She is best known for her role as Detective Inspector Maggie Forbes in the 1980s television series The Gentle Touch and its spin-off series C.A.T.S. Eyes. In the 1990s, she also became a novelist and has published three books.
Her TV breakthrough came when she played Mrs Onedin in the BBC drama, the Onedin Line
Gascoigne was born in Streatham and the family lived at a number of locations in Streatham.
She is married to Alfred Molina and they now live in California