Following a period with the Manchester Library Theatre, Patrick Stewart joined the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in 1966, where he appeared next to actors such as Ben Kingsley and Ian Richardson. He made his Broadway debut as Snout in Peter Brook's legendary production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, then moved to the Royal National Theatre in the early 1980s. Over the years, Stewart took roles in many major television series without ever becoming a household name. He appeared as Lenin in Fall of Eagles; Sejanus in I, Claudius; Karla in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley's People; Claudius in a 1980 BBC adaptation of Hamlet. He even took the romantic male lead in the BBC adaptation of Mrs Gaskell's North and South. He also appeared in Sir Kenneth Clark's Civilisation: A Personal View series (Episode 6), as Horatio.

He also had minor roles in several films such as King Leondegrance in John Boorman's Excalibur (1981), the character Gurney Halleck in David Lynch's 1984 film version of Dune, and Dr. Armstrong in Tobe Hooper's Lifeforce.

In 1987, Stewart went to Los Angeles to star as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994), for which he received a 1995 Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for "Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series." From 1994 he also portrayed Picard in the movie spinoffs Star Trek Generations (1994), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), and Star Trek Nemesis (2002); and in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's pilot episode "Emissary".

He has also said he is very proud of his work on Star Trek: The Next Generation, for its social message and educational impact on young viewers. On being questioned about the significance of his role compared to his distinguished Shakespearean career, Stewart has said: "The fact is all of those years in Royal Shakespeare Company, playing all those kings, emperors, princes and tragic heroes, were nothing but preparation for sitting in the captain's chair of the Enterprise."

In 1991, Stewart performed his stage adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, in which he portrayed all 40-plus characters himself, and won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show for his performance. He later starred as Scrooge in a TV-movie version of A Christmas Carol, receiving a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for his performance. He was also the co-producer of the show, through the company he set up for the purpose: Camm Lane Productions (a reference to his birthplace in Camm Lane, Mirfield). He staged encore performances in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, and then again for the benefit of survivors and victims' families of the 11 September 2001 attacks.

Stewart performed the play again for a 23-day run in London's West End in December 2005. Shakespeare roles during this period included Prospero in William Shakespeare's The Tempest, on Broadway in 1995, a role he would reprise in Rupert Goold's 2006 production of The Tempest as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company's Complete Works Festival, and the title role in Shakespeare's Othello in 1997. Originally a play about a black African entering a white society, Stewart had wanted to play the title role since the age of 14, so he (along with director Jude Kelly), inverted the play so Othello became a white man entering a black society.

He has played a great range of characters, from the flamboyantly gay Sterling in the 1995 film Jeffrey, to King Henry II in The Lion in Winter, for which he received a Golden Globe Award nomination and an Emmy Award nomination for executive-producing the film. He portrayed Captain Ahab in the 1998 made-for-TV movie version of Moby Dick (receiving Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for his performance). In late 2003, during the eleventh and final season of NBC's Frasier, Stewart appeared on the show as a gay Seattle socialite who mistakes Frasier for a potential lover.

Stewart has also starred in X-Men, X2, and X-Men: The Last Stand as Charles Xavier. The films' success has resulted in another lucrative regular genre film role in a major super-hero film series. He has also since voiced the role in video games such as X-Men Legends II, although some of the games are more closely tied to the original comic books rather than the movies.

In 2005, he was cast as Professor Ian Hood in the ITV thriller 4-episode series Eleventh Hour, created by Stephen Gallagher. The first episode was broadcast on 19 January 2006. He also, in 2005, played Captain Nemo in a two-part adaptation of The Mysterious Island. Stewart also appeared in Ricky Gervais's television series Extras, as a last-minute replacement for Jude Law. For playing himself, he was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2006 for Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.

In October and November 2006, Stewart accompanied the Royal Shakespeare Company as they performed The Tempest, Antony and Cleopatra, and Julius Caesar at the University of Michigan. He acted the role of Antony again, playing opposite Harriet Walter's Cleopatra in an acclaimed performance of Antony and Cleopatra at the Novello Theatre in London in 2007. During this period, Stewart also addressed the Durham Union Society on his life in film and theatre.

