Doctor Who Meets Bernard Who: An Autobiography for Whovians and Film Lovers
Doctor Who, having been on the air for many years, has attracted a fair number of actors to fill all those roles. Companions, Time Lords, aliens, various other major and minor characters. Bernard Cribbins was an English actor and singer who’d appeared in some of the best episodes of Doctor Who, as well as the Doctor Who movie of the sixties (starring Peter Cushing as the Doctor), Dalek’s Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.
In 2018, Cribbins wrote his autobiography, Bernard Who? 75 Years of Doing Just About Everything. I’ve loved Cribbins since I first laid eyes on him, so I was eager to read the book as soon as I heard about it.
Cribbins was a well loved character actor who’d carved a niche for himself and becoming well known in England for a variety of movies and television shows. He appeared movies with some of the best known actors in the world but it was his stint on a British Television show called Jackanory that endeared him to children all over Britain. From what I’ve read, I gather the show is something like Reading Rainbow in that it encouraged children to read. Another children’s project—a film called The Railway Children—has also become a classic, and from what I read, I’d love to see it!
He also appeared on what I’ve always considered to be one of the funniest episodes of Fawlty Towers. Look it up. I’m sure you’ll agree it’s a wonderful episode!
Cribbins admits that he always said yes to work, and believed that this opened him up to a lot of amazing experiences. It’s hard to argue considering that he ended up acting professionally at the age of 14, served in the Parachute Regiment in the 1940s, and upon completing his National Service, he returned to acting, eventually appearing with some of the biggest names in British films.
Some fans may not know he actually auditioned to play the Doctor himself, but lost the role to Tom Baker.
He also had two top ten hits on the British charts back in 1962 with “Hole in the Ground” and “Right, Said Fred”—the latter of which inspired a group of that name who had a hit in 1991 called “I’m Too Sexy.” He did several albums working with none other than George Martin at EMI.
It is, of course, his involvement in New Who, the Russell T Davies resurrection of the popular TV Series in 2005, for which most of us in the United States remember him. First appearing in the 2007 Christmas Special, Voyage of the Damned starring David Tennant and Kylie Minogue, Cribbins appeared at a newsstand selling papers and answering questions from David Tennant’s Doctor. When Tennant and his companions disappear, the look on Cribbins face is one of my favorite moments in all of Doctor Who’s 60 years.
In episodes that followed, Cribbins played Wilfred Mott, grandfather to the Doctor’s companion Donna Noble. He stole every scene in which he appeared, and he was even granted companion status in David Tennant’s “The End of Time” as he accompanied the Tenth Doctor onto the TARDIS and helped him defeat the Master and the Time Lords.
Cribbins even returned for the recent specials, “The Star Beast” and “Wild Blue Yonder”—and was supposed to return for “The Giggle” but was unable because of his failing health.
The book covers so much more than I’ve had space to include hear, and reads like Bernard Cribbins is sitting in your living room talking to you. It makes for a quick read, and put me in mind to search for the films/tv series that I haven’t seen yet. At the very least, I’ll read this book again. Do yourself a favor and find a copy of it.
Bernard Cribbins passed away in July and never made it to the 60th Anniversary of Doctor Who. R.I.P., Bernard Cribbins. You are missed.
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