Sad news. Another "national treasure" has departed for Fabulon...a man whose eight-decade career made him not just a household name, but also a "kindly old uncle" to generations of children, myself included.
Bernard Cribbins (for it is he) was "Station Master Albert Perks" in The Railway Children, the voice of The Wombles, a regular storyteller on Jackanory and never off the playlist of BBC Radio's Junior Choice show with his novelty songs. He had roles on two Carry On movies, starred alongside the likes of Peter Sellers, Margaret Rutherford, Ron Moody and Lionel Jeffries in a succession of British comedy films such as Two-Way Stretch and Crooks in Cloisters, and had a long television career, appearing in quintessential shows such as Fawlty Towers, Worzel Gummidge, The Good Old Days, Tales of the Unexpected and Doctor Who [twice - 41 years apart].
He'll be missed.
Speaking of those "novelty songs" - here's the one for which he'll be most remembered:
An absolute classic!
RIP, Bernard Joseph Cribbins OBE (29 December 1928 – 28 July 2022)