Prunella Scales through the years – her greatest roles and archival imagery

Prunella Scales, a beloved figure in British comedy, has passed away at the age of 93. Fans are fondly remembering her long and successful career.

Prunella Scales was best known for playing Sybil in the classic BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers. She starred as the co-manager of a hotel in Devon, alongside her on-screen husband Basil, played by John Cleese.

This show is widely considered one of the best British sitcoms ever made, despite only lasting for 12 episodes between 1975 and 1979.

Scales continued to excel in the genre with “After Henry,” which started as a radio play on BBC Radio 4 and was later adapted into a television series for ITV.

Find out more about Prunella Scales’ relationship with Timothy West, her time on Fawlty Towers, and why she didn’t enjoy working on TV sitcoms.

She starred as Sarah France, a woman in her forties grieving the loss of her husband. Sarah lives with her mother, Eleanor, and her teenage daughter, Clare, and they are all navigating life together after his passing.

The radio show started in 1985, and the TV series began airing near the end of the radio show’s run. Both concluded in 1992.

I remember when Harriet Walter first played Queen Elizabeth II – it was amazing! She did it on stage in Alan Bennett’s play, ‘A Question of Attribution’ back in 1988, and then she brought that same brilliant performance to TV on the BBC a few years later in 1991. It was a truly captivating portrayal.

She achieved success portraying Queen Victoria in her one-woman show, ‘An Evening with Queen Victoria,’ performing it over 400 times between 1979 and 2007.

Recently, actor Scales voiced Queen Victoria in a new version of a play by Julian Machin, performed at the Edinburgh Fringe festival (according to The Guardian).

Many people first got to know Scales as Great Aunt Greta in the 2011 film Horrid Henry. From 2014 to 2019, she and her husband, Timothy West (who sadly passed away last year), co-hosted the More4 show Great Canal Journeys.

This collection features memorable moments from Prunella Scales’ work on Fawlty Towers and After Henry, plus highlights from her and Timothy West’s visit to our annual Covers Party in 2020.

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Don Smith/TopMob via Getty Images
Don Smith/TopMob via Getty Images
Don Smith/TopMob via Getty Images
Don Smith/TopMob via Getty Images
Ray Burmiston
Ray Burmiston
Ray Burmiston

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2025-10-28 16:06