Russell T Davies leads tributes to Doctor Who star Bernard Cribbins

Cribbins played Wilf in the sci-fi drama, grandfather to Catherine Tate's Donna Noble, which was just one of many iconic roles across an incredible career that spanned a total of seven decades.

"I love this man. I love him," began Davies in an Instagram caption, which accompanied a photo of Cribbins playing Snout in a version of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

"He knew everyone! He’d talk about the Beatles and David Niven, and how he once sat on the stairs at a party impersonating bird calls with T H White," he continued. "Then he’d add, ‘I said to Ashley Banjo last week…’

"He loved being in Doctor Who. He said, ‘Children are calling me grandad in the street!’ His first day was on location with Kylie Minogue, but all eyes, even Kylie’s, were on Bernard. He’d turned up with a suitcase full of props, just in case, including a rubber chicken.

"And what an actor. Oh, really though, what a wonderful actor. We once took him to the TV Choice Awards and sent him up on his own to collect the award, and the entire room stood up and cheered him. That’s a lovely memory. He’d phone up and say, ‘I’ve got an idea! What if I attack a Dalek with a paintball gun?!’ Okay, Bernard, in it went!"

Davies's tribute ends with a mention of Cribbins's wife of 66 years, Gillian McBarnet, who herself passed away last year.

"He loved Gill with all his heart; he mentioned her in every conversation we ever had. A love story for the ages. I’m so lucky to have known him. Thanks for everything, my old soldier. A legend has left the world."

The team behind Doctor Who added via Twitter that they were "extremely saddened" by the news that broke today, but hailed Cribbins's "long legacy in film and TV".

Writer and actor Mark Gatiss said on Twitter: "There was no one quite like Cribbins. A gifted comic actor with an incredible seam of pathos and real heart. From Sellers to Star Turn, Wombles to Wilf.

"I once gushed to him about his lovely performance in Hammer’s ‘She’. That afternoon he was off to play 5 aside - aged almost 90."

Singer and actress Elaine Paige added to the tributes, penning a social media post in memory of her "dear pal", who she met 33 years ago on West End show Anything Goes.

"A very special man of many talents," her message reads. "Funny, kind, genuine, always had a smile on his face and a quip. One of the good guys. I will miss him so very much."

Actor Daniel Mays also joined in the tributes, sharing a clip from Fawlty Towers episode The Hotel Inspectors, where Cribbins played a fussy spoon salesman by the name of Mr Hutchinson.