RIP Bernard Cribbins

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

There are those days you wake up, open the news bar, and just go "aw hell no."

 

Those of you who've watched the Tennant-era Who shows may remember his friend and inadvertent killer Wilf, alias British national treasure Bernard Cribbins.

 

Pretty much everybody in the UK has a memory of him of some kind - and for most of us of a [REDACTED] age it's The Wombles:

 

Before that, he was a mainstay of comedy flicks through the  1960s - and a surprisingly cunning Companion to Peter Cushing's Doctor in one of the 60's big-screen Who movies. On top of that, he scored two top-10 singles with comedy songs (Right Said Fred is like a musical version of Laurel & Hardy's Music Box, though exactly what monstrosity the poor guys are supposed to be moving is left to the imagination: and Hole In The Ground is about trying to get a job done when everybody and their dog has an opinion on how you're supposed to be doing it. Relatable.)

 

So he never stopped working and was always in demand - his biog was subtitled 75 Years Of Doing Just About Everything - and was, by all accounts, a Great Bloke To Work With.

 

Womble free, friend. Womble free.

 

Edited July 28, 2022 by ThaOGDreamWeaver

[Techwright]

I've only ever recognized him as Wilf in Doctor Who.  I did read through a list of his roles, and was surprised to discover I'd seen some of his works previous to Wilf, but never made the connection.  A couple of those are the Peter Cushing Doctor Who movie and the offbeat 1967 Casino Royale.  Apparently a lot of his works never crossed my path, a sad reminder of the big Pond between us, I think.  I shall have to at least re-watch the Cushing movie now.

 

I will say this, Wilf was beyond memorable.  I got the distinct feeling through that performance that Mr. Cribbins was a much more powerful actor than even the character of Wilf would allow him to be.  He did, however, communicate so much of the best of humanity through Wilf that the show, and I think Tennant's performance, were elevated by it.

 

I see he also served in WWII.  Respect.

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

Wilf is also rumoured to be back in the 60th Anniversary multi-Doctor-malarkey episode opposite Tennant, which would make it his last ever TV appearance.

[Herotu]

Bernard Cribbins was an ever-present of British TV for a long, long time. What a massive legend.

[Techwright]

13 hours ago, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

Wilf is also rumoured to be back in the 60th Anniversary multi-Doctor-malarkey episode opposite Tennant, which would make it his last ever TV appearance.

Looks like he was in an episode of Worzel Gummidge, Jon Pertwee's other major series, making yet another Doctor that Cribbins worked with.

[Coin]

This guy was the voice of my childhood.

 

He was the voice of Busby and Tufty, and also the voice of The Wombles, my favourite show as a kid. I even still have a Wellington today that my wife bought me 🙂

 

Not mention his appearance in Carry On movies, the Doctor Who second movie and the Railway Children, all things I love.

 

And then he was Wilf. And my own kids fell in love with him 🙂

 

Gonna miss this one. 😞