Bill was born and bred in the North-East town of Middlesbrough, close to the North Yorkshire border, and trained at the Guildford drama school in the early Eighties.

Amongst his many Theatre credits are Mickey in the West End production of Blood Brothers, alongside Stephanie Lawrence, Tony Harrison's Trackers at the Royal National Theatre and most recently in Pastoral at the Soho Theatre.

Bill has been seen on television many times, most recently as a semi-regular character in the award-winning Wolfblood, the hugely popular drama Broadchurch with David Tennant and in the multi award-winning Downton Abbey opposite Phyllis Logan - as well as starring in Alan Bleasdale's Monicled Mutineer with Paul McGann and Hallmark's Blackbeard with Stacy Keach and Jessica Chastain.

His film credits include The Tournament with Robert Carlyle, In Our Name with Joanne Froggatt and United, the story of the Munich air disaster, with Jack O'Connell and David Tennant.