The Daily Telegraph

Doctor may fly Cribbins back to TV in posthumous role

- By Craig Simpson

BERNARD CRIBBINS is expected to make a posthumous appearance in a Doctor Who special after dying at the age of 93.

The death of The Wombles and The Railway Children star was announced by his agent yesterday, promoting an outpouring of tributes to the veteran of television, who has been described as a “legend”.

Cribbins may yet star in the final role of his seven-decade acting career, it is understood, with a posthumous appearance on Doctor Who. A recurring castmember on the BBC series, the actor was spotted filming a Doctor Who 60th anniversar­y special months before his death and it is thought fans may be able to see this final footage when the planned programme airs next year.

Cribbins’ career stretches back to acting at the repertory theatre in his hometown of Oldham – having left school at 13 – and included roles on Worzel Gummidge and Fawlty Towers. The BBC’S Doctor Who team said the actor left a “long legacy”, and the programme’s showrunner Russell T Davies yesterday said “a legend has left the world”.

Mark Gatiss, who wrote episodes of Doctor Who starring Cribbins as Wilfred Mott, said “there was no one quite like Cribbins” and called him a “gifted comic actor with an incredible seam of pathos and real heart”. Cribbins first appeared in Doctor Who as a companion to the then Doctor, Peter Cushing, in the 1966 film Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 AD.

He returned in 2007 in the recurring role of Wilfred Mott with former cast members David Tennant and Catherine Tate. He was photograph­ed filming with them in May 2022 ahead of a planned reunion in a 60th anniversar­y special, being pushed in a wheelchair by Tennant towards the TARDIS.

The BBC did not confirm what role Cribbins would play, but it is understood he will feature in some capacity.

This would introduce Cribbins to another generation of viewers, following those knew him for narrating The

Wombles in the 1970s or leading in the 2013-15 Cbeebies series Old Jack’s Boat.

He also played the station porter Albert Perks in The Railway Children

(1970), and a barman in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1972 thriller Frenzy and made novelty records in the 1960s.

Cribbins’ agent, Gavin Barker Associates, said in a statement: “Beloved actor Bernard Cribbins OBE has passed away at the age of 93. His career spanned seven decades with such diverse work ranging from films like The Railway Children and the Carry On series, hit 60s song Right Said Fred, a notorious guest on Fawlty Towers and narrating The Wombles.”

 ?? ?? Bernard Cribbins played Wilfred Mott alongside David Tennant in ‘Doctor Who’
Bernard Cribbins played Wilfred Mott alongside David Tennant in ‘Doctor Who’

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