McEwan has made only a handful of feature appearances including starring opposite Laurence Olivier in Strindberg's "The Dance of Death" (1968). She was suitably aristocratic in the uneven comedy "Foreign Body" (1986) and provided an amusing turn as the maid teaching English to the French queen (Emma Thompson) in Kenneth Branagh's stirring remake of "Henry V" (1989). More recently, she won plaudits as the town eccentric in "The Love Letter" (1999). Her small screen roles have allowed McEwan better showcases for her talents. She dominated the Scottish miniseries version of "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" (shown on PBS in 1979), all but erasing memories of Maggie Smith's Oscar-winning bravura performance. McEwan did battle with Prunella Scales as social rivals in the amusing London Weekly Television miniseries "Mapp & Lucia" (1985-86). Among her other notable small screen appearances was her strong turn as the deeply religious mother of a lesbian in the BBC miniseries "Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit" (1990).