Acting
Paul is a long established and much respected British actor and voiceover artist. Born in Denby Dale, West Riding of Yorkshire, on 25th November 1944 he grew up beside a dairy farm. His father, Harold, was involved with local amateur dramatic productions, as were the rest of his family. He went to Penistone Grammar School, then the Northern Counties College of Education in Newcastle upon Tyne, where he received an Associate of the Drama Board (ADB) in Drama. He taught English and Drama in Walthamstow, before he joined the Leeds Playhouse Theatre-in-education Company in 1971. In 1976, Paul won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a New Play for his role in John Wilson's For King and Country. With many and varied roles to follow, Paul soon established himself as one of the UK's leading stage, film, television and radio actors. In 2011-2015 Paul gained worldwide recognition appearing in 16 episodes of the hugely popular television series Downton Abbey playing the popular role of farmer Mr Mason. Paul is married to the actress Natasha Pyne. They married in 1972, after both performing in a Leeds Playhouse production of Frank Wedekind's Lulu, adapted by Peter Barnes, directed by Bill Hays in 1971.
Midsomer Murders
1997 · TV
Play for Today
1970 · TV
Casualty
1986 · TV
Silent Witness
1996 · TV
Call the Midwife
2012 · TV
Vera
2011 · TV
Father Brown
2013 · TV
Downton Abbey
2010 · TV
Peak Practice
1993 · TV
Minder
1979 · TV
Heartbeat
1992 · TV
Shameless
2004 · TV
Playhouse
1974 · TV
BBC Play of the Month
1965 · TV
BBC2 Play of the Week
1977 · TV
Torchwood
2006 · TV
Waking the Dead
2001 · TV
The Bill
1984 · TV
New Tricks
2004 · TV
Inside No. 9
2014 · TV
ITV Playhouse
1967 · TV
Churchill's People
1974 · TV
Cracker
1993 · TV
Moving On
2009 · TV
Enola Holmes
2020 · Movie
The Afternoon Play
2003 · TV
Secret Army
1977 · TV
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
2025 · Movie
Life on Mars
2006 · TV
Hornblower
1998 · TV
Inspector George Gently
2008 · TV
Strangers
1978 · TV
Kingdom
2007 · TV
Born and Bred
2002 · TV
Tenko
1981 · TV
The Paradise Club
1989 · TV
Last Tango in Halifax
2012 · TV
The Lakes
1997 · TV
The Coroner
2015 · TV
DI Ray
2022 · TV
A Bridge Too Far
1977 · Movie
This Life
1996 · TV
The Worst Witch
1998 · TV
The Street
2006 · TV
Queer as Folk
1999 · TV
The Remains of the Day
1993 · Movie
Survivors
2008 · TV
Messiah
2001 · TV
Downton Abbey: A New Era
2022 · Movie
Big Deal
1984 · TV
Stay Lucky
1989 · TV
White Heat
2012 · TV
Trust Me
2017 · TV
Broken
2017 · TV
How Clean Is Your House?
2003 · TV
On the Edge
2018 · TV
Trinity Tales
1975 · TV
Code of a Killer
2015 · TV
Roughnecks
1994 · TV
Burn It
2003 · TV
Young Charlie Chaplin
1989 · TV
Play for Today
2025 · TV
Days of Hope
1975 · TV
Johnny and the Bomb
2006 · TV
Jude
1996 · Movie
Zulu Dawn
1979 · Movie
Hornblower: The Even Chance
1998 · Movie
Ticker
2023 · Movie
Blow Dry
2001 · Movie
Dead Man Weds
2005 · TV
The Shadow in the North
2007 · Movie
The Gathering Seed
1983 · TV
Marian, Again
2005 · Movie
Big Winners
2025 · Movie
Hornblower: Retribution
2001 · Movie
Happy
1980 · Movie
Hornblower: Mutiny
2001 · Movie
Hornblower: The Frogs and the Lobsters
1999 · Movie
Hornblower: The Examination for Lieutenant
1998 · Movie
The Royal
2003 · TV
Hornblower: The Duchess and the Devil
1999 · Movie
Hornblower: Loyalty
2003 · Movie
A Christmas Carol
1977 · Movie
The Sound of Music Live!
2015 · Movie
The 12 Days of Christine
2015 · Movie
Hornblower: Duty
2003 · Movie
Rose Ayling-Ellis: Old Hands, New Tricks
2025 · TV
Mucking Out
1978 · Movie
Travellers
1978 · Movie
On a Paving Stone Mounted
1978 · Movie
The Chester Mystery Plays
1976 · Movie
Silas Marner
1985 · Movie
Treasure Island
1977 · TV
Reg
2016 · Movie
Carved with Love: The Genius of British Woodwork
2013 · TV
A Pinch of Snuff
1994 · Movie
Alfie Darling
1975 · Movie
Theban Plays: Oedipus at Colonus
1986 · Movie
Father Dear Father
1973 · Movie
Black Jack
1979 · Movie
Arnhem: The Story of an Escape
1976 · Movie
Bird Fancier
1985 · Movie
Death of a Princess
1980 · Movie
The Key
2003 · Movie
Cries from a Watchtower
1979 · Movie
The Many Lives of Albert Walker
2002 · Movie
Testimony of a Child
1989 · Movie
Written in Blood
1998 · Movie
Destiny
1978 · Movie
Diane
1975 · Movie
Ghost in the Water
1982 · Movie
First Encounter: King Lear
2012 · Movie
Doll’s Eye
1983 · Movie
Which Side Are You On?
1985 · Movie
A Brush with Mr. Porter on the Road to El Dorado
1981 · Movie
Speech Day
1973 · Movie
The Nest Egg
2016 · Movie
Dangerous Journey
· Movie
When Kim & Aggie Went To Hospital
2006 · Movie
Ropeless
2020 · Movie
The Turkey Who Lives on the Hill
1978 · Movie
The Infectious Imagination of Henry Bramble
2021 · Movie
P.Q. 17
1981 · Movie
