After graduating from
RADA, James began her TV career in BBC2's
Thirty-Minute Theatre, followed by the role of a drug addict in
Z-Cars in 1967. She played Audrey Hargreaves in
Coronation Street in 1967. She is best known for her role as Beryl Hennessey in the first four series of the British
sitcom The Liver Birds (1969–74), mostly alongside
Nerys Hughes. She played
Cicely Courtneidge in the biographical musical of the actress
Once More with Music in 1976, and appeared as a soubrette in
Alan Clarke's 1982 production of
Baal. She played the role of Jane Hampden on "
The Awakening" episode of
Doctor Who in 1984. She appeared in the
West End musicals
I and Albert and
Anne of Green Gables. In 1971, James appeared with the
Royal Shakespeare Company in
The Merchant of Venice with
Judi Dench. James appeared as Jenny Wren in the
1976 BBC adaptation of Dickens's
Our Mutual Friend. ==Personal life==