In 1964, she appeared in the hospital drama series Emergency – Ward 10, playing a nurse. There she met scriptwriter Don Houghton, whom she married. Her daughter by him, Sara Houghton, is also an actress, and they were once cast as mother and daughter in Three Thousand Troubled Threads.

She also appeared in Don Houghton scripted Doctor Who serial The Mind of Evil in 1971, and the first three seasons of the sitcom Mind Your Language speaking Penang Hokkien as her Chinese language. Here, she had to speak in an exaggerated, stereotyped Chinese accent, even though her English is perfect. Her later appearances are roles in the short lived soap operas Albion Market (1985) and Night and Day (2003), as well as Arabian Nights (2000), The Bill (2005), and as a character in the comedy series Little Britain (2004).