Bernard Cribbins, Doctor Who’s Most Beloved Grandfather, Has Died

Bernard Cribbins, adored for his function because the fantastic grandfather of Doctor Who companion Donna Noble, Wilfred Mott, has died, Variety reviews.

A decades-spanning profession throughout movie and tv introduced Cribbins many beloved roles, from visitor turns in Fawlty Towers to his appearances within the Carry On sequence, in addition to his roles in youngsters’s tv—most notably as the enduring voice behind the narration of the Seventies sequence The Wombles, and extra just lately the Children’s BBC sequence Old Jack’s Boat.

But Cribbins will eternally be remembered for his time on Doctor Who—first, a long time in the past when he performed police officer Tom Campbell, a companion to Peter Cushing’s Dr. Who within the large display film Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. on the peak of “Dalekmania” within the Sixties. Cribbins returned to this system in its revived period to play Wilfred Mott, first launched within the 2007 Christmas particular “The Voyage of the Damned” in what was initially a one-off function, earlier than the character was reconfigured to return because the grandfather of then-incoming companion Donna Noble, performed by Catherine Tate. Cribbins made a number of appearances throughout the fourth season of present, and into the sequence of specials that climaxed David Tennant’s time because the tenth Doctor—the place he’s is finest recognized for making an terrible lot of Doctor Who followers cry in his strongest scene.

“He loved being in Doctor Who. He said, ‘Children are calling me grandad in the street!,’” Doctor Who showrunner Russell T. Davies posted in an instagram tribute to the actor. “His first day was on location with Kylie Minogue, but all eyes, even Kylie’s, were on Bernard. He’d turned up with a suitcase full of props, just in case, including a rubber chicken. And what an actor. Oh, really though, what a wonderful actor. We once took him to the TV Choice Awards and sent him up on his own to collect the award, and the entire room stood up and cheered him. That’s a lovely memory. He’d phone up and say, ‘I’ve got an idea! What if I attack a Dalek with a paintball gun?!’ Okay, Bernard, in it went!”

Cribbins was set to reprise his function within the upcoming sixtieth anniversary Doctor Who particular, alongside the returning David Tennant and Catherine Tate, though particulars as to his function have been stored underneath wraps.

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