| — | Amol Rajan Interviews | Self - Interviewed Guest |
| 2024 | Unsinkable | Robert Dodds |
| 2023 | Made of Money with Brian Cox | |
| 2022 | Brian Cox: How The Other Half Live | Presenter |
| 2020 | John Rebus: The Lockdown Blues | John Rebus |
| 2017 | Vegalta: Soccer, Tsunami and the Hope of a Nation | Narrator |
| 2017 | An Evening with Brian Cox | Himself |
| 2017 | Brian Cox's Russia | Host |
| 2012 | Tooned | The Mechanic |
| 2012 | Addicted to Pleasure | Self - Host |
| — | Glenrothan | |
| 2014 | Scotland In A Day | |
| 2006 | Carry on Ken | Self |
| 2003 | The Second Uncanny Issue of X-Men - Making X2 | |
| 2003 | One Life | |
| 2002 | Raszputyin - Ördög az emberben | Narrator |
| 2002 | The Biographer | Michael O'Mara |
| 2000 | The Invention of Dr. Morel | Dr. Morel |
| 1994 | The Negotiator | Charlie King |
| — | Wittgenstein's Poker | Bertrand Russell (voice) |
| 2024 | Skelly | Grandpa |
| 2022 | Ooh the Banter! | Self (archive footage) |
| 1992 | The Big Battalions | Edward Hoyland |
| 1991 | Performance | The Director |
| 1988 | The Modern World: Ten Great Writers | Henrik Ibsen (voice) |
| 1987 | Rat in the Skull | Detective Inspector Nelson |
| 1987 | Gramsci: Everything that Concerns People | Narrator |
| 1987 | Acting | |
| 1986 | Home Cooking | Vic |
| 1985 | The Cantor of St Thomas's | Johann Sebastian Bach |
| 1965 | A Knight in Tarnished Armour | Nelson |
| — | The Planets | |
| 2024 | That Christmas | Santa (voice) |
| — | The Glove | |
| — | A Modern Magician | The Voice |
| — | The Electric State | (voice) |
| 2024 | The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim | Helm Hammerhand (voice) |
| — | The Parenting | |
| 2022 | Piers Morgan Uncensored | Self |
| 2022 | Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg | Self – Actor |
| 2022 | Bonnie | Self |
| 2020 | Lawrence After Arabia | Father (Voice) |
| 2018 | Widdershins | voice |
| 2015 | Andrew Carnegie: Rags to Riches, Power to Peace | Andrew Carnegie (voice) |
| 2013 | La Malédiction d'Edgar | Edgar Hoover |
| 2013 | Bob Servant | Bob Servant |
| 2012 | The Straits | Harry Montebello |
| 2011 | Celebrity Antiques Road Trip | Self - Participant |
| 2008 | Agent Crush | Spanners (voice) |
| 2007 | A Woman in Winter | Dr. Hunt |
| 2006 | The Outsiders | Gabriel |
| 2005 | The Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes & Arthur Conan Doyle | Joseph Bell |
| 2005 | Japan's War In Colour | Narrator |
| 2005 | Blue/Orange | Dr. Robert Smith |
| 2003 | The Evolution of an American Filmmaker | Self |
| 2002 | Smallpox 2002: Silent Weapon | Narrator |
| 2001 | Inside 'Manhunter' | Himself |
| 2000 | Longitude | Lord Morton |
| 1998 | Merchants of Venus | Uncle Vladimir |
| 1997 | Sharpe: The Legend | Hogan |
| 1996 | Witness Against Hitler | Judge Freisler |
| 1994 | The Maltese Double Cross | Narrator (voice) |
| 1992 | The Cloning of Joanna May | Carl May |
| 1992 | Six Characters in Search of An Author | The Director |
| 1986 | Unnatural Causes | Vic |
| 1984 | Pope John Paul II | Father Góra |
| 1978 | The Devil's Crown | Henry II of England |
| 1978 | Out | McGrath |
| 1974 | The Changeling | Alsemero |
| 1970 | Manhunt | Anton |
| 1968 | The Year of the Sex Olympics | Lasar Opie |
| — | Have I Got a Bit More News for You | Himself - Panellist |
| 2024 | Little Wing | Jaan Vari |
| 2023 | Quasi | Narrator (voice) |
| 2023 | Prisoner's Daughter | Max |
| 2023 | Mending the Line | Ike Fletcher |
| 2023 | 007: Road to a Million | The Controller |
| 2023 | An Interview with Brian Cox | Himself |
| 2023 | Bill Douglas: My Best Friend | Narrator (voice) |
| 2022 | The Independent | Nick Booker |
| 2022 | Peter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba | Self |
| 2022 | Ukraine: Answering the Call | Self |
| 2021 | Separation | Rivers |
