Born in Glasgow, Wilson trained as an actor at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.

He briefly took over the role of Jamie McCrimmon for part of two episodes of the 1968 Doctor Who serial The Mind Robber when series regular Frazer Hines was ill with chickenpox and unable to attend the recording.

The change of actor was written in as part of the story when Jamie is turned into a cardboard cut-out and has his face removed by the Master of the Land of Fiction.

At the time of his Doctor Who appearance, Wilson was working in London for a furniture removal firm.

[4] Wilson died near his home in Bladnoch, near Wigtown, Dumfriesshire on 26 March 2020, at age 77 and is survived by his wife Diana and daughters Emma, Abigail and Alice.