Bernard Cribbins

Bernard Cribbins
OBE

Cribbins filming Old Jack's Boat in 2012
Born Bernard Joseph Cribbins
(1928-12-29) 29 December 1928
Derker, Oldham, Lancashire, England
Residence Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England
Occupation Actor, comedian, singer
Years active 1943[1]–2015
Spouse(s)

Gillian

Cribbins (m. 1955)
Website www.bernardcribbins.com

Bernard Joseph Cribbins, OBE (born 29 December 1928) is an English character actor, voice-over artist and musical comedian with a career spanning over seventy years. He came to prominence in films of the 1960s, and has been in work consistently since his professional debut in the mid-1950s.

Cribbins narrated The Wombles, a BBC children's television programme that ran for 60 episodes between 1973 and 1975, and played the pretentious guest Mr. Hutchinson in the "The Hotel Inspectors" episode of Fawlty Towers (1975), and the belligerent barman in Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy (1972). He also recorded several novelty records in the early 1960s and was a regular and prolific performer on the BBC's Jackanory from 1966 to 1991. Having appeared as Tom Campbell, a companion to Dr. Who in the 1966 feature film Daleks – Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D., Cribbins also appeared four decades later as Wilfred Mott, a companion to television's Tenth Doctor.

Early life

Born in Derker, Oldham, Lancashire, Cribbins served an apprenticeship at the Oldham Repertory Theatre. In 1947, he interrupted his apprenticeship to undertake national service with the Parachute Regiment in Aldershot[2] and in British-administered Mandatory Palestine.[3]

Early stage and record career

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. He also starred in the revue And Another Thing, and recorded a single of a song from the show titled "Folksong".[4]

In 1962 he released three comic songs. "The Hole in the Ground" was about an annoyed workman who eventually buries a harasser. "Right Said Fred" was about three workmen who struggle to move an unspecified heavy and awkward object into or out of a building.[2] Both these songs were produced by George Martin for Parlophone, with music by Ted Dicks and lyrics by Myles Rudge.[4] "Hole in the Ground" and "Right Said Fred" both reached the top ten in the UK Singles Chart (all chart positions are given below). His third and final single was "Gossip Calypso", which was another top 30 hit.[5]

Films

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). Other appearances include the second Doctor Who film Daleks – Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. (1966) as Special Police Constable Tom Campbell; She in 1965; The Railway Children (1970, as Mr Albert Perks, the station porter) and the Alfred Hitchcock thriller Frenzy (1972, as Felix Forsythe). Later films include Dangerous Davies The Last Detective (1981), Blackball (2003) and Run for Your Wife (2012).

Narration and voice work

Cribbins was the narrator of the British animated children's TV series The Wombles from 1973 to 1975 and also narrated 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.

In the 1960s, he provided the voice of the character Tufty in RoSPA road safety films. He also provided the voice of Buzby, a talking cartoon bird that served as the mascot for the then Post Office.[6] He also appeared reduced to OO gauge scale in adverts for Hornby model trains.[7] In 1978 he was one of two voiceovers in the electricity safety public information film Play Safe. The other voiceover was Brian Wilde; Wilde voiced the owl and Cribbins voiced the robin.

Cribbins is also the voice of Harry Bailey, the landlord of the Tabard Inn described by Geoffrey Chaucer in The Canterbury Tales, at the Canterbury Tales Attraction in Kent, which he recorded in 1987.

Cribbins also had a short stint doing voiceovers for the Mark and Lard Show on BBC Radio 1 where he would explain made up folk traditions.

In 2015 Cribbins was among an ensemble cast in an audio production of The Jungle Book, in which he played the White Cobra.

Television

Cribbins with Susie Silvey during the filming of Cuffy (1983)

Cribbins was the star of the ITV series Cribbins (1969–70).[8] Other TV appearances include The Avengers (1968), Fawlty Towers (1975, as the spoon salesman Mr Hutchinson who is mistaken by the character Basil Fawlty for a hotel inspector), Worzel Gummidge (1980), Shillingbury Tales (1980) and its spin-off Cuffy (1983). Besides voicing The Wombles, Cribbins was a well-known regular on BBC children's television in the 1970s as host of performance panel game Star Turn and Star Turn Challenge. These programmes concluded with Cribbins narrating a detective story as recurring character "Ivor Notion", with a script usually by Johnny Ball but sometimes by Myles Rudge, the co-writer of his Top 10 singles. He starred in the BBC's 1975 Christmas production Great Big Groovy Horse, a rock opera based on the story of the Trojan Horse shown on BBC2 alongside Julie Covington and Paul Jones.[9] It was later repeated on BBC1 in 1977[10] He regularly appeared on BBC TV's The Good Old Days recreating songs made famous by the great stars of Music Hall. [11][12]

Among his later TV appearances are Dalziel and Pascoe (1999), Last of the Summer Wine (2003), Coronation Street (2003, as Wally Bannister) and Down to Earth (2005).

