Trivia

Aged 79 when he made his first appearance as Mott, he is the oldest actor to have played a credited companion on Doctor Who (1963) or Doctor Who (2005).

He served in the Parachute Regiment, the British Army's airborne assault force, in 1947, as his National Service.

He is the only actor to appear in both the "Doctor Who" feature film Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1966) and the revived television series, Doctor Who (2005).

He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in 2011 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to drama.

He has a longstanding association with the science-fiction series Doctor Who (1963). Not only did he play a companion in the second Peter Cushing film, Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1966), 40 years before his regular role as a companion, Wilfred Mott, in the Russell T. Davies version of Doctor Who (2005), he had also been interviewed for the role of the Doctor in 1974 by Barry Letts.

He holds the record of 111 appearances on BBC's 'Jackanory'.

He had success in the UK Singles Chart with "Hole in the Ground", which reached #9, "Right Said Fred" (#10) and "Gossip Calypso" (#25), all in 1962. He was working with legendary record producer George Martin, who is most famous for producing The Beatles.

His favourite "Carry On" film is Carry on Jack (1964).

He dates becoming a professional actor to January 4, 1943, when a local theatre producer spotted him in a school play and offered him a job with Oldham Coliseum Rep.

He appeared with the Oldham Repertory Company, 1942-43; with the Piccolo Players, Lancashire, UK; and with the Queen's Players, Hornchurch, UK during his early, vital years on stage.

He was due to appear in Dad's Army: The Lost Episodes (2019) but had drop out due to ill health.

He was asked to appear in the film Carry on Cleo (1964) but chose to do a play instead.

His many commercial voice over assignments include Busby for British Telecom.

He was the narrator to the "Tufty" British Public Information Films of the 1970s.

Spent 12 years in the Oldham Repertory Theatre where he met his wife who was the asm.

He became a student player with his local repertory company at the age of 14.

He made his stage debut as Jack Frost in a school pantomime.

In 1947, at the age of 19, he was in a stage production of Macbeth at Oldham Coliseum, where he witnessed Harold Norman, who was playing Macbeth, being accidentally and fatally wounded during a staged fight. The production could not afford safer fake swords and so used real ones instead.

Prior to acting worked as a window cleaner and in a brewery.

His father, who was an amateur actor, introduced him to the theatre.

Directed Millicent Martin in 2 German television shows in 1972.

He has a firm rule that whenever he finishes a series or film he takes a fishing holiday.

Has three sisters; Veronica (b. 1927), Kathleen (b. 1935) and Barbara (b. 1944).

Uncle of Suzanne (b. 1960) and Paul (b. 1968) via sister Kathleen and her husband, Eric Kershaw.

A memorial service was held for him at St. Paul's Church, Covent Garden on 13th October 2023.

His record as at November 1969 was a 20lb Pike.

Hobby is fly fishing after Pike, Perch and Chub on the River Thames near where he lives in Weybridge in Surrey or at Dungeness in Kent but he rarely eats anything that he catches.

Son of John Edward (1896-1964) and Ethel (née Clarkson) Cribbins (1897-1989).

His wife Gillian was the assistant stage manager at Oldham Rep where he worked for 9 years after leaving school.

As of June 2011 he was living in Weybridge, Surrey, England.