June Whitfield spotted with Doctor Who in Cardiff

by Staff Reporter, South Wales Echo

VETERAN actress June Whitfield has been spotted with the Doctor on the streets of Cardiff.

She was one of a number of familiar faces seen as filming for a new episode of Doctor Who continued over the Easter weekend.

Whitfield, 83, who is best known for her role in cult comedy Absolutely Fabulous, was on set with former Hi-de-Hi! actor Barry Howard and Karl Collins, who played DC Danny Glaze in The Bill.

They were joined by David Tennant, who reprises his role as the Doctor this year for the last time in a series of Doctor Who specials.

Catherine Tate and Bernard Cribbins were also on set – on what is thought to be the Christmas special – playing Donna Noble and grandad Wilfred.

Cribbins was spotted sporting antler ears, and seen jumping for joy while climbing aboard a mini-bus outside his house.

The bus had the sign Sparrow Lane – Social Touring for the Over-50s on its side, and was driven by Howard.

The Christmas special will be the final of Russell T Davies’ four 2009 specials of the sci-fi series, and will signal the end of his tenure as head writer.

He said, in a recent BBC interview, that Cribbins would be the Doctor’s main assistant in the special.

The first of the four specials, Planet of the Dead, was broadcast on Saturday on BBC1 and received a peak audience of 8.7 million viewers, and a 39% slice of the audience.

The 2008 Christmas special, The Next Doctor had 12.6 million viewers. Saturday’s episode, featuring Michelle Ryan and comedian Lee Evans, ended with a short trailer of the next episode, The Waters of Mars. The actress Lindsay Duncan will star in the next helping.

Actor Matt Smith will take over the role of the Doctor when Tennant leaves after the Christmas special.