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 Wh...
Known For
Complete Filmography

The House Was Not Hungry Then
2025
as Father
While searching for her estranged father, a young woman breaks into an empty house in the countryside where every visitor disappears. Now she must avo...

Arthur's Whisky
2024
as Henry
When Joan’s husband dies, she is shocked to discover he had invented an elixir which makes the drinker look young again. Sharing it with her two frien...

Children of the Wicker Man
2024
as Self
Fifty years after The Wicker Man (1973), director Robin Hardy’s lost papers resurface, prompting his sons Justin and Dominic to explore the legacy of ...

A Bear Named Wojtek
2024
as Zoo Director (voice)
Displaced by the Second World War, a troop of Polish soldiers form an inseparable bond through an orphaned bear they name Wojtek.

The Spirit of 1926
2022
as Family Lawyer
In 1926 Janet ‘Nettie’ Harbison crafted what would become the most valuable bottle of wine or spirit ever sold at auction.

The Colour Room
2021
as Gordon Forsythe
A pioneering ceramic artist Clarice Cliff rises to prominence in the 1920s while working in Britain’s Stoke-on-Trent pottery industry.

Rebecca
2020
as Dr. Baker
After a whirlwind romance with a wealthy widower, a naïve bride moves to his family estate but can't escape the haunting shadow of his late wife.

Marionette
2020
as Dr. Mandelbaum
A therapist loses her grip on reality when a ten-year-old boy claims he can control her future.

Love Sarah
2020
as Felix
A young woman wishes to fulfill her mother's dream of opening her own bakery in Notting Hill, London. To do this, she enlists the help of an old frien...

The Day Mountbatten Died
2019
as Narrator (voice)
On 27 August 1979, Lord Mountbatten, great uncle to Prince Charles, was blown up at sea by the IRA off the west coast of the Republic of Ireland. Thre...

Happy New Year, Colin Burstead
2018
as Gordon Burstead
Colin has rented a stately country home for his extended family’s New Year celebrations. He’s the centre of attention until his estranged brother Davi...

Wonderdate
2018
as Kolodon
A man dazzles a girl on the perfect first date but why won't she text back? He retraces his steps, reexamining the date.

The Man Who Invented Christmas
2017
as Mr. Grimsby
In 1843, despite the fact that Dickens is a successful writer, the failure of his latest book puts his career at a crossroads, until the moment when, ...

Churchill's Secret
2016
as Lord Moran
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill suffers from a stroke in the summer of 1953 that's kept a secret from the rest of the world.

Dad's Army
2016
as Private Frazer
A cinema remake of the classic sitcom Dad's Army (1968). The Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard platoon deal with a visiting female journalist and a German ...

High-Rise
2015
as Mercer
Life for the residents of a tower block begins to run out of control.

The Vote
2015
as Simon Featherstone
On 7 May, churches, school halls, and back rooms of community centres will be turned into polling stations, staffed by council workers and volunteers....
Documenting John Grierson
2014
as Narrator
The life and work of the documentary pioneer.

The List
2013
as Reg Troughton
Christopher Cowin is in his mid 30s, a family man who owns a small advertising agency. A court case he had recently lost has shown him the rich and po...

Scotland's Finest: The Story of the Highland Games
2012
as Narrator
A journey into the history, pageantry and characters that have shaped a Scottish phenomenon. Acclaimed actor Bill Paterson narrates the astonishing st...
Fast Freddie, the Widow and Me
2011
as Judge Underwood
Fast Freddie, The Widow and Me is a 2011 one-off Christmas special, made by STV Productions and broadcast by ITV on Tuesday 27 December 2011. The spec...

The Man who Crossed Hitler
2011
as Kurt Ohnesorge
In the summer of 1931, with Germany on the brink of economic collapse, and the city of Berlin turning into a paramilitary war-zone, audacious young pr...
The Phoenix: A Century of Cinema
2011
as Narrator (Voice)
When the Phoenix Cinema in East Finchley, north London, celebrated its centenary year in 2010, On-Par Productions were invited to document the cinema'...
Ghosts in the Machine
2009
as Himself
Documentary charting the history of the supernatural on British TV, revisiting classic ghost stories and controversial shows. Contributors include Der...

Creation
2009
as Dr. Gully
A psychological, heart-wrenching love story that provides a unique and inside look at Charles Darwin. Torn between faith and science, he struggles to ...

Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen
2009
as Dr James Niven
Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen is a 2009 television drama. It deals with Dr James Niven's attempts to deal with the 1918 flu pandemic in Manchester...

