Bill Paterson (actor)

Early life

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.

Career

1967–1977: Theatre debut and early roles

Paterson made his professional acting debut in 1967, appearing alongside Leonard Rossiter in Bertolt Brecht's The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui at the Glasgow Citizens Theatre. In 1970, Paterson joined the Citizens' Theatre for Youth. He remained there as an actor and assistant director until 1972, when he left to appear with Billy Connolly in the musical comedy The Great Northern Welly Boot Show at the Edinburgh Festival in 1972. Paterson would work with Connolly again, some years later, when he performed in Connolly's play An Me Wi' a Bad Leg Tae. After having seen Paterson perform at the Festival, John McGrath invited him to join his theatre company, 7:84, touring the United Kingdom and Europe with plays such as The Cheviot, the Stag, and the Black Black Oil. He was a founding member of 7:84, and made his London debut in 1976 with the company. He appeared in the Edinburgh Festival and London with John Byrne's first play, Writer's Cramp.

1978–1989: TV and film debuts

He first appeared in the West End when he took over the lead role in Whose Life Is It Anyway? at the Savoy Theatre in 1979. Paterson's career began to centre as much on television than the theatre. His first appearances in 1978 were as a police Sergeant of Scotland Yard in The Odd Job and then in BAFTA award winning drama Licking Hitler. He then played King James in the UK television serial Will Shakespeare the same year. Paterson would later recall that the biggest regret of his career was during this period, when in 1978 he failed to attend an audition for a role in the film Alien. He provided the voice of the Assistant Arcturan Pilot in Episode 7 of the original BBC Radio 4 version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in 1978. He played Lopakhin in the BBC production of The Cherry Orchard in 1981. Paterson did not, however, entirely neglect the theatre, and in 1982, he was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for his performance as Schweyk in another Brecht play, Schweik in the Second World War at the National Theatre. He was in the original National Theatre production of Guys and Dolls (1982).

The early 1980s also saw Paterson beginning to appear in films, including The Killing Fields, Comfort and Joy and A Private Function (all 1984). Other film credits include Dutch Girls (1985) and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1987).

In television, his extensive and award-winning TV career includes a memorable portrayal of property villain Ally Fraser in series 2 of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (1986). He also appeared in Smiley's People (1982), The Singing Detective (1986), Traffik (1988).

1990–2009: Career actor

Paterson performed in Death and the Maiden at the Royal Court and Duke of York's (1991–92). Other theatre roles in this period include Ivanov at the Almeida, London and Maly Theatre, Moscow (1997).

In 1990, he performed the role of Mr Jenkins, father to a child who gets turned into a mouse in, The Witches (1990). He went on to act in Truly, Madly, Deeply (1990), Chaplin (1992), Sir Ian McKellen's Richard III (1995). In 1997, he appeared as Brian, a cafe owner who knows the Spice Girls, in Spice World. He also performed in The Crow Road (1996), a miniseries from the novel by Iain Banks and Doctor Zhivago (2002).

He later performed in the films Bright Young Things (2003), Miss Potter (2006), How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008) and Creation (2009). In television, much of his later work has been for the BBC, starring as Dr Douglas Monaghan in three seasons of the supernatural drama series Sea of Souls (2004–2007). He also played the role of Dr Gibson in the 1999 production of Wives and Daughters, and appeared in the 2008 BBC production of the Charles Dickens novel Little Dorrit as Mr Meagles, as DS Box in the first series of Criminal Justice (2008), and as Dr James Niven in Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen.

Paterson has also narrated for various television and radio programmes. In 2005, he would take a role as Rob McKenna, a lorry driver and unknowing Rain God, in Fits the 19th, 20th, and 22nd of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Quandary Phase. In 2003, Paterson began broadcasting radio stories about his childhood in Glasgow, Tales From the Back Green on BBC Scotland, which led to them being published by Hodder in 2008 and appearances at many book festivals throughout the UK. He narrated the 2009 BBC TV programme 1929 – The Great Crash which recalled the Wall Street crash of 1929 and compared it to the recent financial turmoil of 2008. From 2009 to 2010, he appeared as George Castle, the head of the CPS in Law & Order: UK. He also played the key role of SIS Chief Percy Alleline in the 2009 BBC Radio 4 version of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

In 2010, Paterson starred in Doctor Who as Professor Edwin Bracewell, in the episode "Victory of the Daleks", with his character making a second appearance in the opening half of the season finale, "The Pandorica Opens". Later in the year, Paterson narrated the BBC Four wildlife documentary Birds Britannia.

2011–2022: TV, film and radio

In 2011, Paterson starred in Fast Freddie, The Widow and Me. His most recent theatre is Earthquakes in London at the National Theatre in the summer of 2010. He also narrated the BBC's annual coverage of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo and in 2013 appeared as Adam Smith in The Low Road at the Royal Court.

