In 2009, she played Josie Porritt in the BBC television series Hope Springs and appeared as newly qualified English Teacher Helen Hopewell in eight episodes of Waterloo Road's fifth series. From December 2009 to January 2010, she starred as the maid Florence in the Hampstead Theatre's Darker Shores. In a Daily Telegraph review that rated the play only two stars, Charles Spencer commended Robinson's performance as having "a warmth and emotional openness". Kate Bassett for the Independent on Sunday also praised her, writing that she "copes admirably". In 2010, she starred as police sergeant Sally Donovan in the BBC series Sherlock, continuing her role in the second and third series that aired in January 2012 and December 2013/January 2014.