Into the Storm
2009
as Clement Attlee
This powerful follow-up to “The Gathering Storm” follows Churchill from 1940 to 1945 as he guided his beleaguered nation through the crucible of the w...

1929: The Great Crash
2009
as Narrator
A documentary exploring the causes of the 1929 Wall Street Crash.Over six terrifying, desperate days in October 1929, shares crashed by a third on the...

How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
2008
as Richard Young
Sidney Young is a down-on-his-luck journalist. Thanks to a stint involving a pig and a glitzy awards ceremony, Sidney turns his fortunes around, attra...

The Madness and Misadventures of Munchausen
2008
as Self - 'Henry Salt'
This is an all new feature length documentary, with interviews from almost everyone involved with the production of the film. Gilliam never shies away...

The Man Who Lives with Bears
2008
as Self - Narrator (voice)
A man shows the gentle and agressive side of Brown and Black Bears living with and around them. After "Grizzly Man" died in Alaska trying to do the sa...

Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars
2007
as Dr Watson
A gang of sharp witted street kids save Sherlock Holmes from an accusation of murder and to help foil an audacious robbery.

The 50 Greatest Television Dramas
2007
as Self
Boasting an amazing selection of the most watched, most influential and most highly acclaimed programmes ever made, The 50 Greatest Television Dramas ...

Intervention
2007
as Dr. Martin
An eclectic group of people drawn from all walks of life find themselves under one roof for twenty-eight days with one thing in common, addiction.

Miss Potter
2006
as Rupert Potter
Beatrix Potter, the author of the beloved children's book "The Tale of Peter Rabbit", struggles for love, happiness and success.

Amazing Grace
2006
as Lord Dundas
The true story of William Wilberforce and his courageous quest to end the British slave trade. Along the way, Wilberforce meets intense opposition, bu...

A War on Science
2006
as Narrator (voice)
When Charles Darwin published his theory of evolution nearly 150 years ago, he shattered the dominant belief of his day – that humans were the product...

Fascism in Colour
2006
as Narrator (voice)
After the World War I, Mussolini's perspective on life is severely altered; once a willful socialist reformer, now obsessed with the idea of power, he...

Rag Tale
2005
as Tulloch 'Lucky' Lloyd
A romance that plays out in the splashy, sensational world of British tabloids.

Lie with Me
2004
as DCI Collman
Roselyn Tyler awakens in her London flat with no memory of the previous night. She discovers that she was drugged and sexually assaulted -- and her ro...

Bright Young Things
2003
as Sir James Brown
During the 1930s in England, a group of young socialites dominate the national gossip with extravagant and outlandish antics. Among the group is the a...

Danielle Cable: Eyewitness
2003
as DI Nick Biddiss
Dramatisation of the real-life road-rage killing in 1996 of Stephen Cameron by Kenneth Noye, who was also implicated in the Brinks Mat bullion robbery...

Crush
2002
as Gerald
Three 40-something women in a small English town meet weekly for a ritual of gin, cigarettes, and sweets -- and swapped stories arguing which of them ...
Home Road Movies
2002
as Father
A sweet reminiscence about a family of four children and their RAF-veteran dad, who knows the timetable of every bus in London, but realizes his large...

The Entity
2002
The Entity is a documentary into the phenomenon of sleep paralysis, the state in which a person cannot move as they pass from sleep to a woken state.

Othello
2001
as Sinclair Carver
With freshly rechristened characters and brand-new dialogue, this British TV production of Othello is a "rethinking" of Shakespeare's play, albeit sti...

The Whistle-Blower
2001
as D.I. Neil Sleightholme
A bank employee, Laura Tracey, places herself and her family in mortal danger after reporting irregularities in the firm's overseas accounts to the Na...

Behind Bars
2001
as Narrator
Documentary about the 1980 New Mexico State Penitentiary Riots in which 33 inmates were killed.

Complicity
2000
as Wallace Byatt
Local journalist, Cameron Colley writes articles that are idealistic, from the viewpoint of the underdog. A twisted serial killer seems to have some m...
Chrono-Perambulator
1999
as Professor Teddy Knox
Teddy Knox, a failed inventor, finds the key to a Stone Age riddle.

Sunshine
1999
as Minister of Justice
The fate of a Hungarian Jewish family throughout the 20th century.

The Match
1999
as Tommy
Romantic comedy set against the story of a grudge football match between two pubs. The prize for the winner of the centenary match is the the closure ...

Heart
1999
as Mr. Kreitman
A woman, plastered in blood, is arrested by a grave, and a tale of loss, lust and jealousy slowly unfolds.

