Bernard Cribbins

Template:Short description Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox person Bernard Joseph Cribbins (29 December 1928 – 27 July 2022) was an English actor and singer whose career spanned over eight decades.

During the 1960s, Cribbins became known in the UK for his successful novelty records "The Hole in the Ground" and "Right Said Fred" and for his appearances in comedy films including Two-Way Stretch (1960) and the Carry On series. His other screen roles include the astronaut Vincent Mountjoy in The Mouse on the Moon (1963), Albert Perks in The Railway Children (1970), the barman Felix Forsythe in Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy (1972) and the pretentious hotel guest Mr Hutchinson in the Fawlty Towers episode "The Hotel Inspectors" (1975). On television, he was a regular and prolific reader for the BBC series Jackanory from 1966 to 1991, he narrated the children's programme The Wombles (1973–1975) and he played the title role in the CBeebies series Old Jack's Boat (2013–2015).

In the 1966 film Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D., Cribbins portrayed Tom Campbell, a companion to Dr. Who. 41 years later, he began appearing in the revival series of Doctor Who as Wilfred Mott, the grandfather of regular companion Donna Noble and a temporary companion to the Tenth Doctor. He made his final appearance posthumously in the 60th anniversary special "Wild Blue Yonder" (2023).

Early life

Bernard Joseph Cribbins was born on 29 December 1928 in the Derker area of Oldham, Lancashire, the son of First World War veteran John Edward Cribbins (1896–1964) and Ethel (née Clarkson; 1898–1989), a cotton weaver.<ref name="BBCobit">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=Coveney /> He had two sisters, alongside whom he grew up close to poverty.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He described his father, who was of Irish descent, as a "jack of all trades" who also dabbled in acting.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Cribbins left school at the age of 13 and found a job as an assistant stage manager at a local theatre club, where he also took on some small acting roles,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and then served an apprenticeship at the Oldham Repertory Theatre.<ref name="bbc2022">Template:Cite news</ref> In 1947, he began national service with the Parachute Regiment in Aldershot, Hampshire,<ref name="GavBark">Template:Cite web</ref> including a posting to Mandatory Palestine.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="bbc2022"/>

Career

Early career

Cribbins made his first West End theatre appearance in 1956 at the Arts Theatre, playing the two Dromios in A Comedy of Errors, and co-starred in the first West End productions of Not Now Darling, There Goes the Bride and Run for Your Wife. In 1960, he starred alongside Anna Quayle and Lionel Blair in the revue And Another Thing, written by Ted Dicks and Myles Rudge.<ref name="Dennis">Template:Cite news</ref> The show brought Cribbins to the attention of Parlophone head George Martin, who signed Cribbins to the label to record a single of a satirical song from the show titled "Folk Song".<ref name="rudgeobit">Template:Cite web</ref> Subsequently, Rudge and Dicks were asked to provide new material for Cribbins; their compositions "The Hole in the Ground", about an annoyed workman who eventually buries a harasser, and "Right Said Fred", about three workmen who struggle to move an unspecified heavy and awkward object into or out of a building (later also the name of a pop novelty band who named themselves after the song<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>), were top ten hits on the UK Singles Chart in 1962.<ref name="GavBark"/><ref name="Dennis"/> The third and final Cribbins single of the year "Gossip Calypso", written by Trevor Peacock, was another top 30 hit.<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/>

Films

Cribbins appeared in films from the early 1950s, mainly comedies. His credits include Two-Way Stretch (1960) and The Wrong Arm of the Law (1963) with Peter Sellers, Crooks in Cloisters (1964) and three Carry On films – Carry On Jack (1963), Carry On Spying (1964) and Carry On Columbus (1992).<ref name="BBCobit" /> His other appearances include the second Doctor Who film Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1966) as Special Police Constable Tom Campbell; She (1965); Casino Royale (1967) as Carlton Towers, a British Foreign Office official, The Railway Children (1970) as Mr Albert Perks, the station porter and the Alfred Hitchcock thriller Frenzy (1972) as Felix Forsythe, the Covent Garden pub landlord. His later films include Dangerous Davies – The Last Detective (1981), Blackball (2003) and Run for Your Wife (2012).<ref name="BFI FIlmography">Template:Cite web</ref>

