Top Five Big Damn Hero Moments: Ben Jackson (Doctor Who)

Ben’s Big Damn Hero moments wound up being surprisingly front-loaded for me:  only one of the five coming during the Two era and a whopping three from “The Tenth Planet” alone.  Interesting.  I wonder if it’s a by-product of Jamie joining the show unexpectedly – if, with Jamie-less scripts already written for series 4, they wound up divvying Ben’s moments between the two of them, leaving Ben with less to do (spoilers.)

Connecting the Cable (Series 3, Episode 45 – “The War Machines:  Episode 4”)

The act itself is small, but both the danger (slipping past the war machines to connect a cable) and the result (giving the Doctor the power he needs to enact his plan to defeat WOTAN) are pretty big.  I like that, even though Ben has just met the Doctor, he already feels loyal to him and would rather take on a risk himself than have the Doctor face it.

Escaping the Cybermen (Series 4, Episode 6 – “The Tenth Planet:  Episode 2”)

The first instance of Ben employing his smarts against the Cybermen.  Held prisoner, Ben rigs up a projector to blind his Cyberman guard and then, while it’s temporarily incapacitated, swipes its weapon and kills it.  Ben fights very cleverly against the Cybermen throughout this story, and I love that, outthinking an enemy that he knows he can’t match physically.

Sabotaging the Rocket (Series 4, Episode 7 – “The Tenth Planet:  Episode 3”)

This time, Ben works to outsmart, not a Cyberman, but a human.  With Cutler’s disastrous idea to destroy Mondas with a Z-bomb – and let the nuclear fallout land where it may – it’s Polly and Barclay who get the idea to sabotage the Z-bomb, but Ben is the one who executes it, following Barclay’s map through the air ducts and then following his instructions to disable the rocket in a small, fiddly way that no one will think to look for.

Fighting the Cybermen (Series 4, Episode 8 – “The Tenth Planet:  Episode 4”)

And Ben for the win once again!  While the Cybermen force him and several other humans to suit up and handle the bomb at their behest, Ben is the one to realize it isn’t just a power trip – the Cybermen can’t go near the bomb due to the radiation it gives off.  He then formulates the plan to use it against them, luring them close enough that the humans can spring upon them wielding irradiated materials.

Escaping the Annabelle (Series 4, Episode 18 – “The Highlanders:  Episode 4”)

Dude is tied up and thrown overboard from a ship, and what does he do?  He frees himself, keeps out of sight, and swims to shore, where he meets up with the Doctor again and takes part in the plan to free the rest of the captives.  All in a day’s work!

Favorite Characters: Ben Jackson (Doctor Who)

Ben and Polly were the first companions to experience a regeneration, which also means they were the first to interact with two different Doctors.  That alone sets them apart somewhat in the companion catalogue, but even though their tenure on the show wasn’t terribly long (and seems shorter due to some their serials being missing,) each stands out as a companion in their own right as well.  I know that was about both Ben and Polly, and this post is just about Ben, but they’re so entwined as companions that I have to talk about them together at least a little bit.  But okay – onto Ben.

A sailor in the Navy, we meet Ben when he’s away from the sea and itching to be back.  Our first shot of him is at a club, sulking in the corner with a drink because he’d rather be aboard ship.  Right away, this establishes him as someone who’s not content to lie fallow.  Ben would always rather be doing something, in the middle of the action.  As such, it’s no surprise that, despite a slightly combative meeting with Polly and Dodo, he falls in pretty quickly with them and the Doctor when things start going highwire in London.

From the start, Ben proves himself brave and capable, fitting for a Navy man.  During his time on the TARDIS, he (along with Jamie later on) supplies much of the “action hero” necessaries, such as fights and daring escapes.  He has an eye for strategy and is good at enlisting help from those around him, whatever time or place he’s in. 

But while Ben is definitely one for adventure and not one to shy away from danger, he’s not fully in his element with the Doctor.  Because he and Polly are sort of accidental stowaways on the TARDIS, they’re not prepared for their first trip to the past, and Ben spends much of the first episode of “The Smugglers” insisting they’ve wound up in 20^th-century Cornwall, looking around for a train station to get him back to his ship.  He’s more than a bit of a skeptic, and when it comes to the incredible, even the evidence of his own eyes can feel untrustworthy to him.  This is never more evident than when One regenerates into Two.  While Polly begins to adjust to the new Doctor a little more readily, Ben is wary for at least half of Two’s first serial, trying to make him prove that he’s really the same Doctor that Ben knew.

So yeah – he can be cynical, as well as contrary and sarcastic.  I like that, that he’s got a bit of bite to him.  Sometimes he employs his snarkier side bemusedly, like his penchant for calling Polly “Duchess,” but at other times, he just loses patience.  He doesn’t suffer fools, and he can reach his breaking point at times, especially when it comes to Two’s enigmatic antics or Jamie’s behind-the-times befuddlement.  His irritable tendencies, though, make his excitement and wonder more enjoyable whenever they come along.

Oh, and apart from Dodo using a Northern accent for about a hot second, Ben is the first companion with a regional accent, which I like.  It’s good to see a Cockney being a hero, especially on the BBC in the ‘60s.  Granted, he’s quickly followed by the Scottish Jamie, but since Jamie is also from a different century, he’s a bit more removed than Ben is as a modern-day guy in the TARDIS.  I’m sure there were plenty of kids in London who were thrilled at the thought of someone who talks like them traveling with the Doctor.