Hilary and Jackie
1998
as Cello Teacher
The tragic story of world-renowned cellist Jacqueline du Pré, as told from the point of view of her sister, flautist Hilary du Pré-Finzi.

Mr White Goes To Westminster
1997
as Ben White
A journalist becomes an independent MP. Loosely based on the election of Martin Bell to the constituency of Tatton between 1997 and 2001.

Spice World
1997
as Brian
World famous pop group the Spice Girls zip around London in their luxurious double decker tour bus having various adventures and performing for their ...

Victory
1996
as Capt. Davidson
Axel Heyst is an American recluse with a dubious past living in the Dutch East Indies port of Surabaya circa 1913. Staying in a German hotel there, He...

The Writing on the Wall
1996
as Bull
When a bomb explodes in a British RAF base in Germany, MI5 terrorist specialist Bull (Bill Paterson) is called in to investigate. However, the further...

Chaplin's Goliath
1996
as Narrator (voice)
A film about the tall actor who was most famous for playing the quintessential villain for Charlie Chaplin's Tramp character.

Richard III
1995
as Sir Richard Ratcliffe
A murderous lust for the British throne sees Richard III descend into madness. Though the setting is transposed to the 1930s, England is torn by civil...
The Pen
1995
A man frantically searches for a pen while stuck on a train journey somewhere in Scotland.

The Turnaround
1995
as James Webb
Private investigator Nick Sharman accepts a case which at first seems intriguing, but ends up causing him bitter regret.

The Riddle of the Sands
1995
as Narrator
Documenting the life in the estuary of the River Aithen in North-East Scotland.

Hard Times
1994
as Stephen Blackpool
Charles Dickens' bleak, passionate novel about the challenges of life in 19th-century London comes to life with an outstanding cast and brilliant cine...

Wall of Silence
1993
as Howard Mullen
A corpse is fished out of a north London canal with stab wounds through the eyes. The victim was a prominent member of the Hasidic Jewish community, a...

God on the Rocks
1992
as Kenneth Marsh
Growing up in a household incapable of showing love and affection, Margaret's life is transformed when Lydia, a worldly teenage maid, arrives.
In Dreams
1992
as Dr Gold
Lenny has some perplexing dreams.

Chaplin
1992
as Stage Manager
An aged Charlie Chaplin narrates his life to his autobiography's editor, including his rise to wealth and comedic fame from poverty, his turbulent per...
Tell Tale Hearts
1992
as Anthony Steadman
Anthony Steadman, a child murderer, is being released from prison after 17 years. Sally McCann, a mother whose child disappeared around the time of th...

Truly Madly Deeply
1991
as Sandy
Nina is totally heartbroken at the death of her boyfriend Jamie, but is even more unprepared for his return as a ghost. At first it's almost as good a...

The Object of Beauty
1991
as Victor Swayle
American couple Jake and Tina are living in an expensive London hotel above their means, incurring a sizeable debt. When they are asked to pay a lavis...

Yellowbacks
1990
as Alex McPherson
Britain in the very near future. In an abandoned hotel, a young female doctor and a middle-aged scientist are interrogated separately. The question th...

The Witches
1990
as Mr Jenkins
A young boy named Luke and his grandmother go on vacation only to discover their hotel is hosting an international witch convention, where the Grand H...

Bearskin: An Urban Fairytale
1989
as Jordan
Johnny Fortune (Damon Lowry) is no good to anyone, not mean, but just no good. Surrounded by violence and dishonesty, Johnny lives with Kate. Johnny m...

The Rachel Papers
1989
as Gordon Highway
Poised to attend Oxford University, 19-year-old Charles Highway decides it's high time to have a romantic encounter with an older woman. With the help...

The Return of the Musketeers
1989
as Charles I
It's 1649: Mazarin hires the impoverished D'Artagnan to find the other musketeers: Cromwell has overthrown the English king, so Mazarin fears revolt, ...

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
1988
as Henry Salt
An account of Baron Munchausen's supposed travels and fantastical experiences with his band of misfits.

Franz Kafka's 'The Trial'
1988
as Titorelli
BBC documentary about Franz Kafka played by GREEK TV in 1990.This documentary is one of the ten films of "The Modern World: Ten Great Writers (1988)".

Just Ask for Diamond
1988
as Chief Inspector Snape
Thirteen-year-old Nick and his slightly dense older brother Herbert run the Diamond Private Detective Agency above Camden Town Tube Station in north-c...

Byrne About Byrne
1988
as Father/F.S. McDade
In this diverse and inventive autobiography, painter and author John Byrne travels from his youth, through his art school years to the period of his s...

