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Bernard Bresslaw and Barbara Windsor in Blackpool

Bernard Cribbins in a publicity still from Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1966)

Dear Allan,

So the gauntlet is thrown. Like Mark Bennett, I had hoped to encounter the late Bernard Cribbins at one of my local comic/film cons, but time unfortunately won out. As for film and TV appearances, and the fact that no one managed Doctor Who as well as Bond and Carry On, well... Dave Prowse was in Doctor Who’s ‘The Time Monster’ and Carry on Henry and, though you’d be hard pressed to recognise him, he was a giant teddy bear in Casino Royale (1967). Burt Kwouk was in You Only Live Twice, Doctor Who’s ‘Four To Doomsday’ and Carry On Emmanuelle. Gertan Klauber was in Emmanuelle too, as well as Octopussy, The Living Daylights and Who’s ‘Four to Doomsday.’

Roy Stewart was in Live and Let Die, ‘Touch of the Cybermen’ and Carry On Up the Jungle. Francis De Wolf was in From Russia With Love, Carry On Cleo and Who’s ‘Myth Makers.’

Thankfully I did have the opportunity to meet Bonnie Langford, and like Alf Worthington I found her both charming and patient in dealing with her fans. The Network meltdown allowed me to buy her breakout series, Just William. Bonnie had not yet had her growth spurt which allowed her to play a 6-year-old Violet Elizabeth at age 15, with great skill. Although the show was a contemporary of Grange Hill, it seemed a throwback to the Bunter of Greyfriars style of kids’ TV. I would still recommend it to any fans of the late Diana Dors, who played Bonnie’s mother.