Bennett (The Rescue)
Bennett was a 25th century murderer who passed himself as the Didoan "Koquillion" to escape justice.
Biography
Whilst a passenger on the spaceship UK-201, or Astra Nine, (PROSE: The Rescue) en route to Astra, Bennett murdered a fellow passenger and was caught. (TV: The Rescue)
Before his arrest could be reported to Intergalax, (PROSE: The Rescue) the ship crashed on Dido and, to cover up his crime, he killed the Didoi and the rest of the passengers, including Newton Pallister, Vicki's father, in an explosion.
Vicki hadn't attended the meeting between the humans and the natives because she was ill and remained behind on the ship, and was therefore unaware that Bennett had killed anybody. He planned to use her innocence to protect himself from the authorities — telling her that the natives had wiped out the others, and pretended that he had been paralysed in the attack.
Bennett also claimed that he was protecting them from a native named Koquillion, who was really Bennett in a ceremonial mask used by the natives, (TV: The Rescue) taking the name from "Khakhuiljan". (PROSE: The Rescue) To keep Vicki unaware of this farce, Bennett hooked up a tape recorder in his cabin, linked to an intercom system in a cupboard, which played pre-recorded phrases such as "You can't come in!" and "Go away!" when the door was opened. There was also a stack of tapes next to the intercom, which were Bennett's supposed conversations with Koquillion.
Bennett's crimes were exposed by the First Doctor, who unmasked him and whom he then attempted to kill. Before Bennett could do so, he was confronted by two surviving Dido people. While backing away from them, he stepped through a secret door, beyond which was a cliff — over which he accidentally fell to his death. (TV: The Rescue)
Legacy
Years later, the Third Doctor hallucinated about Koquillion when the Keller Machine turned his worst fears against him. (TV: The Mind of Evil)
Behind the scenes
- Bernard Archard was considered for the role of Bennett before Ray Barrett was cast. (DOC: Mounting The Rescue)
- To avoid revealing the actual identity of Koquillion, the closing credits for the first episode of The Rescue, "The Powerful Enemy", credited Ray Barrett under the pseudonym Sydney Wilson, which was a combination of the first name and surname of Sydney Newman and Donald Wilson respectively.
- Radio Times credits Sydney Wilson as "Koquillion" for both episodes and Ray Barrett only as "Bennett". On-screen, "The Powerful Enemy" credits Ray Barrett as "Bennett" and Sydney Wilson as "Koquillion"; while "Desperate Measures" credits Ray Barrett as "Bennett & Koquillion".
