Pickup's television work began with an episode during the first series of "Doctor Who" (as a physician in part 4 of "The Reign of Terror") in 1964. He was paid £30, in what is regarded as the breakthrough in his acting career. He went on to star in the BBC drama series "The Dragon's Opponent" in 1973, playing Charles Howard, 20th Earl of Suffolk, a World War II bomb disposal expert. In 1976, he appeared on the PBS miniseries "Jenny" playing Winston Churchill's father to Lee Remick's mother. Almost a decade later, Pickup had the starring role as composer Giuseppe Verdi in the acclaimed "The Life of Verdi", written and directed by Renato Castellani.