Prunella Scales’ son Samuel fights tears as he recalls tragic final conversation
The Fawlty Towers actress passed away in 2025 following a lengthy battle with dementia.
Samuel West held back tears as he opened up on the last conversation he had with his mother, Prunella Scales, before her death. The Fawlty Towers actress passed away at the age of 93 in October 2025 following a decades-long battle with dementia. Her death came less than one year after her husband, actor Timothy West, passed away aged 90.
During an upcoming episode of Channel 5's Sam & Ade Go Birding, which was filmed last October, the actor opens up about his memories of Prunella as he reflects on her passing. The chat takes place when Samuel, a keen bird watcher, and Adrian, 69, a beginner while the pair are in the car birdwatching.
Read more: Inside £3m home where Timothy West and Prunella Scales spent their final years
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"Since we last met, my mum died... last week, one day after what would have been her 62nd wedding anniversary," Samuel tells his co-star.
"Last week, we went down to Shaftesbury Avenue to see the theatre dim their lights for her, which is something which would have astonished and delighted her, but it really, it really floored me.
"She was 93. The last proper conversation I had with her was when, a couple of years ago she said, 'How old am I?' and I said, 'You're 91, ma', and she said, '91?'."
Of his mum's response, Samuel said: "It was beautifully timed, beautifully enunciated, and we had a few more conversations after that but that might be the last one I remember. It's a goody."
He added: "I certainly got my love of the outdoors from her."
Samuel his brother Joseph announced Prunella's death in a moving statement, paying tribute to their "darling mother" who watched Fawlty Towers the day before her passing.
She was best known for her role as Sybil Fawlty, the wife of John Cleese's character Basil Fawlty in the hit BBC comedy, which ran from 1975 to 1979.
Prunella began suffering memory difficulties in 2001 but wasn't diagnosed with vascular dementia until 2013. As her condition worsened, she was unable to properly communicate.
Due to the progression of her illness, she was unable to fully comprehend that her husband of 61 years had passed away.
Asked about how his mother was coping since Timothy's death, Samuel told The Times: "All I am going to say is she’s not really well enough to take it all in."
