--- name: "Richard Wilson" canonical: "https://film.one/person/richard-wilson" fi1m_id: "richard-wilson" imdb_id: "nm0934014" tmdb_id: 47874 wikidata_id: "Q516671" roles: ["Actor","Director"] born: "9 July 1936" reviewed_on_fi1m: 7 average_fi1m_score: 76 average_as: "actor" average_over: 6 updated: "2026-10-07T17:12:04.107522+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Richard Wilson ## Identity Richard Wilson - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/richard-wilson - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** richard-wilson - **IMDb ID:** nm0934014 - **TMDB ID:** 47874 - **Wikidata ID:** Q516671 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wilson_(Scottish_actor), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q516671, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0934014/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/47874 Actor and director. Born 9 July 1936 in Greenock, Renfrewshire, Scotland, UK. ## Details - **Work:** Actor, Director - **Born:** 9 July 1936, Greenock, Renfrewshire, Scotland, UK - **Active:** 1970–2011 - **Also known as:** ریچارد ویلسون - **Titles on Fi1m:** 7: 6 acting, 1 other - **Frequently works with:** John Byrne, Tony Smith - **Average Fi1m score:** 76, as actor, over 6 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1980s 71 (1), 1990s 81 (5), 2010s 61 (1) - **Score spread:** 3 at 80+, 3 at 60–79, 0 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 1 of 4 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Comedy 3, Drama 2, Action & Adventure 1, Adventure 1, Animation 1, Family 1 - **Screen time:** 4 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $230m across 2 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wilson_(Scottish_actor), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q516671, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0934014/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/47874 ## Streaming the US now - **The Roku Channel:** [*Father Ted*](https://film.one/tv/father-ted.md) (89) - **BritBox:** [*Mr. Bean*](https://film.one/tv/mr-bean.md) (82) - **Amazon Prime Video:** [*A Passage to India*](https://film.one/film/a-passage-to-india.md) (71) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Richard Wilson > Richard Wilson plays anger as something that has been building for years, then lets the hurt show after the shouting stops. It made Victor Meldrew a comic character we could feel for, and it has followed him into every exasperated authority figure since. Watch Richard Wilson take a piece of bad news as Victor Meldrew. The head goes back, the eyes open a fraction too wide, and the voice, nasal and Scottish and biting every consonant off clean, climbs into a complaint that sounds as if it has been drafted since breakfast. The joke is the disproportion. What keeps it from being a party trick is what happens afterwards: the anger runs out and the hurt does not, and Wilson leaves it on his face while the scene moves on. He came to it late. He switched to acting at 27 after working as a hospital laboratory technician, left RADA in 1965 and did repertory in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester before television found him in the 1970s, in *Crown Court* and *Only When I Laugh*. He is Mr Turton, the Collector, in David Lean's *A Passage to India* (1984), a film we admired for its first hour and a half and found slow after. *Tutti Frutti* (1987) gave him Eddie Clockerty alongside Robbie Coltrane. Then David Renwick offered him Victor, and he was 53, and he turned it down; he did not want to play older men or lean on the accent. He relented, and *One Foot in the Grave* ran from 1990 to 2000. It is the performance we would send anyone to. Renwick's scripts occasionally have to manufacture a fresh grievance for Victor to walk into, and the strain shows. Wilson never strains. He plays every complaint as the latest in a long series, which is why even an unreasonable one is understandable, and why Annette Crosbie's Margaret, standing beside him, seems married to a man rather than to a running gag. We laughed at his fury and then, more than once, felt sorry for him, because he refuses to make Victor pleasant in order to earn the sympathy. The cost was predictable. Since Victor the offers have run to curmudgeons and exasperated mentors, and Gaius, the court physician in *Merlin* (2008–2012), is the longest-running example: the same precision, put to gentler use. The other half of the career, largely invisible to television viewers, is directing, at the Royal Court and Sheffield Theatres and as far back as *Play for Today* in 1982, where he favours physical games, improvisation and new writing over tricks. It fits. His acting has always served the words rather than decorated them. He once said of that voice, "I never thought of it as distinctive; I just thought it was nasal." The