David Tennant and Catherine Tate pay tribute to Bernard Cribbins

"He was lovely, I mean he was genuinely lovely," said Tennant. "He had a warmth about him and a twinkle about him."

"It's a huge takeaway for our lives and certainly our careers to have had him in it," added Tate. "There's a Bernard Cribbins-shaped hole in the world now."

Tributes came flooding in after the news of Cribbins's death was made public yesterday, with returning Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies – who worked with Cribbins during his stint on the show – among those to post emotional messages online.

"I love this man. I love him," Davies wrote on Instagram, before ending his post: "I’m so lucky to have known him. Thanks for everything, my old soldier. A legend has left the world."

Meanwhile writer and actor Mark Gatiss wrote 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."

Throughout his long career, Cribbins appeared in a great number of popular shows and films and came to be revered as a national treasure.

Highlights on his CV include films such as The Railway Children and the Carry On series, children's TV shows like Jackanory, and The Wombles, and a memorable guest appearance on Fawlty Towers.

His first Doctor Who appearance came in the 1966 feature film Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150AD, but his most memorable role on the show was of course as Wilfred Mott – the loveable grandfather to Tate's companion Donna Noble.

Cribbins appeared on ten episodes of the series in total between 2007 and 2010 and was spotted filming scenes for the upcoming 60th anniversary special just a few weeks before his death.