Cribbins currently stars as Jack in the series Old Jack's Boat, set in Staithes, and broadcast on the CBeebies channel starting in 2013. This has featured Helen Lederer, Janine Duvitski and former Doctor Who companion Freema Agyeman in supporting roles.[13] Although Agyeman and Cribbins both played companions and supporting characters during David Tennant's tenure in Doctor Who (appearing in six episodes together), Old Jack's Boat marks the first time the two actors have appeared together on screen.

On 9 May 2015 he gave a reading at VE Day 70: A Party to Remember in Horse Guards Parade, London which was broadcast live on BBC1.

Later stage career

Cribbins' later theatre credits include the roles of Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls at the National Theatre, Moonface Martin in Anything Goes with Elaine Paige at the Prince Edward Theatre, Dolittle in My Fair Lady at the Houston Opera House, Texas and Watty Watkins in George Gershwin's Lady, Be Good at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre and on tour. He has also appeared in numerous pantomimes.[14] He appeared in the BBC CBeebies Proms (Number 11 & 13) at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday 26 & Sunday 27 July 2014 as Old Jack.[15]

Doctor Who

Having played Tom Campbell, a companion to Dr. Who in the 1966 feature film Daleks – Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D., Cribbins returned to the world of Doctor Who in 2006, when a photograph of him and fellow Doctor Who alumnus Lynda Baron at a wedding appeared on the BBC's tie-in website for the television episode "Tooth and Claw".[16]

In January 2007, Cribbins had a guest role as glam rock promoter Arnold Korns in Horror of Glam Rock, a Doctor Who radio play for BBC Radio 7.

In December 2007, Cribbins appeared as Wilfred Mott in the Christmas television special, "Voyage of the Damned"; he then appeared in a recurring capacity as the same character for the 2008 series, as the grandfather of companion Donna Noble.[17] He became a Tenth Doctor companion himself in The End of Time, the two-part 200910 Christmas and New Year special, when his character was inadvertently responsible for that Doctor's demise. Cribbins's role as Mott makes him unique, as he is the only actor to have played two companions; and the only actor featured alongside the Doctor's enemies, the Daleks, in both the TV and cinema versions of Doctor Who.

Honours

In 2009, Cribbins was honoured for his work in children's television with a Special Award at the British Academy Children's Awards which was presented by former co-star Catherine Tate, who portrayed his character's granddaughter in Doctor Who.[18][19]

Cribbins was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours for services to drama.[20][21]

In 2014 he was awarded the J.M. Barrie award for his "lasting contribution to children’s arts".[22]

Filmography

Television

Year(s) Title Episode(s)
1960 Interpol Calling "Slow Boat to Amsterdam"
1962 The Canterville Ghost
1966, 1968 The Avengers

"The Girl from Auntie" (1966)
"Look (Stop Me If You've Heard This One) But There Were These Two Fellers ..." (1968)

1966–95 Jackanory
1971, 1976 Get the Drift
1973–75 The Wombles (Voices)
1975 The Great Big Groovy Horse
1975 The Further Adventures Of Noddy "The Great Car Race" (Narrator)
1975 Fawlty Towers "The Hotel Inspectors"
1976 Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings (Narrator)
1976–78 Star Turn
1976 Space: 1999 "Brian the Brain"
1977 Play of the Month Episode 97: "The Country Wife"
1979 Worzel Gummidge
1981 Shillingbury Tales
1982 The Good Old Days
1983 Cuffy
1983 Moschops
1986 Langley Bottom
1987 When We Are Married
1987 High & Dry
1990 Bertie the Bat
1993 A Passion For Angling
1999 Dalziel and Pascoe "Time to Go"
2000 The Canterbury Tales "The Journey Back"
2002 Barbara "Ted's Shed"
2003 Last of the Summer Wine "In Which Gavin Hinchcliffe Loses the Gulf Stream"
2003 Coronation Street
2005 Down to Earth

"Hot Air"
"Tall Tales"

2007–10 Doctor Who

"Voyage of the Damned" (2007)
"Partners in Crime" (2008)
"The Sontaran Stratagem"/"The Poison Sky" (2008)
"Turn Left" (2008)
"The Stolen Earth"/"Journey's End" (2008)
"The End of Time" (200910)

