[4] Because of this success, Hines began attending Corona Theatre School in London where his classmates included Richard O'Sullivan, Dennis Waterman, Jeremy Bulloch and Francesca Annis.

Making his debut in the film John and Julie (1955) as an extra in a crowd scene, Hines went on to have minor roles in Moby Dick, The Weapon and X the Unknown (all 1956).

From 1957 and throughout the 1960s, he performed a steady stream of roles in various television series, such as Jan in The Silver Sword (1957–58), Tim Birch in Emergency Ward 10 (1963–64), and Roger Wain in Coronation Street (1965).

Author Diana Gabaldon credits watching Frazer Hines in the Doctor Who serial The War Games (and finding him attractive in a kilt) as the inspiration for her first novel, Outlander, a time travel story set in 18th century Scotland.

Since then he has appeared in many more Companion Chronicles, where his uncanny ability to mimic Patrick Troughton's Second Doctor has been welcomed by fans of the show.

[11] After his tenure as Jamie in Doctor Who, Hines resumed the life of a jobbing actor, appearing in several films such as The Last Valley and Zeppelin (both 1971), until 1972 when he was cast in the soap opera Emmerdale Farm as Joe Sugden,[12] a role he played until 1994.

[14] Straight out of Emmerdale, in 1995 Hines toured the UK in a production of Doctor in the House with Vicki Michelle, Robin Askwith and Windsor Davies.

Hines appeared in Peter Kay's Comic Relief video of 2007, as one of the many guests dancing to the song I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by the Proclaimers.

In 2011, he toured in the play Five Blue Haired Ladies Sitting on a Green Park Bench with Shirley Anne Field and Anita Harris.

In 2019, Hines starred in an audio film of Up Pompeii!, celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the series, appearing alongside original cast members including Madeline Smith and Tim Brooke-Taylor.

Hines appeared as Sonny Troughton, a former criminal, in two episodes of Doctors in 2020[19] and starred in the romantic-comedy film Lost at Christmas set in the Scottish Highlands later that same year.

[20] Hines has dated Jill Haworth, Pamela Franklin, Susan George, Liza Goddard and Deborah Watling.

[4] Hines has been twice married, first to Irish actress Gemma Craven[21] from 1981 to 1984, and second to waterskiing champion Liz Hobbs[22] (with whom he lived in Coddington, Nottinghamshire) from 1994 to 2003.

Thirteen years later, in December 2009, Telos Publishing released a revised hardcover edition, titled Hines Sight.

In July 2010, Hines disclosed that he suffered from colorectal cancer for eleven years, explaining that he kept his illness a secret for fear of professional alienation.