In late 1973, McBurney was cast in the role of key new character Marilyn McDonald in
Number 96 but before any of her scenes had gone to air and with about 30 scenes in the can she had to withdraw from the role due to illness. This left her replacement,
Frances Hargreaves, to reshoot all of McBurney's scenes. McBurney then went into the ongoing role of plain-Jane secretary Jane Fowler in
The Box in late 1975, and later played the brief role of Jodi in
Number 96. Subsequently, she became immensely popular playing the part of nurse Tania Livingston in
The Young Doctors. She played the role from 1977 until the series ended in 1982. She followed this with another popular character, that of breezy romantic Sandra "Pixie" Mason in
Prisoner for 96 episodes. She played Pixie on a recurring basis from 1983 to 1985. In later years she appeared in a few episodes of
Always Greener. McBurney was also famous for her voice-over work and also starring in commercials, in particular a very cheeky, controversial ad from the 1980s for
Palmolive Gold, in which she features in a bed with actor Peter Mochrie. McBurney leaves a cake of soap under his pillow, which led to the famous jingle and saying "Don't wait to be told". ==Personal life and death==