Bernard Joseph Cribbins OBE was a popular English actor who is mostly known to have starred in Dr. Who.
He had a long career that spanned seven decades.
Cribbins became well-known in the United Kingdom throughout the 1960s for his successful novelty albums such as “The Hole in the Ground” and “Right Said Fred,” as well as roles in comedies such as Two-Way Stretch (1960) and the Carry On series.
He also played Albert Perks in The Railway Children (1970), Felix Forsythe, a bartender, in Alfred Hitchcock’s Frenzy (1972), and Mr. Hutchinson, a snobbish hotel guest, in the Fawlty Towers episode “The Hotel Inspectors” (1975).
From 1966 to 1991, he was a frequent and prolific reader for the BBC series Jackanory, he narrated the children’s program The Wombles (1973-1975), and he performed the titular role in the CBeebies series Old Jack’s Boat (2013-2015).
Cribbins played Tom Campbell, Dr. Who’s companion, in the 1966 film Daleks’ Invasion of Earth 2150 A.D.
He returned to Doctor Who 41 years later as Wilfred Mott, the grandfather of regular companion Donna Noble and a temporary companion to the Tenth Doctor.
Does Bernard Cribbins Have Any Children?
Bernard Cribbins did not have any children. The nation’s adoptive granddad speaks quietly and briefly about how he and his wife of 63 years, Gill, were unable to produce their own children.
The only time we came close was when we lost one really early on, he admits.
Then he quickly adds, “That has been a long time ago”. It’s simply one of those things, and I count myself really lucky to have been hired for a position like Jackanory, which has been incredibly well-liked and makes you feel incredibly warm inside to think of all the people who watched it as kids.