The Interrogation of John
1987
as Det. Supt. Chase
A suspect is brought to a London police station charged with gross indecency. Police at the station believe he is connected with a murder in the area ...

Friendship's Death
1987
as Sullivan
A robot messenger is sent to earth to appeal to humans to live in peace. Originally designed to go to MIT, by mistake she ends up in Amman, Jordan dur...

Lily My Love
1987
as Colin
Lily is 13, Colin is 39 and a vagrant. They run away together. 'One and a half to the English Lakes, single, because we're never coming back, we're go...

Hidden City
1987
as Anthony
Cassies Stuart leads the uncooperative Charles Dance into a world of misplaces government secrets, capalistic artists and bungling secret agents. Will...

Coming Up Roses
1987
as Mr. Valentine
An award-winning comedy set in a depressed town in the South Wales Valleys. When the local cinema is closed down, the former projectionist, plagued by...
God's Chosen Car Park
1986
as Victor Rosen
Nathaniel Box, a self-styled prophet, along with his daughter Barbara and her fiancé Curtis, holds a night time press conference in an underground car...

Defence of the Realm
1986
as Jack Macleod
A reporter named Mullen 'stumbles' onto a story linking a prominent Member of Parliament to a KGB agent and a near-nuclear disaster involving a teenag...

Shooting from the Heart: Chris Menges, Cameraman
1985
as Self
A look at the career of Oscar-winning cameraman Chris Menges. Filmed on location of 'Comfort and Joy'. Chris Menges discusses his early career in tele...

Dutch Girls
1985
as Mr Mole
In this sophomoric comedy, a lusty adolescent British hockey team heads for Holland where they find something far more interesting than tulips and win...

The Killing Fields
1984
as Dr. MacEntire
New York Times reporter Sydney Schanberg is on assignment covering the Cambodian Civil War, with the help of local interpreter Dith Pran and American ...

A Private Function
1984
as Wormold
In the summer of 1947, Britain prepares to commemorate the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip. To get around food-rationing laws, Dr. Ch...

Comfort and Joy
1984
as Alan
Radio host Alan 'Dickie' Bird witnesses how an icecream van is attacked and destroyed by angry competitors. This leads him into the struggle between t...

The Ploughman's Lunch
1983
as Lecturer
As the UK begins its military engagement in the Falklands, a BBC news journalist attempts to climb up from his working-class roots, at any cost, lying...

United Kingdom
1981
as Tony
Incendiary 1981 Play for Today, written by Jim Allen and directed by Roland Joffé that tells the story of a group of housing estate residents who atte...

The Cherry Orchard
1981
as Lopakhin
Madame Ranevsky and her daughter Anya return home from Paris to find their beloved family estate and cherry orchard are to be auctioned off to pay deb...

One Fine Day
1979
as Third Man in Lift
Alan Bennett's play about the mid-life crisis of an estate agent.

The Vanishing Army
1978
as Girling
"Why don't you keep that missus o' yours under control? She ain't exactly doin' you a packet o' good, is she? If she was mine I'd bloody put 'er right...

Jackie McCafferty's Romance
1978
as Bus Conductor
A shy, awkward Scottish lad secretly carries a torch for a local lass.

The Odd Job
1978
as Sergeant Mull
Arthur Harris is a happily married man who returns from his job to discover that his wife, Fiona, is leaving him. Devastated he gets really drunk and ...

Licking Hitler
1978
as Archie MacLean
1941 and the upper class Anna Seaton is hired as part of an allied radio propaganda project, creating disinformation about the Nazi war effort. But te...

The Thin End of the Wedge
1977
as Luke
A student faced with an ultimatum to find £5 by morning - or lose his girlfriend - searches for friends he can tap and discovers that the crises in th...
The Garden Beyond
1977
as Jim Finlayson
The Garden Beyond is a dramatised portrayal of the life of bed-ridden Perth poet William Soutar - the first independently produced Scottish film to be...

The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil
1974
as Various
In their songs, comedy and exuberant music, a travelling theatre company give a fiercely polemic account of Scottish history, from the aftermath of Cu...

Clydescope
1974
as Model Boat Show Commentator (voice) (uncredited)
A panorama of the Clyde, from Biggar to Brodick, with Billy Connolly as your guide. Directed by Murray Grigor for the Films of Scotland Committee.
The White Room
N/A
as Jackie Jordan
In a world obsessed with knowing the future, we find Alberto, a Colombian immigrant working as a massage therapist in the City of London. Mild-mannere...