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Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies pays tribute to Bernard Cribbins: ‘A legend has left the world’-Rachael O'Connor-Entertainment – Metro
‘I’m so lucky to have known him. Thanks for everything, my old soldier.’
Russell T Davies has paid tribute to the legendary Bernard Cribbins, who has died age 93 (Picture: Getty Images)
Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies has paid tribute to Bernard Cribbins following his death at the age of 93.
The veteran actor appeared in Davies’ tenure of the show, alongside David Tennant and Catherine Tate.
He had also recently been filming the upcoming 60th anniversary of the show, again alongside Tate and Tennant, as well as Heartstopper star Yasmin Finney, under Davies’ direction.
His death was announced on Thursday, months after the actor lost his wife of 66 years, Gill, who died last October.
Fans have been left devastated by Cribbins’ loss, and on Thursday Davies took to social media to share a gorgeous tribute to the actor, along with a photo showing his well-documented humour.
The photo shows Cribbins smiling happily, his face poking through a hole cut out of cardboard painted to look like a red brick wall – it was, Davies explained, Cribbins playing Snout in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Davies shared the sweet photograph as he paid tribute to Cribbins (Picture: Instagram/ Russell T Davies)
The showrunner began the tribute by writing: ‘Bernard Cribbins (1928-2022),’ adding quite plainly: ‘I love this man. I love him.’
Cribbins ‘knew everyone,’ Davies went on.
‘He’d talk about the Beatles and David Niven, and how he once sat on the stairs at a party impersonating bird calls with T H White. Then he’d add, “I said to Ashley Banjo last week…”
‘He loved being in Doctor Who,’ Davies said, recalling how delighted Cribbins was to tell him: ‘Children are calling me grandad in the street!’
Cribbins ‘loved’ being on Doctor Who, where he starred alongside Catherine Tate and David Tennant (Picture: PA)
Cribbins’ first day on Doctor Who was ‘on location with Kylie Minogue, but all eyes, even Kylie’s, were on Bernard,’ Davies said.
‘He’d turned up with a suitcase full of props, just in case, including a rubber chicken.
Cribbins was a wonderful person and ‘a wonderful actor’ (Picture: PA)
‘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.’
Davies recalled how one Cribbins’ Doctor Who character’s best moments was in fact his own idea, revealing: ‘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!’
Davies paid a gorgeous tribute to the actor, who played the beloved Wilfred Mott in Doctor Who (Picture: Getty Images)
The It’s A Sin writer also commented on how much Cribbins adored his wife, Gill.
‘He loved Gill with all his heart; he mentioned her in every conversation we ever had. A love story for the ages.
‘I’m so lucky to have known him. Thanks for everything, my old soldier. A legend has left the world.’
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Cribbins’ agent announced the sad news of his death on Thursday morning, writing in tribute: ‘Bernard’s contribution to British entertainment is without question.
‘He was unique, typifying the best of his generation, and will be greatly missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing and working with him.’
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