Scott chose to move in the direction of drama, opting for a role in the thriller Ten Minute Alibi, which had a successful run, touring Sydney and Melbourne.

She won the Macquarie Radio Award in 1947 and, in 1949, again acted on film, playing family matriarch Jane O'Riordan in Charles Chauvel's epic Sons of Matthew.

Scott acted on the London stage, appearing in An Evening with Beatrice Lillie at the Globe Theatre, replacing Constance Carpenter, who had left for America.

Following this came the role of imperious Point Piper socialite Claire Houghton, the mother of Abigail's character in the television soap opera Number 96 starting in 1972.

Claire became a popular recurring character in the serial, initially despairing at the "shabby" apartment block Number 96 that her daughter Bev Houghton chose to live in.

She soon befriended other residents such as Don (Joe Hasham) and Vera (Elaine Lee), and formed business associations with Jack (Tom Oliver) and Maggie (Bettina Welch).

Though Claire's appearances diminished in the serial's middle years, she was relaunched into the show for its final few months, and was central to several key storylines during the 1977 episodes.

After Number 96 ended in 1977 Scott continued to act on Australian television, making a guest appearance in Glenview High (1977), and sustaining a role in the medical serial The Young Doctors in 1980.

Four-and-a-half years later, Thelma Scott died of a heart attack at the Royal North Shore Hospital, in Sydney.