Ayres has appeared in numerous films and television series, including regular performances in Armchair Thriller, Penmarric, Play for Today, The Bounder, Father's Day and Trevor's World of Sport.
Ayres appeared on the BBC One semi-improvised sitcom Outnumbered as Gran in series 3 (2010) for the episodes "The Family Outing" and "The Internet".
In addition to her film and television work, in 2011, Ayres provided voice and motion capture work for Katherine Marlowe, the main antagonist of the video game Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, opposite Nolan North, Richard McGonagle and Graham McTavish.
[1] Ayres also played the character of Iris in the comedy sitcom Kate & Koji as a customer in the café who regularly consulted the doctor on various ailments.
In September 2022, Ayres appeared alongside her husband in an episode of the BBC soap opera Doctors as Ellie Chilton.