Born, 1947
Died, 31 October 2007

Howard Attfield was an English actor with a great reputation among his fellow performers. He came into the world of Doctor Who in 2006, when he played Donna Noble's father, Geoff, a small but vital role in the 2006 Christmas special, The Runaway Bride. He was engaged to reprise the role for the 2008 series, but took ill during the early stages of production and had top drop out. He sadly died in October 23007, while filming the Doctor Who 2008 series was underway. He was not replaced in the role of Geoff. Instead, Bernard Cribbins played the role of Donna's grandfather. The first episode of the series, Partners in Crime, carried a tribute to Howard in the end credits.

Howard with David Tennant at Doctor Who Read Through

While researching Howard's career, I found this personal tribute from a friend of his. The comments below are taken from it.

http://www.eagleparbirdie.com/50226711/howard_attfield.php

He was the quintessential British actor: he could sing and dance; he did radio plays, TV dramas, stage and film and, of course, that mainstay of actors the world over, TV commercials.

"He had a love of Jaguars and rugby, came from a humble English background, worked hard and was a loving husband, father and brother."

"In his final hours, he was surrounded by his sons and daughters, nieces and nephews, his grandchildren and his sister."

"Apparently, he opened one eye and muttered,"I'm trying to work out if any of you owe me money".