Prunella Scales: ‘I love it when people don’t ask about Fawlty Towers’

Prunella Scales, celebrated for her role as Sybil Fawlty in the iconic Seventies sitcom Fawlty Towers, has expressed her disinterest in discussing the show. The 92-year-old actor, known for her portrayal of John Cleese’s stern on-screen wife, finds the topic annoying.

In a recent interview with The Times, interviewer Andrew Billen noted that Scales considers questions about Fawlty Towers “irritating”. When asked if people still inquire about her time on the show, Scales responded, “Yes. It’s boring. On the whole, I love it when they don’t.”

Further questioned on the challenges of playing comedy versus drama, Scales dismissed the topic as “boring,” suggesting that the quality of the play and characters is what truly matters. “Is the play good? Is the writing good? Do you understand the character? Go ahead. I mean, I don’t like this terrible analysis of one’s work,” she stated, before suggesting they “change the subject or get another drink”.

The original BBC series Fawlty Towers aired for two series of six episodes each in 1975 and 1979. The show, considered one of the finest British comedies, was crafted by Cleese and Connie Booth and revolved around the staff of a fictional hotel in Torquay, Devon.

In 2013, Scales was diagnosed with vascular dementia, a common form of dementia resulting from reduced blood flow to the brain. Her husband, actor Timothy West, addressed her condition in his memoir, Pru and Me. He shared that he had consulted their GP about her memory issues a year before her diagnosis but was initially advised not to worry.

Discussing her memory with The Times, Scales admitted that it changes “minute to minute”. “Well, as one gets older, one’s memory and living from minute to minute changes, doesn’t it? You get less efficient. My memory is less good. I mean, I forget to do things and, that’s age, the same as everybody else,” she explained. “Oh, don’t go on asking me about things like that.”

Despite her condition, Scales has continued to work. Together with West, she filmed Great Canal Journeys, a Channel 4 series celebrating their love of narrow boating, which they embarked on in 2019.

In her most recent work, Scales lent her voice to Queen, a stage dramatization of Queen Victoria’s letters, which recently concluded its run at the Tabard Studio Theatre in West London. She voiced the role of Queen Victoria.

Scales has portrayed the monarch on several occasions, including more than 400 performances in An Evening With Queen Victoria, a play written for her by Katrina Hendrey in 1979, and in the BBC drama-documentary Victoria: An Intimate History in 2003.

However, Scales reveals she doesn’t particularly enjoy playing royal characters. “I don’t. When you say ‘like playing queens’ there aren’t any queens that I want to play but the queens I have played have all been interesting people with interesting jobs and interesting lives,” she said. She added, “And that’s why I like playing them. I don’t like playing queens as such.”

Source: The Times, PA