Pickup appeared in the fifth series of "Young Dracula" in early 2014, portraying Morgan, chairman of the vampire high council, who later becomes the host of the Blood Seed, the main antagonist of the series finale. He appeared in "Holby City" as Charles, Lord Byrne, and in November 2014 appeared on "Coronation Street" in a cameo role as an OAP arranging a birthday party with Michelle Connor in the Rovers Return. In 2016, he played the role of Geoffrey Fisher, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in four episodes of the Netflix series "The Crown".