“SERGEANT BENTON!!!”
Every time the Brigadier yelled those two words, the most loyal soldier in the British Army and a crucial part of the UNIT family would appear. And now we have put the call out at Sci Fi Scarborough and here is … The one and only John Levene!
John was an established actor before he joined Doctor Who and appeared in a range of films including UFO, The Man Who Haunted Himself, When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth and Psychomania. As an Actor, Producer, Entertainer and Singer; there are no ends to John’s talents but, to millions of fans, he will always be the one and only Sergeant Benton. He may not have been a regular traveller in the TARDIS but no one can deny him companion status due to his appearance in no less then 67 episodes in the 1970s.
Levene made his first appearances as monsters playing a Cyberman and a Yeti alongside Patrick Troughton’s 2nd Doctor. When the cybermen were invading the earth, the actor who was chosen to play Benton was fired for being late and Levene replaced him. This series of events changed John’s life as when the Doctor became earth bound and working with UNIT, John was brought back to the show and stuck by the Doctor for the majority of episodes with Jon Pertwee. John’s final story was “The Android Invasion” in 1975, but his association with the show never ended.
John has been an incredible ambassador for the Whoniverse for decades and was recently awarded the “Doctor Who Appreciation Society Outstanding Contribution to Doctor Who Award”. It is absolutely fitting to have John with us this year alongside Katy Manning who presented the award and is a life long friend of John. We know that together they are going to give us so many fantastic moments at SFS 2025!
John Levene
