EastEnders

Lytton made her first appearance in EastEnders on 18 March 2005, playing Johnny Allen's daughter Ruby Allen. In July 2006, weeks after winning the "Sexiest Female" award at the British Soap Awards, it was announced that Lytton would be leaving EastEnders in November 2006. On the exit of her character, Lytton had commented:^[2] "I've really enjoyed my time at EastEnders. It has been a great experience which I will never forget but I am now looking forward to trying new things and not getting typecast." Lytton's final scenes were broadcast in November 2006. On 1 December 2006, Lytton appeared on the ITV1 show Loose Women and confirmed that leaving EastEnders was not her decision. In August 2008 she stated she would like to return to EastEnders once she had left The Bill.

On 18 July 2018, Lytton was announced to be reprising her role as Ruby.^[3] Lytton revealed that she was shocked to be asked back to EastEnders after such a long time, and told Metro UK, "In my head, obviously I’d always have loved to go back to the show because it was where I started out, but it had been so long that it was never an option in my head anymore [...] I genuinely never thought about it being an option, especially because my dad had died in the show."^[4]

After a twelve-year hiatus, Ruby returned on 18 September 2018. Producers soon placed her at the centre of a sexual consent storyline, involving a special episode about the views surrounding consent. Lytton was nominated for two Digital Spy Reader Awards for the consent storyline, while Lytton and the storyline were praised by viewers and critics alike.

Lytton left the serial for the second time in late 2021, following the birth of her first child.^[5] In March 2022, Lytton admitted she may never return to the soap.^[6]

Strictly Come Dancing

In late 2006, Lytton took part in the fourth series of the popular BBC One reality television programme Strictly Come Dancing. Aged 17 at the time, she is the youngest ever contestant to have appeared on the show. Louisa's professional dance partner was Vincent Simone. After several impressive performances she was eliminated in the quarter-finals, finishing in fourth place out of fourteen, losing out to Emma Bunton in the viewer vote for a place in the last three. Despite this, Lytton appeared in the Christmas Special on Christmas Day with fellow contestants Mark Ramprakash, Matt Dawson and Emma Bunton, along with 2005's finalists Zoë Ball and Colin Jackson. This show was won by Jackson. Below is a scoring recap from start to finish.

Lytton began touring with 'Strictly' on 18 January 2008 with ex-EastEnders co-stars, Letitia Dean and Matt Di Angelo, and ended the tour with 11 wins under her belt. Along with her EastEnders co-star Christopher Parker, Louisa was vocal in her criticism of the media treatment of John Sergeant, which led to him resigning from the 2008 series of 'Strictly Come Dancing'. She said she was surprised that Arlene Philips was removed as a judge from the next series of Strictly Come Dancing due to her age and she was replaced by former contestant and 2007 winner Alesha Dixon.

Other work

Lytton was Emma Watson's double in the film Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.^[7][8]

Between leaving EastEnders and joining The Bill she made an appearance on the CBBC show Hider in the House as herself. She has appeared on The Paul O'Grady Show to promote her role in The Bill. She also appeared on Big Brother's Little Brother with Dermot O'Leary. On 26 June 2007 she made a second appearance on lunchtime show Loose Women, this time promoting her addition to the cast of The Bill. She also briefly appeared in Emma Bunton's video for her single "Downtown" for Children in Need. She has been on the TV show This Morning twice.

On 16 May 2007, Lytton first appeared in the ITV1 police drama The Bill as PC Beth Green. She had previously appeared as a different character in a 1997 episode, coincidentally starring alongside actor Billy Murray, who previously played her father in EastEnders. She left the show in March 2009. On 27 August 2007, Lytton appeared on BBC's Test The Nation and was the top "Celebrity" participant. She attended numerous charity events and movie premieres throughout the year such as "Children's Champions" in 2007 and 2009 and the "Legends Ball" in 2008. She was a member of the audience on Happy Birthday Brucie which celebrated TV presenter Bruce Forsyth's 80th birthday in 2008. Lytton was chosen as one half of the United Kingdom's entry for the Eurovision Dance Contest 2008, finishing 9th out of 14 countries.

Lytton appeared on GMTV for a third time in March 2009 as well as Loose Women for a third time. She played Imogen in American Pie Presents: The Book of Love. The seventh instalment from the franchise was released straight to DVD in December 2009. On 13 July 2009 Lytton went on GMTV to talk about her roles in the Shakespearean plays Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Night's Dream. This interview was conducted with Lorraine Kelly on her segment of the show. She appeared in FHM December 2009 issue. She gave an interview along with provocative pictures of herself in her bra and panties and lingerie.

On 12 June 2010, Lytton was a guest star on Casualty on BBC1, on which she played goth girl Grace Fielding.

In 2012, she played Stephanie in the film The Knot. She also took part in Payback Season where she played Keisha. In February 2012, she attended the press night for magician Hans Klok's show The Houdini Experience at The Peacock Theatre in London.

In 2013 she was in Young High and Dead, in which she played a character called Jenny.

In 2014, she played Michelle in the ITV sitcom series Edge of Heaven.

In 2015 she appeared in a music video for ILL BLU – Give Me ft. Kahlia Bakosi. In the same year, Louisa played Ginny Beasley in an episode of Murdoch Mysteries called Barenaked Ladies.

In 2016, Lytton took part in the third series of The Jump. She was the first celebrity to be eliminated on 31 January. She also played the part of Alva in Fractured, an independent film released in 2016.

In 2023, Lytton co-founded a children's clothing company named Aura Soul after her daughter.^[9]

Theatre

In 2001, Lytton was in a musical production of Les Misérables, and played the leading role in the musical, Annie.

In September 2012, Lytton was in the stage show A Broken Rose, playing the lead character Maria.

Lytton performed in the Peter Pan Pantomime at the Milton Keynes Theatre in 2008, and again at the Deco Theatre, Northampton in 2009. Also in 2009, she joined the British Shakespeare Company to tour the UK and Prague, playing Cobweb (a fairy) in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Hero in Much Ado About Nothing. Her other theatre credits include playing Debs in the Boogie Nights UK tour (Jan – April 2013), Princess Aurora in the pantomime Sleeping Beauty at the Hazlitt Theatre (2017), and Betty Rizzo in a UK tour of the musical Grease (2017–2018).

In April 2022, Lytton returned to work following her maternity leave, by giving a theatrical performance at Theatre Royal, Windsor, where she was praised by many fans and critics alike.^[10]

Film

Television