픽업은 영국 체스터에서 태어났으며, 런던에서 드라마틱 아트 로얄아카데미에서 연기수업을 받았다. 그는 TV 드라마부터 연기를 시작했다.

1964년 <Doctor Who> 시즌 2에 출연하였고, 로얄 국립극장에서 공연된 <Three Sister>, <Long Day’s Journey Into Night>에 출연하였다. 1973년 2차 세계대전을 배경으로 만들어진 BBC 드라마 시리즈 <The Dragon’s Opponent>와 <The Day of the Jackal>에 출연하였으며, 1979년 <Zulu Dawn>, 1980년 <Nijinsky>, 1982년 <Ivanhoe>, 1983년 <Moving> 등 TV 드라마, 영화 등에 출연하였다.

최근 리바이벌 된 연극 <Waiting for Godot>에 영국 투어 공연에 참여하였고, 웨스트엔드에서 공연 중이다.

Film <Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, 2010> Actor
<Lark Rise to Candleford, 2010> Actor(Arthur Myhill)
<New Tricks, 2008> Actor(Sir Wilfred Felspar)
<Midsomer Murders, 2003-2008> Actor(Ernest Balliol)
<Dark Floors, 2008> Actor(Tobias)
<Holby City, 2002-2007> Actor(Lord Charles Byrne)
<The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey, 2007> Actor
<The Worst Week of My Life, 2004-2006> Actor(Fraser)
<Sea of Souls, 2006> Actor(Alex Galt)
<Supernova, 2005> Actor(Dr. Malcolm Handey)
<Greyfriars Bobby, 2005> Actor(Cecil Johnson)
<Hustle, 2005> Actor(Harry Holmes)
<Cherished, 2005> Actor(Professor Sir Roy Meadow)
<Foyle's War, 2004> Actor(Sir Giles Messinger)
<Evilenko, 2004> Actor(Aron Richter)
<Feather Boy, 2004> Actor(Ernest Sorrel)
<The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 2: Vaux to the Sea, 2004> Actor
<The Last Detective, 2004> Actor(Professor Quentin Tapscott)
<Secret Passage, 2004> Actor(Da Monte)
<Cambridge Spies, 2003> Actor(Colonel Winter)
<Waking the Dead, 2002> Actor(Charles Sutton)
<Murder Rooms: Mysteries of the Real Sherlock Holmes, 2001> Actor(Sir John Starr)
<In the Beginning, 2000> Actor(Jacob, Older)
<Dalziel and Pascoe, 1999> Actor(Walter Wulfstan)
<The Bill, 1999> Actor(George Riordan)
<Hornblower: The Duchess and the Devil, 1999> Actor(Don Massaredo)
<The Untitled, 1998> Actor(Robert Kennings)
<Lolita, 1997> Actor(Young Humbert's Father)
<Bring Me the Head of Mavis Davis, 1997> Actor(Percy Stone)
<Casualty, 1997> Actor(Martin)
<Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, 1997> Actor(Lester Rose)
<Ivanhoe, 1997> Actor(Fitzurse)
<Ruth Rendell Mysteries, 1996> Actor(Chief Inspector Moore)
<Silent Witness, 1996> Actor(Dr. Richard Owen)
<Blackhearts in Battersea, 1995-1996> Actor
<Performance, 1994-1995> Actor(King Henry IV)
<Capital Lives, 1995> Actor(Sir Philip Oglivy)
<Scarlett, 1994> Actor(Whitlock)
<Medics, 1994> Actor(Douglas Beaumont)
<Milner, 1994> Actor(Jocelyn Fry)
<The Riff Raff Element, 1993> Actor(Roger Tundish)
<Lovejoy, 1993> Actor(Edwin Felt)
<My Friend Walter, 1992> Actor(Sir Walter Raleigh)
<A Time to Dance, 1992> Actor(Andrew Powell)
<Bethune: The Making of a Hero, 1992> Actor(Alan Coleman)
<The Golden Years, 1992> Actor(Montezuma)
<Kabuto, 1991> Actor(Capt. Crawford)
<Inspector Morse, 1991> Actor(Ian Matthews)
<A Murder of Quality, 1991> Actor(Felix D'Arcy)
<Absolute Hell, 1991> Actor(Siegfried Shrager)
<Boon, 1990> Actor(Lawrence Drake)
<Not with a Bang, 1990> Actor(Brian Appleyard)
<The Nightmare Years, 1990> Actor(Putzi Hanfstaengl)
<Jekyll & Hyde, 1990> Actor(Jeffrey Utterson)
<Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, 1989> Actor(Aslan)
<A Dry White Season, 1989> Actor(Louw)
<Roald Dahl's Danny the Champion of the World, 1989> Actor
<Behaving Badly, 1989> Actor(Mark Mayor)
<The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe, 1988> Actor(Aslan)
<Testimony, 1988> Actor(Marshall Tukhachevsky)
<The Hound of the Baskervilles, 1988> Actor(Barrymore)
<Theatre Night, 1988> Actor(Sir Lucius O'Trigger)
<Bergerac, 1988> Actor(Sir Antony Villiers)
<Fortunes of War, 1987> Actor(Prince Yakimov)
<The Fourth Protocol, 1987> Actor(Wynne-Evans)
<Unnatural Causes, 1986> Actor(James Tripp)
<The Mission, 1986> Actor(Hontar)
<Oscar, 1985> Actor(Edward Carson)
<Moving, 1985> Actor(Frank Gladwyn)
<Hallmark Hall of Fame, 1984> Actor(Jean)
<Pope John Paul II, 1984> Actor(Jan Tyranowski)
<Crown Court, 1984> Actor(Stephen Hodges)
<Einstein, 1984> Actor(Albert Einstein)
<Wagner, 1983> Actor(Nietzsche)
<Never Say Never Again, 1983> Actor(Elliott)
<Ivanhoe, 1982> Actor(Prince John)
<Verdi, 1982> Actor(Giuseppe Verdi)
<Nijinsky, 1980> Actor(Igor Stravinsky)
<Tropic, 1979> Actor(Andrew Maiby)
<Zulu Dawn, 1979> Actor(Lt. Harford)
<The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight, 1979> Actor
<The Thirty Nine Steps, 1978> Actor(Bayliss)
<Romance, 1977> Actor(Rory Balneath)
<Joseph Andrews, 1977> Actor(Mr. Wilson)
<The Philanthropist, 1975> Actor(Philip)
<BBC Play of the Month, 1967-1975> Actor(Ariel)
<The Fight Against Slavery, 1975> Actor(William Pitt)
<Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill, 1974> Actor(Lord Randolph Churchill)
<Father Brown, 1974> Actor(Kalon)
<Jackanory, 1973> Actor(Reader)
<The Dragon's Opponent, 1973> Actor(Jack Howard)
<The Day of the Jackal, 1973> Actor(The Forger)
<Three Sisters, 1970> Actor(Baron Tusenbach)
<Much Ado About Nothing, 1967> Actor(Don Pedro)
<Doctor Who, 1964> Actor(Physician)