2009 Never Mind The Buzzcocks Doctor Who Special
2010 Catching the Impossible[23]
2010 Would I Lie To You?
2011 A Comedy Roast "Barbara Windsor: a Comedy Roast"
2011 Bookaboo "The Bears in the Bed and the Great Big Storm"
2013– Old Jack's Boat
2013 Doctor Who Live The Next Doctor
2013 Have I Got News For You -
2014 Midsomer Murders The Flying Club
2015 New Tricks Last Man Standing, Part One
Last Man Standing, Part Two

Films

Year Film Role Notes
1957 Yangtse Incident: The Story of H.M.S. Amethyst Sonar Operator / 1st Cribbage Player
1958 Davy Stage Hand, Collins Music Hall Uncredited
Dunkirk Thirsty Sailor Uncredited
1959 Make Mine a Million Jack
Tommy the Toreador Paco
1960 Two-Way Stretch Lennie Price
The World of Suzie Wong Otis
1961 Visa to Canton Pereira
Nothing Barred Newspaperman
The Best of Enemies Col. Brownlow
1962 The Girl on the Boat Peters
The Fast Lady Man on Stretcher Uncredited
1963 The Wrong Arm of the Law Nervous O'Toole
The Mouse on the Moon Vincent Mountjoy
Carry On Jack Midshipman Albert Poop-Decker
1964 A Home of Your Own The Stonemason
Carry On Spying Harold Crump
Crooks in Cloisters Squirts
The Counterfeit Constable Bob, l'agent 202
1965 She Job
Cup Fever Policeman
You Must Be Joking Sgt. Clegg
1966 The Sandwich Man Harold - Photographer
Daleks – Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. Tom Campbell
1967 Casino Royale Carlton Towers, Taxi Driver
1968 A Ghost of a Chance Ron
Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River Fred Davies
1970 The Railway Children Albert Perks
1972 Frenzy Felix Forsythe
1978 The Water Babies Mr. Masterman / Voice of Eel
The Adventures of Picasso Gertrude Stein / Narrator
1981 Dangerous Davies The Last Detective Dangerous Davies
1992 Carry On Columbus Mordecai Mendoza
2003 Blackball Mutley
2012 Hospital Patient Hospital patient
A Fantastic Fear of Everything The Voice Voice

Discography

Chart singles

Year Title UK peak position[5] Notes
1962 "Hole In The Ground" 9 One of Noël Coward's choices when guest on BBC Radio's Desert Island Discs
1962 "Right Said Fred" 10 Inspired the name of the band of the same name
1962 "Gossip Calypso" 25 Written by Trevor Peacock

Albums

Year Album Notes
1962 A Combination Of Cribbins
1970 The Best of Bernard Cribbins[24]
1983 The Snowman Narrator
2005 The Very Best of Bernard Cribbins

References

  1. It was revealed during Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor broadcast on BBC One, 4 August 2013 that Cribbins celebrates 70 years in showbusiness later this year (2013).
  2. 1 2 "Bernard Cribbins". Gavin Barker Associates. Retrieved 5 April 2008.
  3. "Bernard Cribbins military career at the ParaData website".
  4. 1 2 Dennis, Jon (2 May 2012). "Old Music: Bernard Cribbins 'Right Said Fred'". The Guardian.
  5. 1 2 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 127. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  6. It later became British Telecommunications when the two wings of the Post Office were de-merged.
  7. "Cribbins, Bernard (1928) Biography". screenonline.
  8. "BFI Screenonline: Cribbins, Bernard (1928-) Biography". Screenonline.org.uk. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  9. http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/612ffe3510ec4d1997059601247c58a0
  10. http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/c8a45fab0e7f4d099b95b367346c3d5b
  11. British Film Institute. "Star Turn Challenge[01/10/78]". Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  12. "Star Turn". ukgameshows.com. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  13. "Media Centre - Old Jack's Friends". BBC. 14 January 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  14. "Bernard Cribbins Biography". Gavin Barker Associates.
  15. "BBC Proms 2014". http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/whats-on/2014/july-26/14942. External link in |website= (help);
  16. VisitTorchwood.co.UK "Torchwood House" Check |url= value (help). BBC. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  17. "Into the Future!". Doctor Who Magazine. 19 September 2007. p. 4.
  18. "2009 Children's Special Award". BAFTA.
  19. "Bernard Cribbins recalls his classics". BBC. 27 November 2009.
  20. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 59808. p. 9. 11 June 2011.
  21. "Bruce Forsyth Knighthood heads Queen's Birthday Honours". BBC News. 11 June 2011.
  22. "Veteran BBC Star Bernard Cribbins awarded J M Barrie Award". BBC News. 10 December 2014.
  23. "Catching The Impossible Films". Catchingtheimpossible.com. Retrieved 8 May 2005.
  24. "Bernard Cribbins - The Best Of Bernard Cribbins (Vinyl, LP) at Discogs". Discogs.

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