Pik-Sen Lim
Pik-Sen Lim | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | Lim Phaik-Seng 15 September 1944 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 9 June 2025 (aged 80) Ludlow, Shropshire, England | ||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | London School of Dramatic Art | ||||||||||||||||||
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1964–2025 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Don Houghton (m. 1968; div. 198?[citation needed]) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 林碧笙 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Pik-Sen Lim (Chinese: 林碧笙; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lîm Phaik-seng, 15 September 1944 – 9 June 2025) was a British actress. Of Chinese ancestry, Lim was born in British Malaya and migrated to Britain to pursue a career in acting when she was 16. According to the British Film Institute, Lim was "the most familiar Chinese actor on British television screens in the 1970s and 80s."[1]
Lim's notable roles include Chin Lee in the 1971 Doctor Who serial The Mind of Evil, Chung Su-Lee on the ITV sitcom Mind Your Language (1977–79), Tsai Adams on the military drama Spearhead (1978–81), and the killer cleaner in Johnny English Reborn (2011). She was also the narrator for the Dark Souls video game series.[2]
Lim died on 9 June 2025, at the age of 80.[3][4][5]
Early life
[edit]Lim was born to Malayan Chinese parents in Penang, Straits Settlements (occupied by Japan at the time), and was the daughter of the palm oil millionaire Lim Cheng-Teik. She attended convent school in Penang, where she was nicknamed "Pixie". From a young age, Lim found a love for acting, but her parents and relatives were not supportive of her desire to pursue it as a profession. Against the wishes of her family, she moved to the United Kingdom in 1961 at the age of 16 to study at the London School of Dramatic Art.[6]
Her birth name was romanised Lim Phaik-Seng, but she changed her given name to "Pik-Sen" since her British friends would mispronounce "Phaik" as "fake".[7]
Career
[edit]In 1964, she appeared in the hospital drama series Emergency Ward 10, playing a nurse. There she met scriptwriter Don Houghton, whom she married in 1968.[8] The couple's daughter, Sara Houghton (born 1971),[9][5] is also an actress;[1] the two women once portrayed a mother and daughter in the stage play Three Thousand Troubled Threads.[10] Sara also appeared in a serial of Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures called The Curse of Clyde Langer.
She also appeared in the Don Houghton-scripted Doctor Who serial The Mind of Evil in 1971 as Chin Lee[11] (a role she later reprised in an audiodrama from Big Finish Productions), and the first three seasons of the sitcom Mind Your Language speaking Penang Hokkien as her Chinese language.[12] Here, she was obliged to speak in an exaggerated, stereotyped Chinese accent. Her later appearances are roles in the short lived soap operas Albion Market (1985) and Night and Day (2003), as well as Arabian Nights (2000), The Bill (2005), and as a character in the comedy series Little Britain (2004).[4]
She is the narrator of the Dark Souls series of video games.[2]
In 1966, she was invited to be Rye Fawkes at the Rye Bonfire celebrations.[13] This involved being seated in a sedan chair, hoisted aloft and being carried down from the Landgate in Rye to the bonfire, where she was presented with a burning torch with which she set the bonfire alight.[14]
Filmography
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | Das Mädchen aus dem Dschungel | Amina | East German mini-series |
| 1964–1967 | Emergency Ward 10 | Nurse Kwei | |
| 1967 | Sorry I'm Single | Suzy | Series regular |
| 1969 | The Gladiators | C-2 | |
| 1970 | The Flaxton Boys | Su Ling | |
| 1971 | Doctor Who | Captain Chin Lee | The Mind of Evil (3 episodes) |
