In the 1980s, he became well known as Major Neuheim in the award-winning "Private Schulz" and as Sir Godber Evans in Channel 4's adaptation of "Porterhouse Blue". Richardson also performed the role of Sherlock Holmes for two of six planned television movies, "The Sign of Four" and "The Hound of the Baskervilles", in 1983, which were both critically acclaimed. He appeared in "Brazil" (1985) and played Jawaharlal Nehru in the television serial, "Lord Mountbatten: The Last Viceroy" (1986). He portrayed Anthony Blunt, the Soviet spy and Surveyor of The King's Pictures in the BBC film "Blunt: the Fourth Man" (1986) opposite Anthony Hopkins as Guy Burgess. In 1988, he played Edward Spencer, the eccentric and oblivious English landowner in 1920s Ireland in "Troubles", from J. G. Farrell's award-winning novel. In 1987, he played a variation on this role, when he portrayed the Bishop of Motopo in the non-musical television film "Monsignor Quixote", based on Graham Greene's modernized take on "Don Quixote". He played Sir Nigel Irvine in John Mackenzie's adaptation of Frederick Forsyth's novel "The Fourth Protocol" (1987).