Fisher worked with Scottish comedian Rikki Fulton on his hit sketch series Scotch and Wry (whose broadcast was mainly restricted to BBC One Scotland).
Fisher is best known for his portrayal of the main character of the sitcom Rab C. Nesbitt, this itself was a spin-off from the BBC2 sketch comedy Naked Video, where the Nesbitt character originated, along with The Baldy Man who also obtained his own eponymous spin-off series, and is particularly associated with two Hamlet adverts involving photography, the first where he cannot get a satisfactory passport photo from a photobooth and lights up a cigar to calm himself down; the second where he cannot get a satisfactory family portrait and lights up a cigar to calm himself down.
Johnny Depp based his Glaswegian accent for the role of Tarrant Hightopp, the Mad Hatter in the 2010 film Alice in Wonderland, on that used by Fisher’s Rab C. Nesbitt character.
In 2003, he appeared in the romantic comedy film Love Actually, where he played the role of the manager to fading music star, Billy Mack (Bill Nighy).
In an interview in The Metro on 20 February 2008 he stated that he is no longer recognised as Rab C. Nesbitt, and rather is more likely to be stopped by fans for his recent role as Mr Bumble in Oliver Twist.