Yesterday I went along to the press confo for Fawlty Towers: Re-opened, which features cast and crew celebrating the show’s 30th anniversary. One thing I forgot to mention was that Stephen Fry is narrating, which is always nice. Anyway, it’s on G.O.L.D. this Sunday (10 May, 9pm) and should be good stuff. I’ve already posted up the round table interview with Andrew Sachs (see link below) and now it’s the turn of the marvellous and really lovely Prunella Scales. John Cleese tomorrow. Words after the jump.

Related: TV Scoop interview: Andrew Sachs

TV Scoop: When you first did the role, did you have any idea that there would be this level of interest 30 years on?
Prunella Scales: No, not at all. I think John Howard Davis cast me, because he’d seen me do a sitcom with Richard Briers called Marriage Lines. So I had done a sitcom on telly. But do you know I’m so sorry because I can’t really remember it was so long ago whether I did a test for it or not. Ah, that’s right. I went to see John in his rather posh flat in Holland Park. He was in bed with the flu, and I went in and he asked me what I thought of the scripts and I said I thought they were just brilliant, dazzling. He asked me if I had any questions, and I asked: “Why on earth did Basil and Sybil get married?” And he said: “Oh my God! I thought you were going to ask that!” We talked about that a bit and came to a few conclusions and we went from there.

TVS: Do you think their marriage would have lasted if a third series had been made?
PS: I don’t know… I very much respect John and Connie. They were under huge pressure to write a third series, but I think they had expiated their anger about service in hotels. They managed to cover, very brilliantly, 12 aspects of bad hotel management. So they were under enormous pressure, but I respect them for leaving it there. They are very good still, aren’t they? I respect them for not doing any more. I think with so many popular television series that sometimes if the writers are persuaded to do more than their original idea, they do deteriorate.

TVS: Was the chemistry between you and John fairly instant?
PS: I don’t know, ask him! I thought John was absolutely brilliant in the Monty Python series. I think he’s lovely. As Frank Muir once told me: “There’s no future in it darling, there wouldn’t be anyone to talk to.” John remains for Timothy and me a dear, dear friend and we’ve been out to see him California and we see him whenever he’s over here.

TVS: What shows do you like to watch on television these days?
PS: I’m mercifully busy in live theatre, and when I’m at home I watch BBC News 24. Compulsively. I’m absolutely hooked on it. Of course, I look through Radio Times to see if there’s anything we want to watch, and if one has heard very, very good things about something worth watching, we sit and watch it. My husband’s working in the theatre at the moment, so we have supper when he comes home from the show. Even then, we watch BBC News 24! Sometimes he’ll ring up and ask me to record such and such.

TVS: Did you get any enjoyment from slapping John across the face in Fawlty Towers?
PS: No, that’s always a technical aspect of the job. I’m sorry, no. He’s lovely to work with, spot-on. I wouldn’t hurt him if I was paid. Well, I was being paid…

TVS: Do you agree with people who say Fawlty Towers is the best sitcom of all time?
PS: Oh! I certainly can’t think off the top of my head one that is better or funnier, I must say. But I’m not all that.

TVS: Have you met anyone who doesn’t like it?
PS: No, no I haven’t. I think it goes better in Germany than it does in France. But then that is to do with language. English translates better in to German comedically. It’s a rhythmic thing. The German classics are in the iambic pentameter, the French classics are in the sixth line. I don’t what this means, but I think it’s a very, very basic rhythmic thing.

TVS: Was it nice to be reunited today?
PS: Yes, it was lovely. Lovely to see everyone, it always is.

TVS: John said that there was no chance of a proper reunion onscreen, but at any point in the last 30 years was there talk of doing another series?
PS: No, no I don’t think so. As I said, John And Connie said that they had expiated their rage about the 12 factors of poor hotel management.

TVS: Will you watch Andrew in Coronation Street?
PS: Oh yes! I was in Coronation Street once. I played a bus conductress and I hoped I was going to get Harry Hewitt. I was in two episodes, but I was Yorkshire woman so I wanted to make sure my Manchester accent was correct. It was millions of years ago! I wouldn’t mind doing a one-off episode again, only if it was a very lovely script.