Samuel West has opened up about the intense period during which he was filming the second series of his Channel 5 show while also directing memorials for both of his parents, Prunella Scales and Timothy West.
Sam & Ade Go Birding returns to screens with a new series that sees Sam and Ade Edmundson explore Britain's birdlife and landscapes, heading to locations including Yorkshire and West Wales.
Parents' deaths and memorials
In the previous series, viewers saw Sam discuss mortality after the deaths of his parents. His father, Timothy West, died at the age of 90 from a subdural haematoma and extra-axial haemorrhage (bleeding within the skull) following a fall. His mother, Prunella Scales, died a year later in 2025 at the age of 93 after a lengthy, well-documented struggle with vascular dementia.
When asked whether those conversations would continue in the new series, he confirmed they would. He commented: "It's been quite an intense year and a half since we started the show. Both my parents died, and I turned 60. It's more than delightful that my parents were deeply loved by people who'd never met them."
He added: "They left a huge body of work, which means a lot both to people who knew them - in some cases longer than I did - and to people who didn't know them at all. I think that's just remarkable. A privilege."
Filming and memorials overlap
Samuel explained that filming for the second series overlapped with him directing both of his parents' memorials, although his brother helped with their mother's. He continued: "They were very different, but they both needed to be 'good shows', for obvious reasons. That was slightly hanging over me for the first series. In the mid-Wales episode, I talk about how John Cleese and Neil Kinnock are going to speak at my mum's memorial."
He said: "Both were brilliant, and they represented different parts of my mum's legacy. John Cleese spoke about what a fantastic comic actress she was, and Neil Kinnock called her a true progressive, someone you wanted on your picket line or in your trench when there was a political fight to be had. That was great: those speeches honoured two sides of her. Both needed to be said."
New series details
The new series of Sam & Ade Go Birding will see the pair travel the rolling hills and towering sea cliffs of Yorkshire to the wilds of West Wales. Along their journey, they will encounter swifts, swallows, curlews, red kites, ospreys, woodland songbirds, puffins, guillemots and gannets.
A synopsis reads: "The series is as much about friendship as it is about birds, with the duo sharing candid, funny and moving stories of ageing, family, mortality and the rhythms of life. Beautifully filmed and deeply uplifting, Sam & Ade Go Birding remains a celebration of the British countryside, the changing seasons and the simple joy of looking up - together."
Sam & Ade Go Birding airs Wednesday October 1 on Channel 5 from 7pm.
