Timothy West eases himself into a dining chair in the library of his home in Wandsworth, southwest London. He has a fidgety air about him. He’s barely seated before he gets frustrated with a cushion and flings the “blimming thing” to the ground. Then he’s up again, inquiring after his coffee, telling the photographer to “wander where you like, help yourself to anything you like to eat, darling”.
With his arched eyebrows and lips that disappear when he smiles, he is instantly recognisable from soaps such as EastEnders and Coronation Street, Shakespearean plays, historical dramas and Channel 4’s Great Canal Journeys, which he presented with his wife, Prunella Scales. Over dozens of episodes the couple took narrow boats through Britain and far-flung spots in India (“wonderful”) and Egypt (“gorgeous”).
The series became a ratings hit in the UK and ran for seven years. Why? “I think nobody had quite done it before,” Timothy says. “Somehow it’s about a relationship” – their relationship, which is what we’re here to discuss this morning.
Timothy has written a book, Pru & Me, that details their 60-year love story. Best known for playing Sybil, wife of Basil, in Fawlty Towers between 1975 and 1979, Prunella, 91, is the beating heart of the book. But she won’t be joining us until later. She has been living with a dementia diagnosis since 2013 and retired from her 67-year acting career in 2020. She tires easily, Timothy, 89, tells me.
“She likes to sleep a lot, so very often I’ve got things to do and I’ll just say, ‘Come down and have some breakfast,’
