Higgins made occasional acting appearances, as in John Landis' crime comedy "Into The Night" (1985) where he joined a slew of other directors in cameo vignettes, and John Boorman's meditation on war "Hope and Glory" (1987). He had roles in two landmark British TV productions, "The Naked Civil Servant: The Autobiography of Quentin Crisp" (1975) and "Brideshead Revisited" (1982).
He completed a number of scripting and directing projects for the small screen, among them, the script for "The Devil's Daughter" (1973), as well as adapting both "Foul Play (1981) and "9 to 5" (1982-83; syndication 1987) into half-hour series. He co-wrote and co-produced "Out on a Limb" (1987) featuring Shirley MacLaine as herself in the miniseries based on her autobiographical writings.