The Vanishing Army
1978
The Cherry Orchard
1981
The Colour Room
2021
Othello
2001
The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil
1974
Hidden City
1987
Comfort and Joy
1984
The Whistle-Blower
2001
Wall of Silence
1993
Yellowbacks
1990
God's Chosen Car Park
1986
Just Ask for Diamond
1988
Friendship's Death
1987
Danielle Cable: Eyewitness
2003
Bearskin: An Urban Fairytale
1989
Mr White Goes To Westminster
1997
The Story of a Recluse
1987
In Dreams
1992
Birds Britannia
2010
The Man who Crossed Hitler
2011
The White Room
—
Rag Tale
2005
Byrne About Byrne
1988
The Thin End of the Wedge
1977
Fast Freddie, the Widow and Me
2011
God on the Rocks
1992
Franz Kafka's 'The Trial'
1988
Licking Hitler
1978
The Odd Job
1978
Shooting from the Heart: Chris Menges, Cameraman
1985
A Passion for Churches
2005
Lie with Me
2004
The List
2013
Children of the Wicker Man
2024
Ghosts in the Machine
2009
One Fine Day
1979
1929: The Great Crash
2009
A Bear Named Wojtek
2023
The Spirit of 1926
2022
A War on Science
2006
The Turnaround
1995
The Interrogation of John
1987
The House Was Not Hungry Then
2025
The Animal Train
1998
Clydescope
1974
Chaplin's Goliath
1996
Jackie McCafferty's Romance
1978
Documenting John Grierson
2014
Wonderdate
2018
Fascism in Colour
2006
Chrono-Perambulator
1999
Hitler on Trial: The Truth Behind the Story
2015
The Pen
1995
The Man Who Lives with Bears
2008
The Writing on the Wall
1996
United Kingdom
1981
Behind Bars
2001
Gone Fishing
2008
Lily My Love
1987
Coming Up Roses
1987
The Entity
2002
The Phoenix: A Century of Cinema
2011
Tell Tale Hearts
1992
Home Road Movies
2002
Passing Places
1973
The Day Mountbatten Died
2019
The Riddle of the Sands
1995
Scotland's Finest: The Story of the Highland Games
2012
The Garden Beyond
1977
Suilven Spring
1974