Russell T Davies has slammed the British Academy of Film and Television Awards (BAFTA) for failing to include Bernard Cribbins in its In Memoriam video at its 2023 ceremony, an event hosted by Richard E Grant. The BAFTA ceremony was shown on BBC1 on Sunday 19th February, 2023.
Bernard Cribbins’ career spanned seven decades. He played Tom Campbell in the movie Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD and Wilfred Mott in David Tennant’s eras of Doctor Who. He died in July 2022 and his final appearance as Wilf has yet to be screened.
Each year, BAFTA includes a video paying tribute to stars who have died. For some unaccountable reason, Bernard Cribbins was not included in the video shown during the ceremony in 2023. BAFTA members were astonished and critical of the omission. Following the online criticism, a BAFTA spokesman explained it was down to time constraints, that Cribbins features in their online records, and that BAFTA will consider including him in the In Memoriam video next year.
Russell T Davies hit out at this response on Instagram, saying:
“To say he’s being ‘considered’ is the work of an idiot.”
Actor Phil Davies, who appeared in The Fires of Pompeii, also criticised the “travesty” of the BAFTA ceremony failing to include a tribute to Bernard Cribbins and tweeted that he had resigned his BAFTA membership as a result.
BAFTA eventually confirmed that a tribute to Bernard Cribbins will be shown at its next event, the television awards ceremony, later in 2023.
