Ben Jackson is a supporting protagonist in Season 3 and one of the two deuteragonists (alongside Polly Wright) of Season 4 in the Classic Series of Doctor Who and a minor character in the 2017 Christmas Special, Twice Upon a Time in the revived series.
He was portrayed by the late Michael Craze, and briefly by Jared Garfield in a flashback scene in "Twice Upon a Time". For Big Finish, he was voiced by Elliot Chapman.
Biography[]
Ben was a Royal Navy seaman who, by 1966, was unhappy in a shore posting and spending his nights drowning his sorrows at the Inferno night club. There, he met Polly Wright and Dodo Chaplet, becoming friends with Polly after saving her from the attention of a drunk. As a result of this, he became involved in the Doctor's investigation into the super-computer WOTAN, which took control of Polly. When the Doctor sent a reprogrammed War Machine to destroy WOTAN, Ben made sure to get Polly out of the line of fire first. After meeting with the Doctor to pass on a message from Dodo that she no longer wanted to travel with him, Ben and Polly innocently followed him into the TARDIS, resulting in him accidentally dematerialising with them on board.
Transported to 17th century Cornwall, it took Ben and Polly a long time to accept that they had actually travelled through time, as they became caught up in a treasure hunt between groups of pirates and smugglers. Not long after joining the Doctor, Ben became caught up in an attack on Earth by the Cybermen in 1986, during which the Doctor became increasingly weak. Ben took the lead in organising the staff of Snowcap Ice Base in preventing the Cybermen getting control of the base's doomsday weapon, the Z-Bomb, stalling them long enough that their planet Mondas absorbed too much energy from Earth and was destroyed, with the Cybermen dying with it. Ben then went to free the Doctor and Polly, who had been locked in the Cybermen's ship. Returning to the TARDIS, Ben and Polly were stunned to see the Doctor transform into a younger man.
It took Ben some time to accept that this apparent stranger was still the Doctor, but eventually recognised it during the course of their adventure with the Daleks on the planet Vulcan. Following this, they became caught up with a group of Highland rebels in the aftermath of the Battle of Culloden. Ben had some difficulty getting the Scottish Highlanders to trust him but eventually helped save them from being sold into slavery by the corrupt Solicitor Grey, with Ben surviving an attempt at keelhauling by slipping his bonds.
After the incident, Jamie McCrimmon also joined the TARDIS. Although they were friends, the presence of another young man in the TARDIS occasionally brought out Ben's insecurities: During Ben's second encounter with the Cybermen on the moon, he and Jamie nearly came to blows when arguing about who should help Polly with her plan to disable the Cybermen with solvents.
When the TARDIS landed on a holiday planet, Ben was the most eager to sample the delights on offer, and ended up falling under the influence of the Macra who secretly controlled the colony. Ben was willing to report the Doctor and Jamie for sabotaging the Macra's mind-control equipment, but had enough of his original personality to protect Polly from a Macra attack. He became increasingly reluctant to obey orders, only giving a literal interpretation at times, and eventually broke free completely. With the Doctor and the others having been locked up, Ben managed to destroy the Macra by causing their gas supply system to explode.
Not long after, the TARDIS arrived at Gatwick Airport in the 1960s. Ben initially helped the Doctor investigate the mysterious Chameleon Tours, but was soon captured by the alien Chameleons, sitting out the rest of the adventure. On being revived, he and Polly realised they had arrived back on the very day they left and said their goodbyes to the Doctor and Jamie, with Ben able to resume his Naval career.
The short story "Mondas Passing" has Ben and Polly meeting up in 1986 as their younger selves battle the Cybermen at the South Pole, now both married to other people. However, the Sarah Jane Adventures story "Death of the Doctors" indicates Ben and Polly are running an orphanage together in India, and the audio play "The Five Companions" confirms they married.
Trivia[]
- Elliot Chapman played Ben from The Yes Men to The Home Guard, not wishing to overshadow Michael Craze by appearing in more stories than he had.
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