Doctor Who fans were in tears after the late Bernard Cribbins made his final TV appearance in the second anniversary special episode.
A legendary entertainer, Cribbins died in July 2022 aged 93. Just weeks before his death, he had been seen back on the set of Doctor Who for the anniversary specials. However, fans were unsure if Cribbins had filmed scenes as Wilfred Mott, the grandfather of Catherine Tate’s Donna Noble, before he died.
In “The Star Beast”, the first of the trio of episodes marking 60 years of Doctor Who and seeing David Tennant return as the Doctor, it was revealed that Wilfred was still alive.
*Doctor Who spoilers below – you have been warned*
Cribbins appeared at the end of the second episode, “Wild Blue Yonder”, as the Doctor and Donna arrived back in London after their adventures. Greeting them outside the door of the Tardis was Wilf, sat in a wheelchair.
“Oh my goodness, Donna!” Wilf told his granddaughter, as she insisted: “I said so.” The Doctor leaned out of the Tardis grinning at Wilf, who looked shocked in return.
Wilf and the Doctor reunited— (BBC)
“Wilfred Mott. Oh, now I feel better,” the Doctor said, adding: “Now nothing is wrong, nothing is wrong in the whole wide world” as he embraced the old man.
“Hello, me old soldier,” he said, with Wilf replying: “I never thought I’d see you again after all these years. Oh Doctor, that lovely face. It’s like spring time… I knew it, I never lost faith. I said, ‘He won’t let us down. He’ll come back and save us.’”
Confused, the Doctor asked: “Save us from what?” before scenes of madness occurred, from food stalls catching fire to planes crashing. “It’s everybody, it’s everything,” Wilfred told the Doctor as sirens blared and people screamed. “They’re all going mad. Listen, you’ve got to do something, Doctor. The whole world’s coming to an end.”
The end scene, which sets up final anniversary episode “The Giggle”, had an emotional effect on viewers. On social media, many said that they “burst into tears” as soon as Cribbins appeared on screen.
“Bernard Cribbins filming his return to Doctor Who as Wilfred Mott for one scene only before dying a few weeks later . Oh you bet imma be crying,” one commenter wrote.
One tweet read: “Not only did we get just an acting masterclass with David and Catherine but they also end it with this amazing man Bernard Cribbins appearing. I knew I would be sobbing when I saw him for the last time and I did.”
Another viewer said: “Beautiful Bernard Cribbins. This scene was worth the entry fee alone.”
“I am so happy Bernard Cribbins got to be Wilf one last time,” one fan wrote on Twitter/X. “I might have had something in my eye.”
Another tweet read: “Bernard Cribbins. That’s it. That’s the tweet. Nothing in the rest of 2023 (and probably all of 2024) is going to make me cry more.”
“I keep thinking about how lucky we are that Bernard Cribbins’ last ever job was for our silly little blue box show,” one fan added. “And how absolutely heartbreaking it is that he’s not here to see just how loved he, & Wilf, continue to be.”
Speaking about filming the scene backstage on companion show Doctor Who: Unleashed, Tennant explained that he was “beyond delighted” to learn that Cribbins would be returning.
Cribbins said: “I haven’t retired, it’s a dirty word. I’m just not chosen as much as I used to be, because I’m 93, you know. So not too much noise.”
Showrunner Russell T Davies said that it was “one of the great joys of my life that at the end of Bernard’s career, at the end of his life, he came back to us to shoot what actually turned out to be his final scene”.
“We wanted to do more, because we love him. He wasn’t well enough to do more, but that one scene he completed fills me with absolute joy,” Davies said.
You can read The Independent’s review of “Wild Blue Yonder” here.
Doctor Who continues Saturday 9 December at 6.30pm on BBC One
