Samuel West heartbreakingly admits he doesn't know 'what it's going to feel like' at first Christmas without his father Timothy

Samuel West has heartbreakingly opened up on this year being his first Christmas without his father Timothy, after his death last month.

Timothy, who was a theatre legend and also starred in EastEnders and Great Canal Journeys with his Fawlty Towers star wife Prunella Scales, died at Wandsworth Common Care Home on November 12.

As a result of her dementia, Samuel's mother Prunella, 92, has not been able to 'fully take in' that her husband has passed away. 

Samuel, 58, who followed in his fathers footsteps when it came to his career, has admitted he's not sure what the festive season is going to be like without his dad.

Speaking in Radio Times' Christmas issue, he candidly said: 'This is my first Christmas since Dad [Timothy West] passed. He’s the first close person to me I’ve ever lost. 

'I don’t know what it’s going to feel like, except that there’s this big sucking minus in the middle of your tummy. 

'But my parents, until quite recently, have been quite independent, so a lot of the time they’d be off on a cruise to India, back in February. So, they’re not going to be there again, but in a very different way.' 

It comes just after Samuel revealed to The Sunday Times the significance of his father's time of death. 

Timothy died at 6.55pm, the time widely respected as the 'half-hour call' for stage actors. 'I thought that was rather beautiful,' Samuel said.

And Samuel - who is currently playing Malvolio in the RSC’s Twelfth Night - revealed that his father's finals words to him were equally theatrical, as he asked him: 'Where are you going to rehearsals?'

In a touching tribute to his father, Samuel said Timothy's end was a peaceful one. 'No more visitors backstage,' he added. 'He took a deep breath in the wings and went on.'

Timothy passed away peacefully surrounded by family and friends last month.

His children Juliet, Samuel and Joseph West announced the tragic news with a shared statement on social media, saying he died peacefully in his sleep 'with his friends and family at the end'.

Timothy married his wife 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.

Prunella and Timothy previously starred together in their own Channel 4 TV show, Great Canal Journeys, between 2014 and 2021, but were forced to quit due to her ailing health.

Together, the couple had two sons, Joseph and actor Samuel, who is also currently starring in All Creatures Great and Small. Timothy was also married to actor Jacqueline Boyer from 1956 to 1961, and they had a daughter, Juliet.

The statement announcing Timothy's death read: 'After a long and extraordinary life on and off the stage, our darling father Timothy West died peacefully in his sleep yesterday evening. He was 90 years old.

'Tim was with friends and family at the end. He leaves his wife Prunella Scales, to whom he was married for 61 years, a sister, a daughter, two sons, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. All of us will miss him terribly.

'We would like to thank the incredible NHS staff at St George's Hospital, Tooting and at Avery Wandsworth for their loving care during his last days.'

Prunella was formally diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2014, though the signs of her illness were there long before.

West revealed in his book that the actress had kept slipping her lines during a 2003 production of Oscar Wilde's A Woman Of No Importance at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London's West End.

In an interview with the BBC last year, West said he recalled every word of that life-changing moment when the doctor finally diagnosed her condition: 'We went to see a specialist who said, 'Sorry this is just something which happens to you when you are older and it's not going to get any easier, but you can cope with it. Don't let it get you down.'

Timothy starred in television shows such as comedy drama Brass, sitcom Not Going Out and soaps Coronation Street and EastEnders.

In Brass he played ruthless self-made businessman Bradley Hardacre from 1982 to 1984 before returning for a third series in 1990, while in Not Going Out he played Geoffrey, the father of Lucy Adams, played by Sally Bretton.

In Coronation Street he appeared in seven episodes in 2013 as Eric Babbage, while in EastEnders he played Stan Carter from 2014 to 2015.

During his career West also played former British prime minister Winston Churchill three times, in From Churchill and the Generals (1979), The Last Bastion (1984), and Hiroshima (1995).

In 2019, the Bradford-born actor played Private Godfrey in Dad's Army: The Lost Episodes, a recreation of three missing episodes of the BBC comedy Dad's Army.