Tate portrayed Astronaut Alan Carter in the British science fiction series Space: 1999, which was broadcast from 1975-77, though the series began production in late 1973. In 1976, he broke through in film with an AACTA award-winning role in the movie The Devil's Playground. He continued to work in film with supporting roles in a number of theatrical films, including The Year My Voice Broke, Richard Attenborough's Cry Freedom, Return from the River Kwai, A Cry in the Dark, and Steven Spielberg's Hook. From 1985-86, he portrayed James Hamilton in the Australian soap opera Sons and Daughters. Tate has also made guest appearances on numerous American TV shows, such as The X-Files, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, Star Trek: The Next Generation (in the 1990 episode "Final Mission"), Murder, She Wrote, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (in the 1998 episode "Honor Among Thieves"), Farscape and in the Lost episode "Tabula Rasa".