Billy Connolly says his 'life is slipping away' in new documentary

Billy Connolly says he's "near the end" of his life. Photo / Getty Images

Billy Connolly says his life is "slipping away" and he is now "near the end".

The Scottish comedian, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer and Parkinson's on the same day in 2013, opened up about "the end" in the second part of his BBC documentary series Made in Scotland, soon to be released in the UK.

In the documentary, the 76-year-old says he's "at the wrong end of the telescope of life" and is "at the point where the yesteryears mean more than the yesterdays", the Sun reports.

He says: "My life, it's slipping away and I can feel it and I should. I'm 75, I'm near the end. I'm a damn sight nearer the end than I am the beginning. But it doesn't frighten me, it's an adventure and it is quite interesting to see myself slipping away.

"As bits slip off and leave me, talents leave and attributes leave. I don't have the balance I used to have, I don't have the energy I used to have. I can't hear the way I used to hear, I can't see as good as I used to.

"I can't remember the way I used to remember. And they all came one at a time and they just slipped away, thank you. It is like somebody is in charge of you and they are saying, 'Right, I added all these bits when you were a youth, now it is time to subtract.'

"I can't work my left hand on the banjo. It is as if I am being prepared for something. Some other adventure, which is over the hill. I have got all this stuff to lose first and then I will be the shadowy side of the hill, doing the next episode in the spirit world."

Billy says he has "cut back" on work and in the doco, he is shown asking for filming to halt as he is in immense pain, and later he begins shaking uncontrollably.

"The Parkinson's is strange because it is not going to go away. All my life I have got sick and I have got the flu and pneumonia various things and they all went away. This isn't going anywhere. It is going to get worse.

"It takes a certain calm to deal with, and I sometimes don't have it. I sometimes get angry with it, but that doesn't last long, I just collapse in laughter. The good things are there, the love we have for people is still there, and with a bit of luck the love they have for you is still there.

"And I am very lucky in as much as I made a bit of a mark and you think, 'Well I must have done something right.' And that keeps you company when you are older, is the fact that when you were creative, you created well, it accompanies you, it is a great companion.

"You can volunteer to take life seriously but it is gonna get you, they are going to win over you, it is harsh, but you can either break down and complain about how miserable your life is or have a go at it and survive. I think that is the basis of it all."

In that same spirit, he adds: "There is still time to go yet, there are still places to go, new friends to make, maybe new songs to write and sing and jokes to tell."