Bernard Cribbins could take one more trip in the time machine in Doctor Who

Bernard Cribbins is expected to make a posthumous appearance in a Doctor Who special after dying at the age of 93.

The death of The Wombles and The Railway Children star was announced by his agent on Thursday, promoting an outpouring of tributes to the veteran of British television, who has been described as a “legend”.

Cribbins may yet star on-screen in the final role of his seven-decade acting career, it is understood, with a posthumous appearance on Doctor Who.

A recurring cast member on the BBC’s science fiction series, the actor was spotted filming a Doctor Who 60th anniversary special just months before his death, and it is thought fans may be able to see this final footage when the programme airs next year.

It would be the last in a line of performances stretching back to his first forays into acting at the repertory theatre in his hometown of Oldham - having left school at 13 - in a career that has included appearances on Worzel Gummidge and Fawlty Towers.

The BBC’s Doctor Who team stated that the actor left behind a “long legacy”, and the programme’s showrunner Russell T Davies paid tribute to Cribbins’s lengthy career on Thursday, remarking that “a legend has left the world”.

Mark Gatiss, who wrote episodes of Doctor Who in which Cribbins starred as Wilfred Mott, said that “there was no one quite like Cribbins”, and described him as a “gifted comic actor with an incredible seam of pathos and real heart”.

Cribbins first appeared in Doctor Who as a companion to the then Doctor, Peter Cushing, in the 1966 feature film Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.

He returned to Doctor Who in 2007 in the recurring role of Wilfred Mott, alongside former cast members David Tennant and Catherine Tate, and had been photographed filming with the stars in May 2022 ahead of a planned reunion in a 60th anniversary special. He was seen sitting in a wheelchair being pushed by Tennant towards the TARDIS.

The BBC did not confirm at the time what role Cribbins would play in these anniversary celebrations, but it is understood he will feature in some capacity, with final production decisions yet to be made.

Should this happen, the special will likely introduce Cribbins to yet another generation of viewers, following those that have known him as a familiar face on children’s television, from narrating The Wombles in the 1970’s, to leading in the 2013-15 CBeebies series Old Jack’s Boat.

On the big screen he played the station porter Albert Perks in The Railway Children (1970), and a barman in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1972 thriller Frenzy. He also made novelty records in the 1960s.

Cribbins’ agent, Gavin Barker Associates, has paid tribute to his long and varied careers, saying in a statement released on Thursday: “Beloved actor Bernard Cribbins OBE has passed away at the age of 93. His career spanned seven decades with such diverse work ranging from films like ‘The Railway Children’ and the ‘Carry On’ series, hit 60’s song ‘Right Said Fred’, a notorious guest on ‘Fawlty Towers’ and narrating ‘The Wombles’.