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| INDIVIDUAL | |
| John Benton | |
| File:Benton.jpg | |
| Race | Human |
| Home Planet | Earth |
| Home Era | 20th Century Humanian Era |
| Appearances | Full List of Appearances |
| Actor |
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John Benton was a member of UNIT during the the Doctor's exile on Earth, and after. He was promoted from Corporal to the rank of Warrant Officer Class 1, holding the post of Regimental Sergeant Major. One source says that he later achieved the rank of Lieutenant.
Profile
The father of John Benton served in the military. As a boy, John looked up to him and swore to "be just like him". (Wartime)
Benton first appeared alongside as a Corporal with the second incarnation of the Doctor against the Cybermen and Tobias Vaughn, though when he first met the Doctor he was doing surveillance work rather than serving in uniform. (DW: The Invasion)
By the time of the Doctor's regeneration and exile, Benton had been promoted to Sergeant and quickly formed a close working relationship with the Doctor, Captain Mike Yates and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. Lethbridge-Stewart, in fact, usually called Benton rather than Yates when an order needed to be carried out.
Benton was always a down-to-earth example of a British infantryman and non-commissioned officer, reliable, uncomplicated and with a good dose of common sense. When the Doctor asked him if he was going to comment that his TARDIS was bigger on the inside than on the outside (since everyone did), Benton's classic reply was, "Well, that's pretty obvious, isn't it?" (DW: The Three Doctors) Despite not understanding the specifics of what the Doctor was doing or any of his explanations, Benton always took the Doctor at his word and trusted him implicitly. Benton was loyal, not just to the rank but also to the people he worked with, and was willing to disobey orders to help them (DW: Invasion of the Dinosaurs).
Little, though, is known of his personal life at this point, though it seems Benton was at that time single and preparing on a dancing date with his sister when a crisis with Azal interrupted his plans. (DW: The Dæmons) He flirted briefly with Jo Grant and Sarah Jane Smith, though as we far as we know this never progressed beyond the level of good-natured banter.
Benton had some memorable experiences during his time in UNIT. The Master's TOMTIT machine had the effect of regressing Benton to a baby. When restored to adult form he appeared before his UNIT colleagues stark naked. (DW: The Time Monster) He was re-united and delighted to meet again, the Doctor's earlier incarnation, brought forward in time by the Time Lords to help fight Omega (DW: The THree Doctors)
Shortly before the return of the Doctor to Earth and his regeneration into his fourth incarnation, Benton had his promotion to Warrant Officer. (DW: Robot). As a Regimental Sergeant Major, Benton helped against the Zygons. (DW: Terror of the Zygons)
In 1983, Benton was said by Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart to have left UNIT and become a used car salesman. (DW: Mawdryn Undead)
Other appearances
One accounts stays by 1986, Benton had reutned to UNIT and became a comissioned officer with the rank of Lieutenant, subsequently leading a UNIT team to Antarctica to clear up the chaos left in the wake of the Cybermen's attempt to drain Earth of its energy. (The Power of the Daleks (novelisation))