Following the airing of the second Doctor Who Special (Wild Blue Yonder), there’s been an increased amount of talk about the late (and great) Bernard Cribbins on social media and whatnot. Totally justified, as the man was just the best that humanity had to offer – a true legend of not only showbusiness, but also an all-round decent chap. So I thought I’d share my first memory of Bernard Cribbins OBE:
Over his 65 year career, he’d appeared in many films and TV Series, he’d been the voice of many an animated character (The Wombles etc.) he’d been in the Peter Cushing “Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.” film and of course Wilfred Mott in the 2005 revival of Doctor Who.
My first memory of him wasn’t in any film, play or TV programme however. He also made and released many singles and albums from around 1960 onwards. In particular, he recorded two singles that I used to love: “Right, said Fred” and “Hole in the Ground”, both released in 1962. As a small child, I loved these two jaunty little ditties very, very much and I would badger my Dad to turn the radio on for me on a Saturday morning, in the hopes that they would play one of them. They were popular songs at the time, so invariably I was not disappointed as either one would be played.
Thus began my love of Bernard Cribbins; from way back in the early 1960’s and to be honest, it has never ended.