In television he has appeared in Taggart (1990), Rab C. Nesbitt (1992), London's Burning (1994), Bugs (1997), Earth (1998), Silent Witness (2010), The Hollow Crown (2016), Foundation (2021), Shetland (2022), The Rig (2023).

His other notable appearances include 28 Days Later (2002), Blood (2012), Mr. Turner (2014), Terminator: Dark Fate (2019), The Nest (2020), and White Bird (2024).

[1] He became a highly popular actor amongst Edinburgh theatre goers before moving to London,[2] where he has played prominent roles in more controversial, new dramas by playwrights such as Sarah Kane and Anthony Neilson, amongst others.

In 2006 McQuarrie returned to Edinburgh, where he played himself in the critically acclaimed National Theatre of Scotland production of Realism by Anthony Neilson, for which he won the Glasgow Herald Angel award and was nominated for Best Male Actor by CATS (Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland).

[2] In television he has appeared in Taggart (1990), Rab C. Nesbitt (1992), London's Burning (1994), Bugs (1997), Earth (1998), Silent Witness (2010), The Hollow Crown (2016), Foundation (2021), Shetland (2022), The Rig (2023), 28 Days Later (2002), Blood (2012), Mr. Turner (2014), Terminator: Dark Fate (2019), The Nest (2020), and White Bird (2024).