Bernard Cribbins

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).

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. He had two sisters, alongside whom he grew up close to poverty. He described his father, who was of Irish descent, as a "jack of all trades" who also dabbled in acting.

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, and then served an apprenticeship at the Oldham Repertory Theatre. In 1947, he began national service with the Parachute Regiment in Aldershot, Hampshire, including a posting to Mandatory Palestine.

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. 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". 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), were top ten hits on the UK Singles Chart in 1962. The third and final Cribbins single of the year "Gossip Calypso", written by Trevor Peacock, was another top 30 hit.

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). 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).

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. He was the celebrity storyteller in more episodes of Jackanory than any other personality, with a total of 114 appearances between 1966 and 1991. He also narrated the audio tape of the Antonia Barber book The Mousehole Cat. From 1974 to 1976, Cribbins narrated Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings.