Bernard Cribbins To Star In New CBeebies Series

Bernard Cribbins is to appear in a brand new CBeebies series the BBC has announced.

The actor’s appearance in the new series will mark his first regular role in a children’s show for over 20 years. Cribbins will appear in In Old Jack’s Boat which will blend live action and animation together. The series will see Cribbins an old fisherman who spins tales from his boat, The Rainbow.

Russell T. Davies will write at least two episodes of the series; the writer started his career writing for television dramas such as Dark Season and Century Falls – both BBC shows he created in the early 1990s. Davies also wrote for ITV’s highly acclaimed Children’s Ward before moving onto other television work such as The Grand, Queer as Folk and Doctor Who. He had also in the past been a writer for Children’s BBC magazine series Why Don’t You?

Cribbins was a regular reader on the BBC series Jackanory until 1991 and in 2009 made several appearances on the CBeebies series Bedtime Stories. However, the actor’s most recent high profile was as Wilfred Mott in Doctor Who between 2007 and 2010. The character was the grandfather of 10th Doctor companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) and became a companion in his own right for the two-part story The End of Time which marked the end of David Tennant’s tenure as the Doctor.

The Doctor Who connection to In Old Jack’s Boat continues as Freema Agyeman, who played Martha Jones in the sci-fi series, is also set to appear in the CBeebies series. Agyeman is currently appearing in the American drama The Carrie Diaries on The CW which is a prequel to the HBO drama Sex and the City. Previously Agyeman was a cast member on Law and Order UK, ITV’s remake of the American crime drama created by Dick Wolf.

Cribbins association with children’s television stretches back to the early 1970s when he narrated The Wombles; the animated series based on the books by Elisabeth Beresford.