rest of us heard Victor Meldrew, and we still do. ## Biography Richard Wilson OBE is a Scottish actor, theatre director and broadcaster. Born Iain Carmichael Wilson on 9 July 1936 in Greenock, Renfrewshire, he trained at RADA after working as a laboratory technician and appeared in repertory theatre in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester. He is best known for playing Victor Meldrew in the BBC sitcom *One Foot in the Grave* (1990–2000). Other television roles include Eddie Clockerty in *Tutti Frutti* (1987), a guest appearance in *Father Ted* (1995) and Gaius in *Merlin* (2008–2012). He has also directed for stage and television, including work on *Play for Today* (1970). Wilson was appointed OBE in 1994 for services to drama. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (7) ### Performed in (6) — the average rests on these - *Gnomeo & Juliet* (2011), Fi1m 61, as Mr. Capulet (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/gnomeo-and-juliet.md) - *Gulliver's Travels* (1996), Fi1m 73, as Professor of Language — [page](https://film.one/tv/gullivers-travels.md) - *Father Ted* (1995), Fi1m 89, as Richard Wilson — [page](https://film.one/tv/father-ted.md) - *Mr. Bean* (1990), Fi1m 82, as Dentist — [page](https://film.one/tv/mr-bean.md) - *One Foot in the Grave* (1990), Fi1m 83, as Victor Meldrew — [page](https://film.one/tv/one-foot-in-the-grave.md) - *A Passage to India* (1984), Fi1m 71, as Mr. Turton — [page](https://film.one/film/a-passage-to-india.md) ### Also credited (1) — thanks, archive footage, uncredited - *Have I Got News for You* (1990), Fi1m 80, as Self — [page](https://film.one/tv/have-i-got-news-for-you.md) ## Complete filmography (133) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Sweetly It Turns* (2023), as Len - *G♭* (2022), as Ceri - *Around the World in 80 Days* (2021), series, as Grayson - *Sherlock Gnomes* (2018), as Mr. Capulet (voice) - *A Midsummer Night's Dream* (2016), as Starveling - *Coming Oot! A Fabulous History of Gay Scotland* (2015), as Narrator - *Danny & the Human Zoo* (2015), as James Broughton - *Playhouse Presents* (2012), series, as John - *Gnomeo & Juliet* (2011), as Mr. Capulet (voice) — Fi1m 61, [page](https://film.one/film/gnomeo-and-juliet.md) - *The One Ronnie* (2010), Actor - *Britain's Best Drives* (2009), series, Actor - *Demons* (2009), series, as Father Simeon - *Merlin* (2008), series, as Gaius - *Kingdom* (2007), series, as Professor Barkway - *Reichenbach Falls* (2007), as Arthur Conan Doyle - *A Harlot's Progress* (2006), as Sir James Thornhill - *Love and Other Disasters* (2006), as Registrar - *Davina* (2006), series, Actor - *The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends* (2006), as Mr. McGregor - *Monkey Trousers* (2005), series, Actor - *Doctor Who* (2005), series, as Dr Constantine — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/tv/doctor-who-2005.md) - *Doctor Who Confidential* (2005), series, Actor - *King of Fridges* (2004), as Frank - *Out There* (2003), series, Actor - *Jeffrey Archer: The Truth* (2002), as Duke of Edinburgh - *What's Your Problem?* (2002), series, Director - *Born and Bred* (2002), series, as Dr. Donald Newman - *Dick Whittington: The ITV Pantomime* (2002), as Sally the Cook - *Women Talking Dirty* (2001), as Ronald - *Life as We Know It* (2001), series, Actor - *High Stakes* (2001), series, Actor - *One Foot in the Grave: Visiting Uncle Dick* (2001), as Victor Meldrew - *Life Support* (1999), series, as John Doone - *Ted & Ralph* (1998), as Landowner at Party - *Duck Patrol* (1998), series, as PC Roland 'Prof' Rose - *In the Red* (1998), series, as Lord Tone - *All Saints* (1998), series, Actor - *One Foot in the Grave: Endgame* (1997), as Victor Meldrew - *The Man Who Knew Too Little* (1997), as Daggenhurst - *The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends: The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies and Mrs. Tittlemouse* (1996), as Mr. McGregor (voice) - *One Foot in the Grave: Starbound* (1996), as Victor Meldrew - *Lord of Misrule* (1996), as Bill Webster - *TFI Friday* (1996), series, Actor - *Gulliver's Travels* (1996), series, as Professor of Language — Fi1m 73, [page](https://film.one/tv/gullivers-travels.md) - *One Foot in the Grave: The Wisdom Of The Witch* (1995), as Victor Meldrew - *Father Ted* (1995), series, as Richard Wilson — Fi1m 89, [page](https://film.one/tv/father-ted.md) - *Under the Hammer* (1994), series, as Ben Glazier - *Butter* (1994), as Steven Williams - *One Foot in the Grave: One Foot in the Algarve* (1993), as Victor Meldrew - *The Vision Thing* (1993), as James Forth - *Selling Hitler* (1993), as Henri Nannen - *One Foot in the Grave: Victor In The Bath* (1993), as Victor Meldrew - *Soft Top Hard Shoulder* (1993), as Uncle Salvatore - *The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends* (1992), series, as Mr. McGregor (voice) - *The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends: The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny* (1992), as Mr. McGregor (voice) - *Unnatural Pursuits* (1992), series, as Hector Duff - *Carry On Columbus* (1992), as Don Juan Felipe - *The Other Side Of Paradise* (1992), series, as Doc Reid - *Unnatural Pursuits* (1992), as Hector Duff - *One Foot in the Grave: The Man In The Long Black Coat* (1991), as Victor Meldrew - *Selling Hitler* (1991), series, as Henri Nannen - *One Foot in the Grave: Who's Listening* (1990), as Victor Meldrew - *Changing Step* (1990), Director - *Cluedo* (1990), series, as Reverend Green - *Kremlin Farewell* (1990), as Lebedev - *One Foot in the Grave* (1990), series, as Victor Meldrew — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/tv/one-foot-in-the-grave.md) - *Mr. Bean* (1990), series, as Dentist — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/mr-bean.md) - *Fellow Traveller* (1989), as Sir Hugo Armstrong - *A Dry White Season* (1989), as Cloete - *How to Get Ahead in Advertising* (1989), as John Bristol - *Thompson* (1988), series, Actor - *The Four Minute Mile* (1988), as Harold Abrahams - *Byrne About Byrne* (1988), as Eddie Clockerty - *A Wholly Healthy Glasgow* (1988), Director - *Normal Service* (1988), as Max - *The Play on One* (1988), series, as Max · Director - *Prick Up Your Ears* (1987), as Psychiatrist - *Tutti Frutti* (1987), series, as Eddie Clockerty - *High & Dry* (1987), series, as Richard Talbot - *Inspector Morse* (1987), series, as Brian Thornton — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/tv/inspector-morse.md) - *Room at the Bottom* (1986), series, Actor - *Foreign Body* (1986), as Colonel Partridge - *ScreenPlay* (1986), series, as James Forth - *Whoops Apocalypse* (1986), as Nigel Lipman (Foreign Secretary) - *Hot Metal* (1986), series, as Dicky Lipton - *Murder by the Book* (1986), as Sir Max Mallowan - *Howards' Way* (1985), series, as Viscount Cunningham - *The Last Place on Earth* (1985), series, as Scott Keltie - *Poppyland* (1985), as Theodore Watts-Dunton - *Screen Two* (1985), series, as Sir Hugo Armstrong, Theodore Watts-Dunton, Lebedev - *A Passage to India* (1984), as Mr. Turton — Fi1m 71, [page](https://film.one/film/a-passage-to-india.md) - *Sherlock Holmes* (1984), series, as Duncan Ross - *The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes* (1984), series, as Duncan Ross - *Under the Hammer* (1984), Director - *Those Glory Glory Days* (1983), as Arnold - Journalist - *The Remainder Man* (1982), Director - *Andy Robson* (1982), series, as Mr. Ridley - *Commitments* (1982), Director - *Virginia Fly is Drowning* (1981), as Professor - *Shaping Up* (1980), as Tom McCann - *Pasmore* (1980), as Abercrombie - *Only When I Laugh* (1979), series, as Gordon Thorpe - *Strangers* (1978), series, as Steven Wardrope - *Pickersgill People* (1978), series, as Arthur MacKenzie Tooth - *Caledonian Cascade* (1977), Actor - *The Sound of Laughter* (1977), series, as Mr Ramskill - *A Sharp Intake of Breath* (1977), series, as Mr Ramskill, Dr Macburney, Mr Myers, Mr Fitch, Mr Fraser, Jack Wainwright, Mr Kerr, Perkins, Dr Condon, Reverend Ernest Plummley, Prison Doctor, Superintendent Redway, Mr Cotterill, Henshaw, Basil Dawson, Dad - *The Sunday Drama* (1977), series, as Dr Graham - *Yanks Go Home* (1976), series, as Reverend Desmond Brierley - *Bet Your Life* (1976), as Consultant - *The Portland Millions* (1976), as Albert Foster - *Victorian Scandals* (1976), series, as Albert Foster - *Cilla's World Of Comedy* (1976), series, Actor - *Through the Night* (1975), as Registrar - *The Sweeney* (1975), series, as D.C.I. Anderson — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-sweeney.md) - *Soldier and Me* (1974), series, as Dr Nixon - *Playhouse* (1974), series, as Tom McCann, Professor - *Not on Your Nellie* (1974), series, as Joshua McGrimble - *Crown Court* (1972), series, as Jeremy Parsons QC - *The Trouble with 2b: Part Five, Thirty Years Younger* (1972), Actor - *The Trouble with 2b: Part One, Happy Days* (1972), as Mr Potter - *The Trouble with 2b: Part Two, On the Air* (1972), Actor - *The Trouble with 2b: Part Four, Parents' Day* (1972), Actor - *The Trouble with 2B* (1972), Actor - *The Day They Buried Cleaver* (1970), as Det. Sgt. Sand - *Play for Today* (1970), series, Consultant, Abercrombie, Director - *Junket 89* (1970), Actor - *Would You Look at Them Smashing All Those Lovely Windows* (1970), as Mr. O'Flanagan, O'Leary · Tram Conductor - *The People’s Jack* (1970), as George III - *The First Lady* (1968), series, Actor - *ITV Playhouse* (1967), series, as Herr Kalewski, Trevor, George III, Mr. O'Flanagan, Det. Sgt. Sand - *Dr. Finlay's Casebook* (1962), series, Actor - *Danger Man* (1960), series, as King [Kabuki Group] --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/richard-wilson