Harry Potter's David Bradley in disbelief over Daniel Radcliff's tear-jerking generosity

BAFTA winner David Bradley has lent his talents to some of the best loved productions of the past several decades. However, it is safe to say that in recent years three roles have defined him Walder Frey in Game of Thrones, William Hartnell/The First Doctor in Doctor Who and Argus Filch in the Harry Potter movies. The last franchise in particular brought him a whole new generation of fans. The 83-year-old veteran actor admits he hasn’t kept abreast of recent dissension between the Harry Potter cast and author JK Rowling so can’t comment on it. But he has nothing but praise for the young cast he worked with following his experiences on set.

"They were amazing," he said, "they were so young, 10, 11 and doing this job and schooling as well and they were so professional and so talented." Singling out Daniel Radcliffe who played the titular Harry he recalled a moment that showed him the “measure” of the young man. “I had arranged with Warners to bring some special needs children my wife worked with to the set to watch filming and they said it was OK once they didn’t interfere with scenes. Even though Daniel had to do his schooling in between scenes he met them, and his father was there because he always looked after him on set.

“They all had a lovely day, and it was so nice of him to take the time to meet them because he had a lot on his plate. We finished filming that installment and a year later we were back on set to do the next one.

“Daniel found me and handed me a huge envelope and was apologising and I had no idea what for. He said: ‘I’m so sorry this took so long’.

“I opened the envelope and there were 8x10 signed pictures of him all made out individually to the kids I had brought on set. It turned out while Daniel was talking to them on the day his father had been going around gathering all their names so that he could organise this for them.

“I was just blown away. When you think about, at that time, how many requests he used to get for signed photographs and how busy he was trying to learn his lines and film and do the promotion and keep on top of schoolwork. And he still took the time to do that. I thought it was a real measure of the kind of person he was. It was a lovely gesture,” David recalled.

With the Harry Potter films long behind him we will next see David in Guillermo del Toro’s take on Frankenstein. David will play the small but integral role of the blind man who befriends the creature. He says del Toro was almost apologetic, explaining to him it was only a small part but David says he would have jumped at anything the director offered him having previously worked with him on The Strain, the animated series Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia and his version of Pinocchio.

The film is due out later this year and David said one thing it did was to give him an appreciation of the struggles of blind people. David is a long time ambassador for Guide Dogs and is currently supporting an Omaze Million Pound House campaign which is raising money for the charity. One lucky person will win a luxury home in the Cotswolds.

“While I would never presume to say I know what it is like to be blind or to know what blind people go through I did have to wear these milky lenses for the role and they meant I couldn’t really see and until I got back to make-up and they were removed everything was blurred and you have to be guided around. While it isn’t the same of course it made me realise how important a guide dog is for someone in that situation, and appreciate even more the great work the charity does training these animals to help them.”

Guide Dogs Ambassador and actor David Bradley is supporting the latest Omaze Million Pound House Draw, Cotswolds in aid of the charity. Draw entries are available now. The Draw closes at midnight Bank Holiday Monday May 26th.