Narration and voice work

Cribbins was the narrator of the British animated children's television series The Wombles from 1973 to 1975 and also played the character of the Water Rat in a BBC Radio adaptation of The Wind in the Willows.<ref name = Coveney/> He was the celebrity storyteller in more episodes of Jackanory than any other personality,<ref name="bbc2022"/> with a total of 114 appearances between 1966 and 1991.<ref name="lawson">Template:Cite web</ref> He also narrated the audio tape of the Antonia Barber book The Mousehole Cat.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> From 1974 to 1976, Cribbins narrated Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings.<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />

In the 1960s Cribbins provided the voice of the character Tufty in RoSPA road safety films.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He also provided the voice of Buzby, a talking cartoon bird that was the mascot for the Post Office.<ref name="bbc2022"/> He also appeared in advertisements for Hornby model trains.<ref name="Screenonline"/> In 1978, he provided one of two voiceovers in the electricity safety public information film Play Safe. The other voice artist was Brian Wilde; Wilde voiced the owl and Cribbins voiced the robin.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1981, Music for Pleasure released a Swallows and Amazons audio book on tape cassette, read by Cribbins, abridged by Edward Phillips.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

From 1987 to 1991, Cribbins starred as Jimmy Bright alongside Frank Thornton as Russell Farrow in Mind Your Own Business on BBC Radio 2, which also starred Annette Crosbie.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Cribbins also provided the voiceover work for A Passion For Angling, starring Chris Yates and Bob James (1993).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1996, he played Puddleglum the marshwiggle in Brian Sibley's BBC Radio adaptation of C. S. Lewis's The Silver Chair.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2013, he played Old Bailey in the radio adaptation of Neverwhere, dramatised by Dirk Maggs<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and in 2015 he was among an ensemble cast in an audio production of The Jungle Book, in which he played the White Cobra.<ref name="lawson" />

Television

File:Silvey-bernard-cribbens.jpg

Cribbins with Susie Silvey during the filming of Cuffy

Cribbins was the star of the ITV series Cribbins (1969–70).<ref name="Screenonline">Template:Cite web</ref> His other TV appearances include The Avengers (1968), Fawlty Towers (1975, as the spoon salesman Mr Hutchinson who is mistaken by the character Basil Fawlty for a hotel inspector),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Worzel Gummidge (1980), Shillingbury Tales (1980) and its spin-off Cuffy (1983).<ref name=Coveney/> Besides voicing The Wombles, Cribbins was a regular on BBC children's television in the 1970s as host of performance panel game Star Turn and Star Turn Challenge.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

These programmes concluded with Cribbins narrating a detective story as recurring character "Ivor Notion", with a script usually by Johnny Ball but sometimes by Myles Rudge, the co-writer of his Top 10 singles. He starred in the BBC's 1975 Christmas production Great Big Groovy Horse, a rock opera based on the story of the Trojan Horse shown on BBC2 alongside Julie Covington and Paul Jones.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> It was later repeated on BBC1 in 1977.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> He regularly appeared on BBC TV's The Good Old Days recreating songs made famous by the great stars of Music Hall.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Among his later TV appearances were Dalziel and Pascoe (1999),<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref> Last of the Summer Wine (2003),<ref name="Coveney" /> Coronation Street (2003, as Wally Bannister)<ref name=":1" /> and Down to Earth (2005).<ref name="Screenonline" />

File:Bernard new.jpg

Cribbins filming Old Jack's Boat in 2012

Cribbins starred as Jack in the series Old Jack's Boat, set in Staithes, and broadcast on the CBeebies channel starting in 2013. The cast included Helen Lederer, Janine Duvitski and former Doctor Who companion Freema Agyeman in supporting roles.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Although Agyeman and Cribbins both played companions and supporting characters during David Tennant's tenure in Doctor Who (appearing in six episodes together), Old Jack's Boat was the first time the two actors have appeared together on screen. On 9 May 2015, Cribbins gave a reading at VE Day 70: A Party to Remember in Horse Guards Parade, London which was broadcast live on BBC1.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He made his final on screen appearance as Wilfred Mott in the second 60th anniversary episode Wild Blue Yonder in December 2023; although he was due to appear in the third of the three episodes and more material had been written for him, Cribbins was too ill and so this became his only scene.

