| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1974 | Father Brown | Commandant Neil O'Brien | Episode: "The Secret Garden" |
| The Inheritors | Simon Leadbetter | Episode: "Fathers and Sons" |
| 1975 | Edward the Seventh | Prince Eddy | 2 episodes |
| 1977 | Raffles | Teddy Garland | Episode: "Mr. Justice Raffles" |
| 1980, 1984 | Play for Today | Colin / Captain John Truman | 2 episodes |
| 1982 | Nancy Astor | Edward Hartford-Jones | Episode: "Guest for the Weekend" |
| 1983 | The Professionals | Parker | Episode: "The Ojuka Situation" |
| The Last Day | Alan | Television |
| 1984 | The Jewel in the Crown | Guy Perron | 5 episodes |
| The Secret Servant | Harry Maxim | Mini-series |
| Rainy Day Women | Captain John Truman | Play for Today |
| 1985 | Time for Murder | James Latimer | Episode: "This Lightning Always Strikes Twice" |
| 1987 | Out on a Limb | Gerry Stamford | 2 episodes |
| Tales of the Unexpected | Robert Smythe | Episode: "Skeleton in the Cupboard" |
| 1988 | First Born | Edward Forester | 3 episodes |
| Out of the Shadows | Michael Hayden | Television film |
| 1989 | Goldeneye: The Secret Life of Ian Fleming | Ian Fleming | 2 episodes |
| Mission: Impossible | Prime Minister | Episode: "Command Performance" |
| 1990 | The Phantom of the Opera | Erik/The Phantom | 2 episodes |
| 1996 | Undertow | Lyle Yates | Television film |
| 1997 | Rebecca | Maxim de Winter | 2 episodes |
| In the Presence of Mine Enemies | Captain Richter | Television film |
| 1999 | Chrono-Perambulator | James "Dougie" Douglas | Television short |
| 2000 | The Real Spartacus | Narrator | |
| Mysteries of the Real Sherlock Holmes | Sir Henry Carlyle | Episode: "The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes" |
| A History of Britain | Winston Churchill (voice) | Episode: "The Two Winstons" |
| Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) | Kenneth Crisby | Episode: "Drop Dead" |
| 2001 | The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby | Ralph Nickleby | Television film |
| 2002 | Foyle's War | Guy Spencer | Episode: "The White Feather" |
| Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future | Col. Simon Lasker (voice) | Episode: "Pilot of the Future" |
| 2003 | Henry VIII | Duke of Buckingham | Television film |
| Trial & Retribution | Greg Harwood | Television film |
| Looking for Victoria | Charles Greville | Television film |
| 2004 | When Hitler Invaded Britain | Narrator | Documentary |
| Saint John Bosco: Mission to Love | Marquis Clementi | Television film |
| 2005 | Fingersmith | Mr. Lilly | 2 episodes |
| Bleak House | Mr. Tulkinghorn | 12 episodes |
| To the Ends of the Earth | Sir Henry Somerset | Episode: "Close Quarters" |
| Last Rights | Richard Wheeler | 3 episodes |
| Titanic: Birth of a Legend | Narrator | Documentary |
| 2006 | Marple: By the Pricking of My Thumbs | Septimus Bligh | Episode: "By the Pricking of My Thumbs" |
| 2007 | Fallen Angel | David Byfield | 3 episodes |
| Consenting Adults | John Wolfenden | Television film |
| 2009 | Merlin | Aredian | Episode: "The Witchfinder" |
| Trinity | Dr. Edmund Maltravers | 8 episodes |
| 2010 | Going Postal | Havelock Vetinari | 2 episodes |
| 2010–2011 | Rosamunde Pilcher's Shades of Love | Edmund Aird | 4 episodes |
| 2011–2015 | Game of Thrones | Tywin Lannister | 27 episodes |
| 2011 | Neverland | Dr. Richard Fludd | Episode: "Part 1" |
