Poignant second Timothy West and Prunella Scales shared their final Great Canal Journeys collectively – as actor who cared for his dementia-hit spouse dies aged 90
This is the poignant moment Timothy West and Prunella Scales shared their last Great Canal Journeys together before the actor’s death aged 90.
Timothy, who starred in shows Brass, Edward the Seventh, EastEnders and Great Canal Journeys with his Fawlty Towers star wife Prunella, passed away peacefully surrounded by family and friends yesterday.
The couple showcased one of the happiest and longest marriages in showbiz, bravely facing up to illness as Prunella battles dementia.
Touching footage shows the pair on their last adventure together on Channel 4‘s Great Canal Journeys in 2019.
The trip took them north up the Oxford Canal, stopping off at the village of Cropredy before passing Wormleighton and reaching their final destination in the historic canal village of Braunston.
Timothy recalled the first time he was on the Ox with Prunella, in ‘1976 when we knew nothing about it’.
Great Canal Journeys featuring Timothy West and Prunella Scales on Bristol’s Kennet and Avon Canal
Messing about in boats gave a new lease of life to Timothy and his wife before his death aged 90
Messing about in boats gave a new lease of life to Timothy and Prunella, forever a sitcom superstar as Sybil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers.
The hobby provided the couple with endless delight since their children were small, and their summers spent pootling along Britain’s waterways in their narrowboat inspired a gentle TV documentary in 2014.
As Timothy and Prunella celebrated their Golden Wedding, cameras followed them revisiting the Kennet and Avon Canal, in Wiltshire, which they helped to restore in the Eighties.
The show was the first in a run of four on the tiny More4 channel, an offshoot of Channel 4.
Timothy commented: ‘We thought it would be seen by some old ladies on a wet Tuesday afternoon, but somehow it caught on.’
From their first adventures, exploring the Rochdale and Llangollen canals, the couple became bolder as the show’s popularity spread.
The show was the first in a run of four on the tiny More4 channel, an offshoot of Channel 4
His children Juliet, Samuel and Joseph West revealed the tragic news of his passing in a joint statement
Timothy West pictured with Queen Camilla in May 2024
Soon, they had a primetime slot on C4’s Sunday schedules and they visited Venice, Amsterdam, Stockholm and Portugal’s Rio Douro.
The couple travelled to the Parana Delta in Argentina, Canada’s Rideau Canal and the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. That sweetly ironic title, Great Canal Journeys, was now a true description.
Timothy’s children Juliet, Samuel and Joseph West today announced the tragic news of his passing with a shared statement on social media, saying he died peacefully in his sleep ‘with his friends and family at the end’.
Timothy married Prunella in 1963, before she played John Cleese’s on-screen wife Sybil Fawlty in the iconic British comedy series. The actress was diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2014.
In an interview with The Daily Mail in 2023, Timothy revealed the heartache at seeing his wife, who he cared for during their six-decade marriage, slip away amid her health battle.
