He played the role of John Willoughby in Sense and Sensibility, which also starred Emma Thompson, whom he later married.

[2][3] His television work includes four BBC period dramas: The Moonstone with Keeley Hawes, The Buccaneers alongside Carla Gugino, Madame Bovary with Frances O'Connor, The Riff Raff Element in 1992 and 1993, and as Sir Charles Maulver in the 2007 five-part series Cranford.

[6] He is also the producer of the 2010 BBC/Masterpiece production The Song of Lunch starring his wife, actress Emma Thompson, and Alan Rickman.

In July 2015, he played the role of emotionally distanced father Gilbert Aldridge in the BBC's two-part television adaptation of Sadie Jones’ debut novel The Outcast.

Wise won the celebrity version of The Great British Bake Off in aid of Stand Up to Cancer in 2019.