In November 2018, it was announced that Cribbins would portray Private Godfrey in a series of re-creations of lost episodes from the BBC sitcom Dad's Army.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> However, Cribbins left the production in February 2019 citing "personal reasons". The role of Godfrey was later played by Timothy West.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Later stage career

Cribbins' later theatre credits include the roles of Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls at the National Theatre, Moonface Martin in Anything Goes with Elaine Paige at the Prince Edward Theatre, Dolittle in My Fair Lady at the Houston Opera House, Texas and Watty Watkins in George Gershwin's Lady, Be Good at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre and on tour. He also appeared in numerous pantomimes.<ref name="GavBark"/> He appeared in the BBC CBeebies Proms (Number 11 & 13) at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday 26 & Sunday 27 July 2014 as Old Jack.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

File:Nicholas Briggs and Bernard Cribbins in 2013 (cropped).jpg

Cribbins with Nicholas Briggs at the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Celebration Weekend in 2013

National Life Stories conducted an interview (C1173/14) with Cribbins on his memories of Richard Negri in 2006 for its An Oral History of Theatre Design collection held by the British Library.<ref name=oralhistory>National Life Stories, 'Cribbins, Bernard (1 of 2) An Oral History of Theatre Design', The British Library Board, 2006 Template:Webarchive. Retrieved 1 February 2018</ref>

Doctor Who

Having played Tom Campbell, a companion to Dr. Who in the feature film Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1966), Cribbins returned to Doctor Who in 2006, when a photograph of him and fellow Doctor Who actor Lynda Baron at a wedding appeared on the BBC's tie-in website for the television episode "Tooth and Claw".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In January 2007, Cribbins had a guest role as glam rock promoter Arnold Korns in Horror of Glam Rock, a Doctor Who audiodrama by Big Finish Productions. In December 2007, he appeared as Wilfred Mott in the Christmas television special, "Voyage of the Damned" (although in the closing credits, his character was named as "Stan") ; he then appeared in a recurring capacity as Wilfred Mott for the 2008 series, as the grandfather of companion Donna Noble.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> He became a Tenth Doctor temporary companion himself in "The End of Time", the two-part 2009–10 Christmas and New Year special, when his character was inadvertently responsible for that Doctor's demise. Cribbins's role as Wilfred Mott makes him the only actor to have played two companions<ref name="bbc2022"/> and the only actor featured in both the TV and cinema versions of Doctor Who. In 2019, he reprised the role of Wilfred in "No Place" a story in The Tenth Doctor Adventures produced by Big Finish. In 2022, Cribbins was reported to be returning to Doctor Who alongside David Tennant and Catherine Tate for the programme's 60th anniversary specials.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> His appearance, in "Wild Blue Yonder" (2023), aired posthumously; the episode was dedicated to his memory.<ref name="wildblueyonder">Template:Cite web</ref>

Honours

Cribbins was awarded the General Service Medal, with clasp "Palestine 1945–48", for his service in Palestine with 2/3 Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, on 30 May 1948, under Army Order 146 of 1947.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

File:Bernard Cribbins in 2013.jpg

Cribbins signing autographs at the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Celebration Weekend in 2013

In 2009, Cribbins was honoured for his work in children's television with a Special Award at the British Academy Children's Awards<ref name="bbc2022"/> which was presented by former co-star Catherine Tate, who portrayed his character's granddaughter in Doctor Who.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours for services to drama.<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He received his OBE from the Princess Royal at an investiture in the Waterloo Chamber at Windsor Castle on 3 November 2011.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2014, he was awarded the J. M. Barrie award for his "lasting contribution to children's arts".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Cribbins was named "British Icon of the Week" on 23 December 2020 by BBC America.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life and death

In 1955, Cribbins married Gillian McBarnet, an assistant stage manager; the couple remained together until her death on 11 October 2021.<ref name="Coveney" /><ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref> They lived in Weybridge, Surrey,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and had no children, with Cribbins revealing in 2018 that they "lost one quite early on and that was the only time [they] got near it". He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2009, but said in 2018 that he was "in good health" at the age of 90 with the exception of a "nagging back condition".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Cribbins avidly enjoyed fishing. He narrated the 1993 BBC Two documentary series A Passion for Angling and the 2008 documentary series Catching the Impossible; in the latter, he also fished onscreen alongside expert angler Martin Bowler.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2018 his autobiography, Bernard Who? 75 Years of Doing Just About Anything, was published by Constable.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> A successful social media campaign in 2022 led to his autobiography being recorded as an audiobook, with Cribbins as the narrator,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> but recording was incomplete at the time of his death, and the book was released with a narration by Gordon Griffin.

