Scales was innate Prunella Margaret Rumney Illingworth within Sutton Abinger, Surrey. She has got an extended & distinguished career as an actress, mostly around funny roles. Her early film roles involved Pride and Prejudice and ''Hobson's Choice.

Her number one large break come by owning a early 1960s sitcom, Marriage Lines, in which she starred paired Richard Briers. She has experienced major roles within BBC Radio 4 sitcoms, most notably After Henry, Smelling of Roses and Ladies of Letters. Extrthe recently she has been seen within the UK in a series of Tesco supermarket commercials as a domineering mother, Dottie Turnbull, using Jane Horrocks as her long-suffering girl.

She super about had a role of "Eth" in The Glums, a portion of Take It From Here'', written by Frank Muir and Dennis Norden, but was narrowly beaten by June Whitfield.

She is married to the British actor Timothy West, & has ii sons, their firstborn is the actor and director Samuel West. Around 2003, she appeared as Hilda, also known as "she who must be obeyed", married woman of Horace Rumpole in a series of little joe BBC Radio 4 plays, with her hubby swimming her invented hubby. It is each ambassadors for SOS Kids's Charity [http://www.sos-uk.org.uk/our-friends.htm].

Scales occurs as supporter of the Labour Party, and appeared in the Labour party political broadcast during the 2005 UK general election campaign.

Her authoritative life, "Prunella" written by Teresa Ransom, was published by John Murray within 2005 [http://www.madaboutbooks.com].