Prunella Scales: Her Lasting Legacy On Television

Prunella Scales was a pioneer in British television. Photo: John Thaxter/Wikimedia Commons

Prunella Scales, an actress best known for her role as Sibyl Fawlty in the BBC Sitcom Fawlty Towers, passed away at the age of 93. In her wake she’s left a legacy upon the lives of many viewers.

The beloved actress began her iconic acting career by starring as Lydia Bennet, the15-year-old daughter of Mr Bennet, in the 1952 adaptation of the classic novel Pride and Prejudice. Her involvement in the production upholds a mark on TV history as it was one of the few adaptations of the novel that were staged live before the cameras. 

Scales’ legacy and renowned impact on television, however, came when she took up the role of Sibyl Fawlty in one of the BBC’s most famous sitcoms, Fawlty Towers, in 1975, for two seasons until 1979.  

For Scales, bringing Sibyl to life saw her not just create a caricature of a snobbish  upper-class woman, but she delivered her character with a complexity of emotion and a multifaceted personality. Taking up the role of a domineering and slightly irritating house-wife, the actress created a character who audiences saw themselves reflected within, allowing viewers to create genuine connections with the onscreen housewife. 

Her sensational performances also stemmed from her humorous deliverance of Sibyl’s discourse. She was no dry actor. She played her role with exactness and knew how to exert her lines, causing audiences to pick up her iconic exclaims, which have created their own legacy. 

It goes without saying you’re most likely familiar with lines such as:

• “you know what I mean by working, don’t you?”

• “I know. I knoooow” 

• “how did the two of us ever get together, “Black Magic” my mother says” 

It’s evident how deep her legacy runs as John Cleese, the actor who played Basil Fawlty,  Scales’ onscreen husband, said that she was “a really wonderful comic actress,” whilst  adding: “Scene after scene she was absolutely perfect.”  

Through her memorable performances in “Fawlty Towers”, she’s left a large impact on British comedy forever more.  

But her legacy doesn’t stop there. The actress may be best known for playing Sibyl Fawlty but she didn’t contain her expertise to that one character. Following the sitcom, the actress also starred in: Great Canal Journeys, Midsomer Murders, Silent Witness and A Question of Attribution, in which she played the late Queen. All well-known and highly admired television programmes in which she brought her exceptional talent and added to the productions.  

Not only has Scales had a lasting impact on the television world but she’s also impacted audiences from the live stage. In more recent years, she was known for her one-woman show “An Evening With Queen Victoria” in which she played Queen Elizabeth II over 400 times across 30 years. 

It’s fair to say, Mrs Prunella Scales was a woman of many talents, many attributes and many successes which will live on in British media history.