| 2021 | Blade Runner: Black Lotus | Niander Wallace Sr. (voice) |
| 2021 | Oleg: The Oleg Vidov Story | Narrator (voice) |
| 2020 | Last Moment of Clarity | Gilles |
| 2020 | The Bay of Silence | Milton |
| 2019 | Good Omens | Death (voice) |
| 2019 | Strange but True | Bill |
| 2019 | The Etruscan Smile | Rory MacNeil |
| 2019 | The Last Right | Father Reilly |
| 2019 | Remember Me | Shane |
| 2019 | Pretenders | Henry |
| 2018 | Succession | Logan Roy |
| 2018 | Super Troopers 2 | John O'Hagen |
| 2018 | Kubrick by Candlelight | The Narrator |
| 2017 | Churchill | Winston Churchill |
| 2017 | Carpool Karaoke: The Series | Self |
| 2017 | The Russell Howard Hour | Self |
| 2017 | Bob the Builder: Mega Machines - The Movie | Conrad (UK & US) / Crunch (UK & US) (voice) |
| 2016 | ദി ഓടോപ്സി ഓഫ് ജെയ്ന് ഡോ | Tommy Tilden |
| 2016 | Morgan | Jim Bryce |
| 2016 | Medici: Masters of Florence | Bernardo Guadagni |
| 2016 | War and Peace | Mikhail Kutuzov |
| 2016 | The Carer | Sir Michael |
| 2016 | Darcey Bussell: My Life on the BBC | Self |
| 2015 | Pixels | Admiral Porter |
| 2015 | Forsaken | James McCurdy |
| 2015 | The Late Show with Stephen Colbert | |
| 2015 | The Late Show with Stephen Colbert | Self |
| 2015 | The Slap | Manolis |
| 2015 | Pacific Warriors | Narrator |
| 2014 | Penny Dreadful | Jared Talbot |
| 2014 | Last Week Tonight with John Oliver | God |
| 2014 | The Anomaly | Dr. Langham |
| 2014 | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon | Self |
| 2014 | Late Night with Seth Meyers | Self |
| 2014 | The Game | Daddy |
| 2014 | The Gospel of John | Narrator (voice) – King James Version |
| 2014 | The Great War: The People's Story | Rev. Andrew Clark |
| 2014 | Variety Studio: Actors on Actors | Self |
| 2013 | Her | Alan Watts (voice) |
| 2013 | RED 2 | Ivan |
| 2013 | Anna | Sebastian |
| 2013 | An Adventure in Space and Time | Sydney Newman |
| 2013 | Shetland | Magnus Bain |
| 2013 | Believe | Matt Busby |
| 2013 | Blumenthal | Harold Blumenthal |
| 2012 | The Campaign | Raymond |
| 2012 | Blood | Lenny Fairburn |
| 2012 | A Touch of Cloth | |
| 2012 | A Touch of Cloth | Bill Ball |
| 2012 | Wide Blue Yonder | Wally |
| 2012 | I Missed My Mother's Funeral | Old Man |
| 2011 | Rise of the Planet of the Apes | John Landon |
| 2011 | Ironclad | Albany |
| 2011 | Coriolanus | Menenius |
| 2011 | The Veteran | Gerry |
| 2011 | Exit Humanity | Malcolm Young (voice) |
| 2011 | Edwin Boyd: Citizen Gangster | Glover |
| 2011 | The Sinking of the Laconia | Captain Sharp |
| 2011 | The Jonathan Ross Show | Self |
| 2011 | The Key Man | Irving |
| 2010 | RED | Ivan Simanov |
| 2010 | As Good As Dead | Reverend Kalahan |
| 2010 | On Expenses | |
| 2009 | Fantastic Mr. Fox | Action 12 Reporter (voice) |
| 2009 | Scooby-Doo! and the Samurai Sword | Green Dragon (voice) |
| 2009 | Tell-Tale | Van Doren |
| 2009 | The Day of the Triffids | Dennis Masen |
| 2009 | The Good Heart | Jacques |
| 2009 | The Take | Ozzy |
| 2009 | Brian Cox's Jute Journey | Self |
| 2008 | Red | Avery Ludlow |
| 2008 | The Escapist | Frank Perry |
| 2008 | The Colour of Magic | Narrator |
| 2008 | Shoot on Sight | Daniel Tennant |
| 2007 | Zodiac | Melvin Belli |
| 2007 | Trick 'r Treat | Mr. Kreeg |
| 2007 | The Water Horse | Old Angus |
| 2007 | Battle for Terra | General Hemmer (voice) |
| 2007 | The Graham Norton Show | Self |
| 2007 | The Secret of the Nutcracker | Drosselmeyer |
| 2006 | Running with Scissors | Dr. Finch |
| 2006 | The Flying Scotsman | Douglas Baxter |
| 2006 | The One Show | Self - Guest |
| 2005 | Match Point | Alec Hewett |
| 2005 | Doctor Who | Sydney Newman |
| 2005 | Red Eye | Joe Reisert |
| 2005 | The Ringer | Gary Barker |
| 2005 | The Colbert Report | |
| 2005 | Hitler in Colour | Narrator |
| 2004 | Troy | King Agamemnon |
| 2004 | ദി ബോണ് സുപ്രിമസി | Ward Abbott |