He was named as the next Cameron Mackintosh Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theatre at St Catherine's College, University of Oxford in January 2007. In 2008, Stewart played King Claudius in Hamlet alongside David Tennant. He won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor for the part. When collecting his award, he dedicated the award "in part" to Tennant and Tennant's understudy Edward Bennett, after Tennant's back injury and subsequent absence from four weeks of Hamlet disqualified him from an Olivier nomination. Stewart has expressed interest in appearing in Doctor Who.

In 2009, Stewart appeared alongside Ian McKellen as the lead duo of Vladimir (Didi) and Estragon (Gogo), in the play Waiting for Godot. Stewart played Didi in a more humorous interpretation of the play. Although the director had originally envisaged the roles of Didi and Gogo reversed, he had left the casting decision to the actors. Stewart had previously only appeared once alongside McKellen on stage, but the pair had developed a close friendship while filming the X-Men films. Stewart stated that performing in this play was the fulfillment of a 50-year ambition, having seen Peter O'Toole appear in it at the Bristol Old Vic when Stewart was just 17.

Stewart has lent his voice to a number of projects. He has narrated recordings of Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, C. S. Lewis's The Last Battle (the conclusion of The Chronicles of Narnia), and Rick Wakeman's Return to the Centre of the Earth, as well as numerous TV programs such as High Spirits with Shirley Ghostman. Stewart provided the narration for Nine Worlds, an astronomical tour of the solar system, and The Secret of Life on Earth, a nature documentary. He is also heard as the voice of the Magic Mirror in Disneyland's live show, Snow White - An Enchanting Musical. He also was the narrator for the American release of Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real.

He also was a voice actor on several animated films, including The Prince of Egypt, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, Chicken Little, The Pagemaster, and the English dubbings of the Japanese anime films Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki, and Steamboy. He voiced the pig Napoleon in a TV adaptation of George Orwell's Animal Farm, and guest-starred in the Simpsons episode "Homer the Great" as Number One. More recently, he has played a recurring role as CIA Deputy Director Avery Bullock (lending his likeness as well as his voice) on the animated series American Dad, as well as making (as of 2009) four guest appearances on Family Guy in various roles: first in "Peter's Got Woods" as Captain Picard, second in "No Meals on Wheels" replacing Peter Griffin's voice with his own for a gag, third in "Lois Kills Stewie" as his American Dad character Bullock, and fourth in "Not All Dogs Go to Heaven" as himself. In 2006, Stewart voiced Bambi's father, The Great Prince of the Forest, in Disney's direct-to-video sequel, Bambi II.

He lent his voice to a number of Activision-produced Star Trek computer games, including Star Trek: Armada, Armada II, Bridge Commander, and Elite Force II, all reprising his role as Captain Picard. Stewart reprised his role  again in Star Trek: Legacy for both the PC and Xbox 360, along with the four other "major" Starfleet captains from the different Star Trek series.

In addition to voicing his characters from Star Trek and X-Men in several related computer and video games, Stewart also worked as a voice actor on games unrelated to either franchise, such as Lands of Lore, Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone, and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, for which he won a Spike TV Video Game Award for his work as Emperor Uriel Septim. He also lent his voice to several editions of the Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia.

His voice talents also appeared in commercials, including the UK TV Advert for Domestos 5x Longer Bleach, an advertisement for Shell fuel, and an American advertisement for the prescription drug Crestor. He also voiced the UK and Australian TV advertisements for the PAL version of Final Fantasy XII.

Stewart also used his voice for Pontiac and Porsche automobiles and MasterCard Gold commercials in 1996, and Goodyear Assurance Tires in 2004. He provided the voice of Max Winters in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in March 2007. In 2008, he also voiced television advertisements for Currys and Stella Artois beer.

Please see below for Patrick Stewart's signing times:

Saturday
Mr. Stewart signing - 10:15am - 11:45am
Photo Ops               - 11:45am - 12:15pm
Mr. Stewart signing - 02:30pm - 04:00pm
Mr. Stewart signing - 04:30pm - 06:00pm

Sunday
Mr. Stewart signing - 10:15am - 11:45am
Photo Ops               - 11:45am - 12:15pm
Mr. Stewart signing - 02:30pm - 04:00pm
Mr. Stewart signing - 04:30pm - 06:00pm