Cribbins died at the age of 93 on 27 July 2022.Template:Efn His funeral took place at Woking Crematorium in Surrey on 14 September.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1957	Yangtse Incident: The Story of H.M.S. Amethyst	Sonar Operator/1st Cribbage Player	<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
1958	Davy	Stage Hand, Collins's Music Hall	Uncredited<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
	Dunkirk	Thirsty Sailor	Uncredited<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
1959	Make Mine a Million	Jack	<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
	Tommy the Toreador	Paco	<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
1960	Two-Way Stretch	Lennie Price	<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
	Template:Sortname	Otis	<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
1961	Passport to China	Pereira	<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
	Nothing Barred	Newspaperman	<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
	Template:Sortname	Col. Brownlow
1962	Template:Sortname	Peters	<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
	Template:Sortname	Man on Stretcher	Uncredited<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
1963	Template:Sortname	Nervous O'Toole	<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
	Template:Sortname	Vincent Mountjoy	<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
	Carry On Jack	Midshipman Albert Poop-Decker	<ref name="lawson" />
1964	Template:Sortname	The Stonemason
	Carry On Spying	Harold Crump	<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
	Crooks in Cloisters	Squirts	<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
	Template:Sortname	Bob, l'agent 202	<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
1965	She	Job	<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
	Cup Fever	Policeman	<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
	You Must Be Joking	Sgt. Clegg
1966	Template:Sortname	Harold – Photographer	<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
	Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.	Tom Campbell
1967	Casino Royale	Carlton Towers, Taxi Driver	<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
1968	Template:Sortname	Ron	<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
	Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River	Fred Davies	<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
1969	The Undertakers	Mr. Rigor	Short film
1970	Template:Sortname	Albert Perks	<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
1972	Frenzy	Felix Forsythe	<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
1978	Template:Sortname	Mr. Masterman/Voice of Eel
	Template:Sortname	Gertrude Stein/Narrator	<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
	Play Safe	Robin (voice)	Short film
1981	Dangerous Davies – The Last Detective	Dangerous Davies	<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
1992	Carry On Columbus	Mordecai Mendoza	<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
2003	Blackball	Mutley
2012	Run for Your Wife	Hospital patient	<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
	Template:Sortname	The Voice	<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
2018	Patrick	Albert
	Woodland	Narrator	Short film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1956	David Copperfield	Thomas Traddles	<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
1960	Interpol Calling		Episode: "Slow Boat to Amsterdam"<ref name="Screenonline" />
1961	Winning Widows
1965	Comedy Playhouse	Ambrose Twomby	Episode: "Here I Come Whoever I Am"<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
1966	The Avengers	Arkwright	Episode: "The Girl from Auntie"
1966–1991	Jackanory	Storyteller	114 appearances<ref name="Screenonline" />
1968	The Avengers	Bradley Marler	Episode: "Look — (Stop Me If You've Heard This One) — But There Were These Two Fellers..."
1969–1970	Cribbins	Various	12 episodes<ref name="Screenonline" />
1973–1975	Template:Sortname	Narrator and Voices	60 episodes<ref name="Screenonline" />
1975	Fawlty Towers	Mr. Hutchinson	Episode: "The Hotel Inspectors"<ref name="Screenonline" />
1976	Space: 1999	Captain Michael	Episode: "Brian the Brain"<ref name="Screenonline" />
1977	Play of the Month	Pinchwife	Episode: "The Country Wife"<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
	Once Upon a Classic	Pyramid	Episode: "Night Ferry"<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
1979	Template:Sortname	House Painter	TV film<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
1981	Shillingbury Tales	Cuffy	2 episodes<ref name="Screenonline" />
	Worzel Gummidge	Jolly Jack	Episode: "The Golden Hind"<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
1982	It's Your Move	Neighbour	TV film<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
1983	Tales of the Unexpected	Charlie Krebs	Episode: "The Memory Man"<ref name="TVG" />
	Cuffy	Cuffy Follett	6 episodes<ref name="Screenonline" />
1986	Langley Bottom	Seth Raven
1987	High & Dry	Ron Archer	7 episodes<ref name="Screenonline" />
	Super Gran	Officer P. Brain	Episode: "Supergran and the Birthday Dambuster"<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
	When We Are Married	Herbert Soppitt	TV film<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
1988	Stories of the Sylvanian Families	Narrator	4 episodes<ref name="BFI FIlmography"/>
1990	Bertie the Bat	Narrator	10 episodes<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
1991	Tonight at 8.30	Mr. Wadhurst	Episode: "Hands Across the Sea"<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
1996	Dennis and Gnasher	Clint Katzenberger	Voice; Episode: "Oil Strike"
1999	Dalziel and Pascoe	Uncle Henry	Episode: "Time to Go"<ref name="TVG" />
2000	Template:Sortname	Carpenter	Voice; Episode: "The Journey Back"<ref name="BFI FIlmography"/>
2003	Last of the Summer Wine	Gavin Hinchcliffe	Episode: "In Which Gavin Hinchcliffe Loses the Gulf Stream"<ref name="Screenonline" />
	Barbara	Frank	"Guy Fawkes"<ref name="BFI FIlmography" />
	Coronation Street	Wally Bannister	11 episodes<ref name="Screenonline" />
2005	Down to Earth	Frank Cosgrove	3 episodes<ref name="Screenonline" />
2007–2010, 2023	Doctor Who	Wilfred Mott	10 episodes;<ref name="TVG" /> 2023 episode "Wild Blue Yonder" broadcast posthumously
2013–2015	Old Jack's Boat	Old Jack	All 47 episodes<ref name="TVG">Template:Cite web</ref>
2014	Midsomer Murders	Duggie Wingate	Episode: "The Flying Club"<ref name="TVG" />
2015	New Tricks	DCI Ronald Sainsbury	2 episodes<ref name="TVG" />
2016	Template:Sortname	Tom Snout	TV film<ref name="TVG" />

