Bernard Cribbins who played Donna Noble's grandfather Wilfred Mott in Doctor Who has passed away.

Just recently he had been seen on set filming for Doctor Who's 60th anniversary special with David Tennant and Catherine Tate.

Russell T Davies posted an Instagram tribute:

Bernard Cribbins (1928-2022) I love this man. I love him. That’s him as Snout in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. D’you fancy doing some Shakespeare, Bernard? “Let me see the script.” He knew everyone! 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. He said, ‘Children are calling me grandad in the street!’ His first day was on location with Kylie Minogue, but all eyes, even Kylie’s, were on Bernard. He’d turned up with a suitcase full of props, just in case, including a rubber chicken. 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. 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! 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.

Wilfred Mott wasn't his only contribution to the series.

He also played the role of police officer Tom Campbell in the 1966 film Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150AD.

However his return in the 2007 Christmas Special Voyage of the Damned as a newspaper seller wasn't originally intended to be Wilfred.

Howard Attfield who played Donna's father in The Runaway Bride died before completing his scenes for Partner in Crime and Davies' solution was to reshoot those scenes with Bernard as her grandfather.

Our sympathies go out to his family, friends and all the children who called him grandad in the street.

[ Main Image: Doctor Who - Bernard Cribbins and David Tennant. Credit: BBC via IMDb.com. ]

References

[@andrewsfilms] (May 17, 2022). #dwsr Wilf spotted. Twitter.

Collis, Clark (July 28, 2022). Bernard Cribbins, Doctor Who actor, dies at 93. Entertainment Weekly.

Davies, Russell T. [@russelltdavies63] (July 28, 2022). Bernard Cribbins (1928-2022) I love this man. Instagram.

O'Brien, Steve (July 28, 2022). How Bernard Cribbins brought magic and warmth to the world of Doctor Who. Radio Times.