| 1972 | Madame Sin | Nikko | |
| 1972 | General Hospital | Prem. Unit Nurse | |
| 1974 | Within These Walls | Sister Ling | |
| 1976 | The New Avengers | Sing − The Chinese Attache | "The Midas Touch" |
| 1977–1979 | Mind Your Language | Chung Su-Lee | Series regular |
| 1978–1981 | Spearhead | Tsai Adams | Series regular |
| 1979 | Angels | Dr. Yeo | |
| 1980 | The Professionals | Chai Ling | "Take Away" |
| 1980 | Shoestring | Phone Girl | "Mocking Bird" |
| 1985 | Albion Market | Ly Nhu Chan | |
| 1996 | Cracker | Wei Wei | "White Ghost" |
| 1998 | London's Burning | Mrs. Lau | |
| 2000 | Arabian Nights | Aladdin's Mother | Mini-series |
| 2004 | Little Britain | Simone | |
| 2005 | The Bill | Dora Sim | |
| 2006 | The Ruby in the Smoke | Madame Sheng | |
| 2010 | Spirit Warriors | Beggar Woman | |
| 2010 | Casualty | Reiko Reid | Episode "Clean Slate" |
| 2011 | Johnny English Reborn | Killer Cleaner | |
| 2012 | A Civil Arrangement | Madam Rene | TV movie |
| 2013 | Holby City | Amy Cardle | "The Journey Home" |
| 2015 | Roald Dahl's Esio Trot | Mrs Wu | |
| 2015 | The Dumping Ground | PoPo | 1 episode: "Coming Round" |
| 2019 | This Way Up | Chien | |
| 2022 | Vampire Academy | The Queen | 9 episodes |
| 2023 | The Nevers | Madame Tam | 1 episode: "It's a Good Day" |
Theatre
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | The Bacchae of Euripides | Chorus | |
| 2012 | The Sugar-Coated Bullets of the Bourgeoisie | Mrs Gao | Produced by Finborough Theatre. |
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Lim, Pik-Sen (c. 1944- )". Screenonline. British Film Institute. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
- ^ a b Bailey, Dustin (22 January 2019). "Dark Souls' narrator lends her voice for a Let's Play channel from former IGN staffers". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on 24 January 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
- ^ Chin, Dawn (13 June 2025). "Malaysian-born actress Pik-Sen Lim, known for roles in 'Mind Your Language', 'Doctor Who' and 'Johnny English Reborn', dies at 80". Malay Mail. Archived from the original on 20 June 2025. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
- ^ a b "Mind Your Language star Pik-Sen Lim dies at 80". Chortle. 18 June 2025. Archived from the original on 19 June 2025.
- ^ a b "Michael Lachmann, Pik-sen Lim, Leon Krier, David 'Syd' Lawrence". Last Word. 27 June 2025. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
- ^ Kek, Soo Beng (30 April 1978). "Penang girl takes on the big roles in London". The Straits Times. p. 8. Retrieved 30 June 2025 – via National Library Board of Singapore.
- ^ Ooi, Teresa (16 February 1984). "Good times, bad times". The Straits Times. p. 7. Retrieved 30 June 2025 – via National Library Board of Singapore.
- ^ Thye, Gunn Chit (7 September 1968). "Fantastic!". The Straits Times. p. 10. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
- ^ "FreeBMD Entry Info". www.freebmd.org.uk. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
- ^ "Three Thousand Troubled Threads | By: Chiew Siah Tei". Stellar Quines. Archived from the original on 1 March 2024. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
- ^ "Doctor Who Classic Episode Guide | The Mind of Evil". BBC. Archived from the original on 22 December 2019.
- ^ "Mind Your Language (1977-79, 1986)". Screenonline. British Film Institute. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
- ^ "Rye Fawkes". Rye & District Bonfire Society. Archived from the original on 12 November 2024. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
- ^ "Pik – Sen Lim". Rye's Own Magazine. Archived from the original on 29 June 2025. Retrieved 30 June 2025.[better source needed]
External links
[edit]- Pik-Sen Lim at IMDb
- Pik-Sen Lim at the BFI's Screenonline
- Pik-Sen Lim discography at Discogs
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