Top Five Big Damn Hero Moments: Sgt. John Benton (Doctor Who)

Like Harry, Benton doesn’t always get his due as a companion.  He’s very soft-spoken, so it’s easy for him to fade into the background, and it’s true that his contribution to a lot of adventures involves getting knocked out by the bad guys.  But Benton is braver and has more mettle than he’s always given credit for, so today, I’m looking at my favorite moments of his (spoilers.)

Joining the Assault (Series 8, Episode 9 – “The Mind of Evil:  Episode 5”)

Benton makes a rough start of it in “The Mind of Evil” – he loses track of a suspect he was supposed to be tailing due to a psychic attack, but since nobody realizes that’s what it was at the time, the Brigadier reams him out for “fainting” in the middle of an important mission.  But Benton throws himself back into the thick of things, and even after suffering a head injury later in the serial, he doesn’t want to be counted out.  Discharging himself from the hospital, he presents himself to the Brigadier and asks to be allowed “a chance to get at the blokes who did it.”  While this moment itself isn’t heroic or action-y, it does demonstrate Benton’s determination (both to help in any way he can and to prove he isn’t some liability) and nerve (in approaching the Brigadier after getting thoroughly dressed down earlier in the adventure,) and, since the scene ends with him inquiring after the captured Yates, his desire to help a fellow soldier in a bad spot.

Aiding in the Ruse (Series 8, Episode 24 – “The Dæmons:  Episode 4”)

When the Doctor is captured by a bunch of people who’ve been hypnotized by the Master, “local witch” Miss Hawthorne plays on their superstitions to get him released, with a little help from Benton.  Claiming that the Doctor is in fact a powerful wizard, Miss Hawthorne urges him to shatter a nearby streetlamp as a sign of his power.  At the Doctor’s command, Benton, sight unseen, shoots the lamp, then repeats the same trick with a weathercock.  It’s an effective bit of pageantry well-executed by all, and Benton does a nice job following the Doctor’s improvisations.

Tricking the Master (Series 9, Episode 22 – “The Time Monster:  Episode 2”)

Yes, the Master gets one over on Benton in the end, but this is still a great moment.  Recognizing that the call from “the Brigadier” ordering him to leave his post at TOMTIT is a fake (though the Master’s imitation is impeccable, Benton knows the the Brigadier wouldn’t call a sergeant “my dear fellow,”) he lets the Master think his plan has worked, then doubles back and sneaks back in through the window he left open, ready to apprehend the Master when he arrives.

Letting the Doctor Escape (Series 11, Episode 9 – “Invasion of the Dinosaurs:  Episode 5”)

Members of the Golden Age conspiracy have infiltrated UNIT and the Doctor knows about it, so of course they’ve named him as the traitor instead.  Benton is tasked with guarding the Doctor, and at first, he’s all business, giving orders to subordinates about setting up a makeshift cell.  But as soon as they’re alone together, he asks the Doctor what’s what, and although the news is unpleasant, Benton doesn’t doubt the truth of it.  He says the Doctor “had better get on” with “overpowering” him by way of the Doctor’s Venusian aikido, the classic alibi for a prisoner’s convenient escape.  I love how matter-of-factly Benton decides this, mixed with how genuinely apprehensive he looks as he braces himself to be incapacitated by the Doctor – he knows it’s going to hurt, but he’s ready to do it anyway.  Bless him.

Offering to Test the Crystal (Series 11, Episode 22 – “Planet of the Spiders:  Episode 2”)

The Doctor has been testing the effects of the Metebelis crystal, and a low-level psychic has just been killed by the crystal’s power.  Because he’s the Doctor, he naturally decides the best course of action is the look into the crystal himself, but not before Benton speaks up.  “Wouldn’t it be best for me to have a go first?” he asks.  “I mean, I’m expendable and you’re not.”  To me, this moment is Benton all over – it’s quiet and understated, but brave and selfless all the same.  While the Doctor turns down the offer, it doesn’t take away from Benton’s dedication to his duties and his loyalty to the Doctor.

Character Highlight: Sgt. John Benton (Doctor Who)

The UNIT years introduced several characters whose companion status is debateable.  The three main soldiers that the Third, and later Fourth, Doctor interacted with regularly are involved in the episodes and adventures, but they don’t get quite the same regard – from the show or the Doctor – as definite companions from that time period on par with Liz, Jo, Sarah Jane, and Harry.  The Brigadier is the closest to getting the honorary companion label, thanks to his reappearances with later Doctors (and again on The Sarah Jane Adventures,) but Benton has at least some claim as well – he did go on a trip in the TARDIS once, which might be enough to qualify him.  At any rate, I enjoy all the UNIT chaps, and Benton is a treat (a few Benton-related spoilers.)

It’s tempting to write Benton off as the UNIT booby prize.  After all, if someone needs to be knocked over the head, dressed down by the Brigadier, or temporarily de-aged to infancy (yep, that happened,) it’s probably going to be Benton.  Yates gets more of the cool action stuff, and while the Doctor likes to treat the Brigadier like a simpleton with no head for the extraterrestrial, the Brig is a commander who generally comes through when it’s important.  If a “sad trombone”-type mishap is needed, who else but Benton can get the job done?  Poor Benton can’t even get a bit of grub while on duty without Yates waltzing in and pinching his sandwich.

These are the moments that often come to mind first with Benton, but they’re actually just a few prominent examples in an overall characterization that’s much more even-handed than that.  Even the Brigadier’s exasperated way of saying, “Sergeant!” is taken from that impression of Benton rather than his general performance as a soldier.  Benton makes his first appearance with UNIT’s debut in “The Invasion,” before the Doctor’s exile, and then sticks with the show through the Third Doctor era and fades into the background, with the rest of UNIT, when Four goes his separate ways with the organization in “Terror of the Zygons.”  While he’s not in every story, that’s a long time to be part of the fabric of the series, and in that time, he does a lot of good for the Doctor and for UNIT.

Benton is hardworking and dedicated.  On the occasions when he does make a mistake, he works twice as hard to fix it and goes above and beyond the call of duty without much in the way of recognition.  He has tremendous respect for the Doctor and the Brigadier, and he’s very loyal to everyone at UNIT; if someone is in a bad spot, he’s the first to want to help.  Not to mention, he’s quite brave, on one occasion offering to take the greatest risk upon himself because he knows he’s more expendable than the Doctor or the Brigadier.

Personality-wise, Benton is just an unfailingly decent guy.  As a soldier, he carries himself professionally, but he’s not so strict about it that he can’t settle down and be personable.  He’s friendly with the Doctor, his companions, and his other colleagues, and his most identifiable adjective, I think, is “nice.”  I know that sounds a bit “bless him, he tries,” as well as kind of bland – and he is, a little – but by and large, I think Benton makes a good addition to the UNIT crew, a pleasant character to have around who does his job well about 90% of the time.

Plus, I’d say Benton still wins the award for best TARDIS reaction.  As he takes in the sight of the console room in “The Three Doctors,” the Doctor asks, “Well, Sergeant?  Aren’t you going to say, ‘It’s bigger on the inside that it is on the outside?’  Everybody else does.”  Benton’s reply?  “Well, it’s… pretty obvious, isn’t it?”  Ha!