Doncaster's Brian Blessed goes viral over huge face mask - but is it real?

Booming voiced Doncaster actor Brian Blessed has gone viral – after a photo of him emerged receiving his coronavirus vaccine while sporting a huge face mask.
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The picture has been widely circulated on social media, showing the 84-year-old Mexborough star, with his face and trademark bushy beard covered by an outsized blue medical face mask.

NHS Surrey Heath CCG posted a picture of the Flash Gordon star with his thumbs up after he and his wife Hildegarde received the Covid jab last night.

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But the picture is actually the work of an internet joker who was left stunned when his doctored pic began circulating.

The mocked-up pic of Brian Blessed in his huge face mask. (Photo: christhebarker/Twitter)The mocked-up pic of Brian Blessed in his huge face mask. (Photo: christhebarker/Twitter)
The mocked-up pic of Brian Blessed in his huge face mask. (Photo: christhebarker/Twitter)

Twitter user Chris Barker, who describes himself as an illustrator and art director, mocked up the outsized mask pic for fun and added the caption: Good to see Brian Blessed setting an example by wearing a mask.

As people began sharing the picture as if it were genuine, Chris tweeted from his @christhebarker Twitter account: “People are sharing this as real. But I don’t think he’d mind. Heck, he’ll probably insist on getting one if he sees it...”

The clinical commissioning group said in their tweet: 'Tonight Brian and Hildegarde Blessed joined the fight against Covid-19.

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'After receiving his Covid vaccination, Brian Blessed OBE thanked the NHS for saving his and his wife's life.'

The Z Cars and Flash Gordon star was born at Mexborough’s Montagu Hospital in 1936, the son of William, a coal miner at Hickleton Colliery

He attended Bolton on Dearne Secondary Modern School and still maintains strong links with South Yorkshire.