Paterson played lawyer Ned Gowan in the 2014 Starz period TV series, Outlander. In 2014, Paterson landed a part as Douglas Henshall's father in TV series Shetland. He also narrated "Now Westlin' Winds", originally called "Composed in August" in a recording for Robert Burns 250 years, for the BBC.

In 2015, he starred alongside Brian Cox in a performance of Waiting for Godot at the Royal Lyceum Theatre. In 2015, Paterson was presented with the lifetime achievement of the Scottish BAFTAs.

In 2016, he narrated The Farmers' Country Showdown, a series for the BBC following the agricultural show season and broadcast early in 2017. In 2016, Paterson performed with his friend Simon Callow in The Rebel. He also appeared as the Scottish character Private Frazer in the remake film Dad's Army.

Beginning with the first season in 2016 and ending with the second season in 2019, Paterson played the father of the main character and her sister in the British TV show Fleabag. In 2019, Paterson also performed in the four-part BBC drama Guilt.

In 2022, Paterson performed in the fantasy drama House of the Dragon as the character Lord Lyman Beesbury. He is the narrator of the British TV show The Repair Shop.

Personal life

In 1980, while filming The Lost Tribe, Paterson purchased a holiday home in Fordyce with fellow actor Miriam Margolyes.

In 1984, Paterson married German stage designer Hildegard Bechtler. They have a son and daughter. Since leaving Glasgow he has spent much of his life living in London and currently resides in North London near Tufnell Park.

Paterson has published a series of book stories, based on his childhood in Glasgow, entitled Tales From The Back Green.

Theatre

Filmography

Television

Notes

References

References

1. (2008). "Who's Who". A. & C. Black.
2. "Royal Conservatoire of Scotland – Alumni". rcs.ac.uk.
3. (7 February 2012). "Portrait of the artist: Bill Paterson, actor". The Guardian.
4. "The Odd Job". TimeOut.
5. "BBC Radio 4 – The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Secondary Phase, Fit The Seventh". BBC.
6. Vagg, Stephen. (4 November 2025). "Forgotten British Moguls: Verity Lambert at Thorn-EMI Films".
7. "Spice World (1997)".
8. "Bill Paterson". British Film Institute.
9. "Law & Order: UK".
10. "The Complete Smiley: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy – Episode 2".
11. "BBC One – Doctor Who, Series 5, Victory of the Daleks". BBC.
12. "Doctor Who: The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang ★★★★".
13. "Fast Freddie, the Widow and Me (2011)". British Film Institute.
14. (10 June 2014). "Bill Paterson lands key part in Outlander TV show". [[The Scotsman]].
15. "BBC One – Shetland – Bill Paterson". BBC.
16. "BBC - Robert Burns".
17. (16 November 2015). "Bafta winner Bill Paterson on acting with Billy Connolly". The Telegraph.
18. "Actor Bill Paterson: I love Scot Squad, I think it's just fantastic". Glasgow Times.
19. "BBC One – The Farmers' Country Showdown, Series 1 30-Minute Versions, Pigs". BBC.
20. "The Rebel Series 2 Interview: Bill Paterson". UKTV.
21. (26 January 2016). "Dad's Army review: who don't you think you are kidding?". The Guardian.
22. (6 June 2020). "Dad's Army Cast Then and Now: See Which Actors Played the Iconic Roles in the Film Adaptation". Hello Magazine.
23. (2 March 2019). "Bill Paterson interview – back as Dad in the new series of Fleabag". [[The Scotsman]].
24. "Fleabag star Bill Paterson on his new TV role". The Herald.
25. (25 August 2022). "House of the Dragon Cast: Where Have You Seen The Stars Before?". HuffPost.
26. (12 January 2022). "Who narrates The Repair Shop?". Metro.
27. (16 November 2021). "Miriam and Alan: Lost in Scotland review – a large pile of anticlimaxes". The Guardian.
28. (27 February 1994). "How We Met: Hildegard Bechtler and Billy Paterson".
29. (17 June 2021). "The Scotsman Sessions #255: Bill Paterson". The Scotsman.
30. [http://archive.list.co.uk.s3-website.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/the-list/1988-08-12/15/index.html preview of the Traverse Theatre production of ''A Man with Connections'' by Mark Fisher], ''The List'', Issue 73, 12 – 18 August 1988, p. 15
31. [http://archive.list.co.uk.s3-website.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/the-list/1988-08-19/12/index.html review of ''A Man with Connections'' by Helen Davidson], ''The List'', Issue 74, 19 -25 August 1988, pp. 10 & 11
32. (9 August 2021). "Tweet from Ted Lasso show creator Bill Lawrence".