Creator / John Levene

John Levene (born 24 December 1941) is an English actor. He is best known for playing the role of UNIT solider Sergeant Benton in Doctor Who from 1968 to 1975, during the show's "UNIT Years".

His first involvement in Doctor Who came as a Cyberman in "The Moonbase" (1967), followed by a Yeti in "The Web of Fear" (1968). He was originally cast as a Cyberman again in "The Invasion", but was promoted to play (then-Corporal) Benton, who was only intended to be a one-off character, after the original actor was sacked for tardiness.

His elevation to series regular came because Douglas Camfield, who had cast Levene as director in "The Web of Fear" and "The Invasion", was assigned to direct "Inferno", for which the script featured a Sergeant; Camfield cast Levene in the role due to his prior experience of working with him, and it was then decided that he should be the same character than Benton had played in "The Invasion", so the Sergeant was made a promoted Benton, and inserted into the script for the latter episodes of the preceding story "The Ambassadors of Death".

Levene is renowned amongst Doctor Who fandom for his eccentric personality; in 2012 prominent Who fan Toby Hadoke presented the documentary "Living With Levene" in which he spent a weekend staying with John Levene while he went about his daily life.

His roles in works with TV Tropes pages:

Film

• When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1970) — Minor Role (uncredited)
• Zeppelin (1971) — British Soldier in Pub

TV

• Adam Adamant Lives!: episode "A Sinister Sort of Service" (1967) — S.S. Guard
• Z Cars: 13 episodes (1967) — Constable
• Doctor Who:
  • 2 episodes, serial "The Moonbase" (1967) — Cyberman
  • 5 episodes, serial "The Web of Fear" (1968) — Yeti
  • 68 episodes, 16 serials^{show list} "The Invasion", "The Ambassadors of Death", "Inferno", "Terror of the Autons", "The Mind of Evil", "The Claws of Axos", "The Dæmons", "Day of the Daleks", "The Time Monster", "The Three Doctors", "The Green Death", "Invasion of the Dinosaurs", "Planet of the Spiders", "Robot", "Terror of the Zygons", "The Android Invasion" (1968-75) — Sergeant Benton
• Coronation Street: 1 episode (1969) — Drinker
• UFO: episode "Close Up" (1970) — Interceptor Pilot
• The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes: episode "The Affair of the Tortoise" (1971) — Constable
• Callan: episode "I Never Wanted the Job" (1972) — Harold
• Carry on Laughing!: episode "The Baron Outlook" (1975) — Soldier

Audio Play

• Big Finish Doctor Who:
  • The Third Doctor Adventures: 2 releases^{show list} "The Scream of Ghosts", "Poison of the Daleks" (2019-20) — Sergeant Benton
  • The Companion Chronicles: "The Council of War" (2013) — Sergeant Benton
  • UNIT: The New Series: "UNIT: Assembled" (2017) — Sergeant Benton

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