Ben Jackson (Doctor Who)

Ben
Doctor Who character
First appearance	The War Machines (1966)
Last appearance	The Faceless Ones (1967) (regular) "Twice Upon a Time" (2017) (cameo)
Portrayed by	Michael Craze (1966–1967) Jared Garfield (2017) Elliot Chapman (audio)
In-universe information
Species	Human
Affiliation	First Doctor Second Doctor
Home	Earth
Home era	1966

Benjamin "Ben" Jackson is a fictional character played by Michael Craze in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A seaman in the Royal Navy from 1966, he was a companion of the First and Second Doctors and a regular in the programme from 1966 to 1967. Ben appeared in 9 stories (36 episodes). The War Machines, the character's first appearance, is the only one of his stories to exist fully in the BBC archives.

Character history[]

Ben first appears in the First Doctor serial The War Machines, when he meets Polly and Dodo in a London nightclub called the Inferno. As an Able Seaman serving in the Royal Navy, aboard HMS Teazer,^[1] Ben is feeling depressed and angry because he has a six-month shore posting to barracks while his ship is deployed to the West Indies, but Polly and Dodo try to cheer him up. When Polly is accosted by another patron in the Inferno, Ben comes to her rescue. Eventually, Ben and Polly aid the Doctor in his fight against the rogue artificial intelligence known as WOTAN. Afterward, Ben and Polly are the bearers of the news of Dodo's decision to stay in 1966 to the Doctor, and accidentally get carried away in the TARDIS^[2] when they try to return Dodo's key to the time machine. It is implied that these events occurred on the last day of Ben's shore posting, for in The Smugglers he pleads, "make sure that I get back by teatime, Doctor. I've got to get back to my ship by tonight."

Ben is a salt of the Earth kind of fellow, dependable, faithful, but prone to be suspicious when kept in the dark or not understanding what was going on.^[3] In The Power of the Daleks Ben revealed that, as a child, he lived opposite a brewery. He is very attached to Polly, whom he considers posh, giving her the nickname of "Duchess" and appointing himself as both her protector and that of the Doctor. He is present with Polly when the First Doctor regenerates into the Second, and continues to travel with the Second Doctor. Along his travels with Polly and the new Doctor, he encountered Daleks, Cybermen, Macra, mad scientists as well as meeting new companion, Jamie McCrimmon.

Eventually, the TARDIS finds its way back to 1966 London (in The Faceless Ones) on 20 July – the very day Ben and Polly had left in the TARDIS (although about a year had passed for them). They decide to remain behind to resume their lives without disruption as the Doctor and Jamie travel on.

What happens to Ben after his return to Earth is not certain. The Doctor seems to think that Ben will become an Admiral and that Polly will look after Ben,^[4] but it is unclear if this is a prediction or simply wishing them well. In the audio story The Five Companions, an older Polly tells the Fifth Doctor that she and Ben are still together.

Ben is mentioned by Sarah Jane Smith in Death of the Doctor as working with Polly in India "running an orphanage there."

Ben also appeared in the 2017 Doctor Who Christmas special "Twice Upon a Time", portrayed by Jared Garfield, alongside Lily Travers as Polly. The episode's plot involves the events of The Tenth Planet.^[5]

Other appearances[]

In the spin off short story "Mondas Passing" by Paul Grice (in the anthology Short Trips) which takes place in 1986, it is revealed that Ben and Polly have gone their separate ways and married other people. Ben meets a divorced Polly again with the help of the Second Doctor in 1999 ("That Time I Nearly Destroyed The World Whilst Looking For a Dress" by Joseph Lidster, published in Short Trips: Past Tense), where the two admit their love for each other.

Big Finish audios have recently 're-cast' Elliot Chapman as Ben Jackson in various audio releases. One of these- The Forsaken- the TARDIS lands on an island off the coast of Japan during the Second World War, where they actually meet Ben's father shortly before Ben's conception, ensuring that the time travelers stay on the island so that they can make sure Ben's father gets home.

List of appearances[]

Television[]

Season 3

• The War Machines

Season 4

• The Smugglers
• The Tenth Planet
• The Power of the Daleks
• The Highlanders
• The Underwater Menace
• The Moonbase
• The Macra Terror
• The Faceless Ones

Series 10

• "Twice Upon a Time"

Novels[]

Virgin Missing Adventures

• Invasion of the Cat-People by Gary Russell

Past Doctor Adventures

• The Murder Game by Steve Lyons
• The Roundheads by Mark Gatiss
• Dying in the Sun by Jon de Burgh Miller
• Ten Little Aliens by Stephen Cole

Telos Doctor Who novellas

• Wonderland by Mark Chadbourn

Short stories[]

• "Mondas Passing" by Paul Grice (Short Trips)
• "That Time I Nearly Destroyed The World Whilst Looking For a Dress" by Joseph Lidster (Short Trips: Past Tense)
• "Pluto" by Dale Smith (Short Trips: The Solar System)
• "Do You Dream in Colour" by Gary Russell (Short Trips: The Ghosts of Christmas)
• "The Slave War" by Una McCormack (Short Trips: The Quality of Leadership)

Comics[]

• "The Tests of Trefus" by David Brian (Doctor Who Annual 1968)
• "World Without Night" by David Brian (Doctor Who Annual 1968)
• "Food for Thought" by Nicholas Briggs and (Doctor Who Magazine 218–220)

Audio stories[]

• Resistance (adventure related by Polly)
• (adventure related by Polly)
• The Forbidden Time (an adventure related by the characters Polly & Jamie)
• The Selachian Gambit (an adventure related by the characters Polly & Jamie)
• (an adventure related by the characters Polly & Jamie)

In 2015, Elliot Chapman joined Big Finish in the role of Ben. He performed the role in a number of Companion Chronicles and Early Adventures until the end of 2019.

References[]

External links[]

• Ben Jackson on Tardis Data Core, an external wiki
• Ben Jackson on the BBC's Doctor Who website