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

Filmography

• 2026Ladies First — Louis
• 2025The House Was Not Hungry Then — Father
• 2024Arthur's Whisky — Henry
• 2023A Bear Named Wojtek — Zoo Director (voice)
• Halo — Ackerson's Dad
• House of the Dragon — Lord Lyman Beesbury
• The Sandman — Dr. John Hathaway
• 2022The Spirit of 1926 — Family Lawyer
• Britain’s Scenic Railways — Narrator
• 2021The Colour Room — Gordon Forsythe
• 2020Love Sarah — Felix
• 2020Marionette — Dr. Mandelbaum
• 2020Rebecca — Dr. Baker
• Brassic — Tony Tillerton
• Good Omens — Tadfield Neighbourhood Watch
• Guilt — Roy Lynch
• 2019The Day Mountbatten Died — Narrator (voice)
• 2018Happy New Year, Colin Burstead — Gordon Burstead
• 2018Wonderdate — Kolodon
• 2018Zanzibar — Mr Green
• 2017The Man Who Invented Christmas — Mr. Grimsby
• The Repair Shop — Narrator (voice)
• Urban Myths — Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• 2016Churchill's Secret — Lord Moran
• 2016Dad's Army — Private Frazer
• Fleabag — Dad
• The Rebel — Charles
• 2015High-Rise — Mercer
• 2015Hitler on Trial: The Truth Behind the Story
• 2015The Vote — Simon Featherstone
• 37 Days — Lord Morley
• 2014Documenting John Grierson — Narrator
• Inside No. 9 — Mr. Green
• Outlander — Ned Gowan
• Scot Squad — Sir Neville Archibald
• Shetland — James Perez
• 2013The List — Reg Troughton
• Dirk Gently — Professor Jericho
• 2012Scotland's Finest: The Story of the Highland Games — Narrator
• Them From That Thing — Various
• 2011Fast Freddie, the Widow and Me — Judge Underwood
• 2011The Man who Crossed Hitler — Kurt Ohnesorge
• 2011The Phoenix: A Century of Cinema — Narrator (Voice)
• Birds Britannia
• 20091929: The Great Crash — Narrator
• 2009Creation — Dr. Gully
• 2009Into the Storm — Clement Attlee
• Law & Order: UK — George Castle
• 2009Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen — Dr James Niven
• Criminal Justice — Harry Box
• 2008Gone Fishing — Old Bill
• 2008How to Lose Friends & Alienate People — Richard Young
• Little Dorrit — Mr. Meagles
• 2007Amazing Grace — Lord Dundas
• 2007Intervention — Dr. Martin
• 2007Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars — Dr Watson
• Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars — Dr Watson
• 2006A War on Science — Narrator (voice)
• 2006Fascism in Colour — Narrator (voice)
• 2006Miss Potter — Rupert Potter
• A Passion for Churches — Narrator
• Doctor Who — Edwin Bracewell
• 2005Rag Tale — Tulloch 'Lucky' Lloyd
• ShakespeaRe-Told
• Agatha Christie's Marple — Bradley
• Lie with Me — DCI Collman
• Sea of Souls — Dr. Douglas Monaghan
• Shoebox Zoo — The Storyteller (voice)
• 2003Bright Young Things — Sir James Brown
• Canterbury Tales — Theo
• 2003Danielle Cable: Eyewitness — DI Nick Biddiss
• Trust — John Tilson
• Born and Bred — Harry Woolf
• 2002Crush — Gerald
• Doctor Zhivago — Alexander Maximovich Gromeko
• Foyle's War — Patrick Jamieson
• 2002Home Road Movies — Father
• 2002The Entity
• 2001Behind Bars — Narrator
• 2001Othello — Sinclair Carver
• Rebel Heart — James Connolly
• Swallow — Angus Tighe
• 2001The Whistle-Blower — D.I. Neil Sleightholme
• 2000Complicity — Wallace Byatt
• The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne
• 1999Chrono-Perambulator — Professor Teddy Knox
• 1999Heart — Mr. Kreitman
• 1999Sunshine — Minister of Justice
• 1999The Match — Tommy
• Wives and Daughters — Mr Gibson
• 1998Hilary and Jackie — Cello Teacher