| 2004 | Lost | |
| 2004 | Deadwood | Jack Langrishe |
| 2004 | The Reckoning | Tobias |
| 2004 | Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson | Other Voices (voice) |
| 2004 | The Tony Danza Show | Self |
| 2004 | Murder by Numbers | Self |
| 2003 | X2 | William Stryker |
| 2003 | Real Time with Bill Maher | Self |
| 2003 | Sin | Captain Oakes |
| 2002 | ദി ബോണ് ഐഡന്റിറ്റി | Ward Abbott |
| 2002 | The Ring | Richard Morgan |
| 2002 | Adaptation. | Robert McKee |
| 2002 | 25th Hour | James Brogan |
| 2002 | Top Gear | Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car |
| 2002 | The Rookie | Jim Morris Sr. |
| 2002 | Bug | Cyr |
| 2002 | The Trials of Henry Kissinger | |
| 2002 | Aleister Crowley - The Wickedest Man in the World | Narrator |
| 2001 | Super Troopers | John O'Hagen |
| 2001 | L.I.E. | Big John Harrigan |
| 2001 | The Affair of the Necklace | Minister Breteuil |
| 2001 | Richard & Judy | Self |
| 2001 | Strictly Sinatra | Chisolm |
| 2000 | Aqua Teen Hunger Force | Anubis (voice) |
| 2000 | Nuremberg | Herman Wilhelm Goering |
| 2000 | A Shot at Glory | Martin Smith |
| 2000 | Longitude | Lord Morton |
| 2000 | Mad About Mambo | Sidney McLoughlin |
| 2000 | Complicity | Inspector McDunn |
| 2000 | Saltwater | George Beneventi |
| 1999 | For Love of the Game | Gary Wheeler |
| 1999 | The Corruptor | Sean Wallace |
| 1999 | The Minus Man | Doug |
| 1998 | Rushmore | Dr. Nelson Guggenheim |
| 1998 | Desperate Measures | Captain Jeremiah Cassidy |
| 1998 | Poodle Springs | Clayton Blackstone |
| 1997 | Kiss the Girls | Chief Hatfield, Durham P.D. |
| 1997 | The Boxer | Joe Hamill |
| 1997 | Food for Ravens | Aneurin Bevan |
| 1996 | The Long Kiss Goodnight | Dr. Nathan Waldman |
| 1996 | Chain Reaction | Lyman Earl Collier |
| 1996 | The Daily Show | Self |
| 1996 | The Glimmer Man | Mr. Smith |
| 1996 | Superman: The Animated Series | Dr. Earl Garver (voice) |
| 1995 | Braveheart | Argyle Wallace |
| 1995 | Rob Roy | Killearn |
| 1994 | Iron Will | Angus McTeague |
| 1994 | Prince of Jutland | Aethelwine |
| 1994 | Grushko | Colonel Yevgeni Grushko |
| 1993 | Frasier | Harry Moon |
| 1993 | Sharpe's Rifles | Major Michael Hogan |
| 1993 | Sharpe's Eagle | Major Michael Hogan |
| 1993 | Sharpe | Major Hogan |
| 1992 | The Lost Language of Cranes | Owen Benjamin |
| 1992 | Shakespeare: The Animated Tales | Macbeth (voice) |
| 1992 | The Cutter | |
| 1992 | Deceptions | Carlton Heard |
| 1991 | Red Fox | Geoffrey Harrison |
| 1990 | Hidden Agenda | Peter Kerrigan |
| 1990 | Secret Weapon | Andrew Neil |
| 1990 | Perfect Scoundrels | Father Amedy |
| 1990 | The Making of 'Hidden Agenda' | self |
| 1989 | The Simpsons | Kostas Becker (voice) |
| 1989 | Murder on the Moon | Voronov |
| 1989 | Brian Cox on Acting in Tragedy | Self |
| 1989 | The Blasphemers' Banquet | Rev. Wallace (voice) |
| 1988 | Red Dwarf | The King |
| 1988 | LIVE with Kelly and Mark | Self - Guest |
| 1988 | Regi Andrej Tarkovskij | Voiceover Narrator |
| 1988 | Beryl Markham: A Shadow on the Sun | Jack Purves |
| 1987 | Inspector Morse | Michael Steppings |
| 1987 | French & Saunders | King Lear |
| 1987 | Shoot for the Sun | Dunny |
| 1986 | Manhunter | Dr. Hannibal Lecktor |
| 1985 | Florence Nightingale | Dr. McGregor |
| 1983 | King Lear | Burgundy |
| 1982 | A Cotswold Death | Dr. Gillespie |
| 1982 | The Privilege | Young Laird |
| 1980 | Hammer House of Horror | Chuck |
| 1980 | Thérèse Raquin | Laurent LeClaire |
| 1979 | Minder | Frank |
| 1979 | Question Time | Self - Panellist |
| 1976 | Clay, Smeddum and Greenden | George Simpson |
| 1975 | In Celebration | Steven Shaw |
| 1972 | Van der Valk | Stefan Szabo |
| 1971 | Nicholas and Alexandra | Trotsky |
| 1971 | Great Performances | Self |
| 1970 | Play for Today | Dr. Gillespie |
| 1965 | BBC Play of the Month | Alsemero |
