She became known after appearing in the film Summer Holiday (1963) and later played Rita Rawlins in the BBC sitcoms Till Death Us Do Part (1965–1975) and In Sickness and in Health (1985–1992).

Her other television roles include Aunt Sally in Worzel Gummidge (1979–1981) and Miss Bat in The Worst Witch (1998–2001).

As a 16-year-old, in 1953, she danced in a Folies Bergère-style musical revue, "Pardon My French", at the Prince of Wales Theatre, alongside Frankie Howerd and the pianist Winifred Atwell.

Soon afterward, she made her breakthrough in television comedy, playing Rita, the married daughter of Alf Garnett in the BBC sitcom Till Death Us Do Part (1966–1975).

In 1968, as a direct spin-off from the sitcom, she appeared, alongside Warren Mitchell, in a series of television adverts for Findus frozen products.

[11] From 1979 to 1981, she played Aunt Sally in the ITV children's series Worzel Gummidge opposite Jon Pertwee and Barbara Windsor,[12] and was for several years a team captain in the weekly game show Give Us a Clue in the 1980s, reuniting her with Lionel Blair, the other team captain.

[11][13] In recent years, Stubbs also appeared in Victoria Wood's We'd Quite Like to Apologise, The Catherine Tate Show, Agatha Christie's Marple, EastEnders, Benidorm and, from 2010, Sherlock as Mrs.

[11] Stubbs was on the West End stage in Noël Coward's Star Quality with Penelope Keith in 2001 and Friedrich Schiller's Don Carlos with Derek Jacobi in 2005.