
Bill Paterson
Department: Acting
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

The 50 Greatest Television Dramas
2007

The Witches
1990

Comfort and Joy
1984

Complicity
2000

Dutch Girls
1985

Miss Potter
2006

Defence of the Realm
1986

The Return of the Musketeers
1989

Amazing Grace
2006

Ghosts in the Machine
2009

The Riddle of the Sands
1995

Victory
1996

The Man Who Lives with Bears
2008

Hilary and Jackie
1998

Yellowbacks
1990

Documenting John Grierson
2014

Arthur's Whisky
2024

The Man who Crossed Hitler
2011

The Colour Room
2021

Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen
2009

The List
2013

Fast Freddie, the Widow and Me
2011

Friendship's Death
1987

Creation
2009

A Bear Named Wojtek
2023

Coming Up Roses
1987

The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil
1974

Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars
2007

The Writing on the Wall
1996

Hard Times
1994

Lie with Me
2004

The Interrogation of John
1987

Lily My Love
1987

Truly Madly Deeply
1991

Intervention
2007

The Killing Fields
1984

Clydescope
1974

Chaplin's Goliath
1996

Licking Hitler
1978

Byrne About Byrne
1988

A War on Science
2006

God's Chosen Car Park
1986

The Vote
2015

Chaplin
1992

One Fine Day
1979

Dad's Army
2016

A Private Function
1984

Bright Young Things
2003

Churchill's Secret
2016

Othello
2001

The Whistle-Blower
2001

Scotland's Finest: The Story of the Highland Games
2012

The Cherry Orchard
1981

The White Room
—

The Object of Beauty
1991

1929: The Great Crash
2009

In Dreams
1992

Mr White Goes To Westminster
1997

Richard III
1995

Jackie McCafferty's Romance
1978

Crush
2002

Danielle Cable: Eyewitness
2003

Sunshine
1999

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
1988

How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
2008

Hidden City
1987

Franz Kafka's 'The Trial'
1988

Just Ask for Diamond
1988

The Ploughman's Lunch
1983

Spice World
1997

High-Rise
2015

Bearskin: An Urban Fairytale
1989

The Match
1999

Heart
1999

Rag Tale
2005

The Man Who Invented Christmas
2017

Happy New Year, Colin Burstead
2018

United Kingdom
1981

The Odd Job
1978

The Rachel Papers
1989

Wonderdate
2018

The Vanishing Army
1978

Into the Storm
2009

The Turnaround
1995

The Garden Beyond
1977

Chrono-Perambulator
1999

The Day Mountbatten Died
2019

Tell Tale Hearts
1992

Wall of Silence
1993

Marionette
2020

Love Sarah
2020

Shooting from the Heart: Chris Menges, Cameraman
1985

Fascism in Colour
2006

The Madness and Misadventures of Munchausen
2008

The Entity
2002

Rebecca
2020

The Thin End of the Wedge
1977

Behind Bars
2001

Home Road Movies
2002

God on the Rocks
1992

Children of the Wicker Man
2024

The Pen
1995

The Phoenix: A Century of Cinema
2011

The House Was Not Hungry Then
2025

The Spirit of 1926
2022

The Animal Train
1998

Hitler on Trial: The Truth Behind the Story
2015

Gone Fishing
2008

Suilven Spring
1974

Being Stanley Baxter
2025

Passing Places
1973

Murder Most Horrid
1991

The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne
2000

The One Show
2006

Horizon
1964

Foyle's War
2002

Good Omens
2019

Law & Order: UK
2009

Criminal Justice
2008

Wives and Daughters
1999

Doctor Zhivago
2002

Little Dorrit
2008

ShakespeaRe-Told
2005

Traffik
1989

Oliver's Travels
1995

Sea of Souls
2004

Smiley's People
1982

Rebel Heart
2001

Life of Shakespeare
1978

Junior Masterchef
1994

The Michael Ball Show
2010

Doctor Who
2005

Birds Britannia
2010

Britain’s Scenic Railways
2021

37 Days
2014

The Crow Road
1996

Born and Bred
2002

Canterbury Tales
2003

Outlander
2014

Sharman
1995

Shetland
2013

Will Shakespeare
1978

Shoebox Zoo
2004

Arthouse
1997

Fleabag
2016

Between the Covers
2020

Urban Myths
2017

Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
1983

A Passion for Churches
2005

The Sandman
2022

House of the Dragon
2022

Halo
2022

Brassic
2019

Agatha Christie's Marple
2004

The Repair Shop
2017

Them From That Thing
2012

Scot Squad
2014

The Repair Shop
2017

Inside No. 9
2014

Battle of the Atlantic
2002

Play for Today
1970

The Play on One
1988

The Modern World: Ten Great Writers
1988

The Rebel
2016

Hard Times
1994

Guilt
2019

Dirk Gently
2012

A Wanted Man
1989

Ghostbusters of East Finchley
1995

BBC2 Play of the Week
1977

The Singing Detective
1986

Play for Today
1970

Melissa
1997

Tomb Raider
—

Kill Jackie
—

The Repair Shop on the Road
2025