• 1998The Animal Train — Walrus
• Melissa — DCI Cameron
• 1997Mr White Goes To Westminster — Ben White
• 1997Spice World — Brian
• 1996Chaplin's Goliath — Narrator (voice)
• The Crow Road — Kenneth McHoan
• 1996The Writing on the Wall — Bull
• 1996Victory — Capt. Davidson
• Oliver's Travels — Baxter
• 1995Richard III — Sir Richard Ratcliffe
• Sharman — James Webb
• The Ghostbusters of East Finchley — Joe Small
• 1995The Pen
• 1995The Riddle of the Sands — Narrator
• 1995The Turnaround — James Webb
• Funky Black Shorts — Teacher
• Hard Times — Stephen Blackpool
• Junior Masterchef
• 1993Wall of Silence — Howard Mullen
• 1992Chaplin — Stage Manager
• 1992God on the Rocks — Kenneth Marsh
• 1992In Dreams — Dr Gold
• 1992Tell Tale Hearts — Anthony Steadman
• Murder Most Horrid — Chief Inspector
• Shrinks — Matt Hennessey
• 1991The Object of Beauty — Victor Swayle
• 1991Truly Madly Deeply — Sandy
• 1990The Witches — Mr Jenkins
• 1990Yellowbacks — Alex McPherson
• 1989Bearskin: An Urban Fairytale — Jordan
• Screen One — PC Howard Mullen
• 1989The Rachel Papers — Gordon Highway
• 1989The Return of the Musketeers — Charles I
• Traffik — Jack Lithgow
• 1988Byrne About Byrne — Father/F.S. McDade
• 1988Franz Kafka's 'The Trial' — Titorelli
• 1988Just Ask for Diamond — Chief Inspector Snape
• 1988The Adventures of Baron Munchausen — Henry Salt
• The Modern World: Ten Great Writers — Titorelli
• The Play on One — Alex McPherson
• 1987Coming Up Roses — Mr. Valentine
• 1987Friendship's Death — Sullivan
• 1987Hidden City — Anthony
• 1987Lily My Love — Colin
• 1987The Interrogation of John — Det. Supt. Chase
• 1987The Story of a Recluse — The Producer
• 1986Defence of the Realm — Jack Macleod
• 1986God's Chosen Car Park — Victor Rosen
• ScreenPlay — Colin, Det. Supt. Chase
• The Singing Detective — Dr Gibbon
• 1985Dutch Girls — Mr Mole
• 1984A Private Function — Wormold
• 1984Comfort and Joy — Alan
• 1984The Killing Fields — Dr. MacEntire
• Auf Wiedersehen, Pet — Ally Fraser
• 1983The Ploughman's Lunch — Lecturer
• Smiley's People — Lauder Strickland
• 1981The Cherry Orchard — Lopakhin
• 1981United Kingdom — Tony
• 1979One Fine Day — Third Man in Lift
• 1978Jackie McCafferty's Romance — Bus Conductor
• 1978Licking Hitler — Archie MacLean
• Scottish Playbill — Cannavan
• 1978The Odd Job — Sergeant Mull
• 1978The Vanishing Army — Girling
• BBC2 Play of the Week — Girling
• 1977The Garden Beyond — Jim Finlayson
• 1977The Thin End of the Wedge — Luke
• 1974Clydescope — Model Boat Show Commentator (voice) (uncredited)
• 1974Suilven Spring
• 1974The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil — Various
• 1973Passing Places
• Play for Today — Luke, Archie MacLean, McChuckemup / Texas Jim etc
• Omnibus
• Horizon
• The White Room — Jackie Jordan
• Tomb Raider — Winston

Appearances as themselves (14)

• 2025Being Stanley Baxter — Self
• The Repair Shop on the Road — Self - Narrator
• 2024Children of the Wicker Man — Self
• Between the Covers — Self
• The Michael Ball Show — Self
• 2009Ghosts in the Machine — Himself
• 2008The Madness and Misadventures of Munchausen — Self - 'Henry Salt'
• 2008The Man Who Lives with Bears — Self - Narrator (voice)
• 2007The 50 Greatest Television Dramas — Self
• The One Show — Self - Guest
• Battle of the Atlantic — Himself - Narrator
• Arthouse — Self
• 1985Shooting from the Heart: Chris Menges, Cameraman — Self
• The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo — Self - Narrator