A key member of the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, Sergeant Benton helped defend the Earth against alien threats in the 1970s.
When Sergeant Benton made his first appearance in the Whoniverse, he was a corporal serving in the newly-formed United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, or UNIT, ably overseen by Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. Benton made his debut in the epic eight-part story ‘The Invasion’ alongside the Second Doctor, which saw planet Earth under attack from a dodgy electronics company and an army of Cybermen.
This was the beginning of what became known as the UNIT Family, and Sergeant Benton was a key part of it. When Jon Pertwee took over as the Doctor, the other family members quickly fell into place. There was Jo Grant played by Katy Manning, Captain Mike Yates played by Richard Franklin, the aforementioned Brigadier played by Nicholas Courtney and, as surprising as it might sound, the Master played by Roger Delgado. He may have been the Doctor’s arch enemy, but he was an integral member of the cast, and in fact Delgado appeared in every story of Doctor Who Season Eight.
Intriguingly, despite the tight-knit nature of this family and the regularity of Sergeant Benton’s appearances, it never occurred to the producers to give the character a first name. Or if they did, they never mentioned it on screen; rumour has it that the script editor Terrance Dicks may have established the name John in the early 70s, and this would make sense given that Sergeant Benton was played by the actor John Levene.
However, this name would not be used on screen until the independenty-produced, straight-to-video movie Wartime in which John Levene took centre stage. In this adventure, certain aspects of Sergeant Benton’s past are brought to the fore. It’s revealed that he had an older brother called Chris, who died as a child when he and Benton were playing chase. Benton blames himself for his brother’s death, and is haunted by flashbacks and terrifying visions of his father.
However, the canonicity of this story is debatable given that it was produced by Reeltime Pictures, as opposed to the BBC.
It’s a shame, in many ways, that the classic series gave so little information about Sergeant Benton, or indeed many of its supporting cast. This wasn’t specific to Benton, though; classic Doctor Who was always more story-led than character-led, and even the companions themselves were something of an enigma.
There are, however, a number of story elements which give a tantalising insight into Sergeant Benton’s character. Occasionally, he was a much put-upon soldier; the Brigadier would sometimes give Benton a hard time, as would his colleague Mike Yates, who outranked him. There’s an amusing scene in ‘The Day of the Daleks’ where an exhausted Benton is treated to a late-night snack by Jo Grant, only to have the refreshment quickly confiscated by Yates who orders Benton to go and check on Number Three Patrol. Jo points out that this wasn’t very kind of Yates, who simply smiles and tells her that “rank has its privileges” before taking the wine and cheese for himself.
Being in UNIT wasn’t all bad, though. Sometimes Sergeant Benton was afforded certain luxuries, and in ‘The Mind of Evil’ the Brigadier puts him in charge of a prison that UNIT has seized control of. Benton is visibly pleased with his appointment; he sits proudly at his desk and starts re-arranging the paperwork, as the Brigadier looks on with some amusement. “Oh Benton…” he says. “Don’t get any delusions of grandeur, will you?”
Of course, with this being Doctor Who, there is naturally a parallel universe version of Sergeant Benton, who is a deeply unpleasant and aggressive individual. We meet him in the 1970 story ‘Inferno’ after the Doctor is inadvertently sent to a parallel reality which is governed by a fascist regime. In this world, the Brigadier is known as the Brigade Leader, and his assistant is a rather thuggish version Benton who is more akin to a Nazi stormtrooper than a genteel UNIT sergeant, and seemingly delights in pushing the Doctor around and making him suffer.
Alas, after Jon Pertwee left the series there were few opportunities for viewers to get to know Sergeant Benton. Incoming producer Philip Hinchcliffe was keen to ‘phase out’ the UNIT Family and return the Doctor to his adventures in time and space. This meant that the Brigadier, Benton and Yates would slowly disappear from the series, and Sergeant Benton’s last appearance in Doctor Who was in the 1975 story ‘The Android Invasion.’
However, this is something of a technicality. As the story title implies, Sergeant Benton was in fact a robot replica in this adventure. So if we’re being pedantic, the character’s last ‘proper’ appearance was earlier in the season in ‘Terror of the Zygons.’
And sadly, even though the cast knew of Hinchcliffe’s plans to phase UNIT out of the show, there was never a moment when John Levene (or even Nicholas Courtney) were told that their time on Doctor Who had come to an end; they were simply never invited back. As such, the fate of Sergeant Benton was never revealed, save for a fleeting mention in the 1983 story ‘Mawdryn Undead’ in which the Brigadier stated that Benton left the army in 1979 and now “sells second-hand cars somewhere.”
This may explain why Sergeant Benton never made a proper return to the series; after all, it’s hard to imagine an adventure about a used car dealership! That being said, the actor was invited back for the 20th anniversary special ‘The Five Doctors,’ but he declined, perhaps because he had relocated to Los Angeles. He has since come back to the UK, though, and has expressed a keen desire to return to the show. Time will tell if his wishes come to fruition.
In the meantime, tell us: what is your favourite Sergeant Benton moment? And would you like to see the character return to Doctor Who? Let us know in the comments below.
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