Her most substantial television appearance was in the title role of Edna, the Inebriate Woman (Play for Today, 1971) for which she won a BAFTA award.

She provided the character voice for comedy puppet performances for television programmes such as Gran (Woodland Animations, 1982).

[4] In 1977, she appeared on the BBC's long running TV variety show The Good Old Days; she had been an early member of the Players' Theatre in London, an old time music hall club, from the 1950s onwards.

In 1978, Hayes was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for playing Rosalina in Filumena at The National Theatre.

[5] In 1985, she starred in the title role of the TV play Mrs Capper's Birthday by Noël Coward.