Selected audio roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1980	Don Quixote	Sancho Panza	2 episodes, BBC Radio 4<ref>Miguel de Cervantes – Don Quixote Template:Webarchive, BBC Radio 4</ref>
1988	Template:Sortname	Vicar	BBC Radio 4<ref>The Wonderful Visit Template:Webarchive, BBC Radio 4</ref>
1989	Fear on 4	Mr Timmins	Episode: "Soul Searching" , BBC Radio 4<ref>Soul Searching Template:Webarchive, BBC Radio 4</ref>
2001–2006	Father Gilbert Mysteries	Bill Drake	Focus on the Family Radio Theatre
2007	Doctor Who: Horror of Glam Rock	Arnold Korns	Big Finish Productions
2013	Neverwhere	Old Bailey	BBC Radio 4<ref>Neil Gaiman – Neverwhere Template:Webarchive, BBC Radio 4</ref>
2015	Template:Sortname	Mate	BBC Radio 4 <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2016	How the Marquis Got His Coat Back	Old Bailey	BBC Radio 4<ref>How the Marquis Got His Coat Back Template:Webarchive, BBC Radio 4</ref>
2019	Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor Adventures	Wilfred Mott	Big Finish Productions

Discography

Albums

Year	Album	Notes
1962	A Combination of Cribbins<ref name="discogs">Template:Cite web</ref>
1970	The Best of Bernard Cribbins<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1975	Hans Andersen – Original Soundtrack Album<ref name="discogs" />
	Paddington Bear Volume 1<ref name="discogs" />	Narrator
	Paddington Bear Volume 2<ref name="discogs" />
1983	The Snowman<ref name="discogs" />
2005	The Very Best of Bernard Cribbins<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Chart singles

Year	Title	UK peak position<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">Template:Cite book</ref>	Notes
1962	"Hole in the Ground"	9	One of Noël Coward's choices when guest on BBC Radio's Desert Island Discs
	"Right Said Fred"	10	Inspired the name of the band of the same name
	"Gossip Calypso"	25	Written by Trevor Peacock

External links

• Template:Official website – incomplete and list of works not updated since 2005
• Template:IMDb name
• Template:Screenonline name
• Template:British Comedy Guide
• Template:Discogs artist