Pik-Sen Lim

Pik-Sen Lim (, 15 September 1944 – 9 June 2025) was a Malaysian-British actress. Born to Malaysian Chinese parents in Penang, she moved to the United Kingdom in 1961 to attend the London School of Dramatic Art. According to the BFI, Lim was "the most familiar Chinese actor on British television screens in the 1970s and 80s."

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.

Early life 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.

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".

Career 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. The couple's daughter, Sara Houghton (born 1971), is also an actress; Sara also appeared in a serial of Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures called The Curse of Clyde Langer.

Lim appeared in the Don Houghton-scripted Doctor Who serial The Mind of Evil in 1971 as Chin Lee (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. 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).

She is the narrator of the Dark Souls series of video games. 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.

In 2024, Lim voiced her final film role as the narrator of The Wedding Veil of the Proud Princess, a fantasy animated short film based on a passage from the fourth chapter of L.M. Montgomery's novel The Story Girl; the short film is dedicated to Lim's memory.

Personal life Lim married screenwriter Don Houghton in 1968. Their daughter, Sara Houghton, is also an actress.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Theatre Year Title Role Notes 1964 The Bacchae of Euripides Chorus 2012 The Sugar-Coated Bullets of the Bourgeoisie Mrs Gao Produced by Finborough Theatre.