He is known mainly for his stage work with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre in the United Kingdom and for his many television appearances.

He also played Pompey in the second episode of Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire and the Jail Warden in The 10th Kingdom.

Shrapnel had the rare distinction of appearing in two episodes of Midsomer Murders as two characters in ‘Death in Chorus’ and ‘Written in Blood’.

He appeared in Chemical Wedding alongside Simon Callow, telling the tale of the resurrection of occultist Aleister Crowley.

He also had experience in the field of BBC radio drama: He played Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse (opposite Robert Glenister as Sgt Lewis) and starred in William Gibson's Neuromancer.

Shrapnel played the character Deputy Assistant Commissioner John Felsham in the New Tricks episode The Fourth Man (2010).