Ben Jackson

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This page is about a fictional character. For the professional electronic sports player, see Ben Jackson (electronic sports player).
Doctor Who character

Ben Jackson
Ben
Affiliated with First Doctor
Second Doctor
Race Human
Home planet Earth
Home era 1966
First appearance The War Machines
Last appearance The Faceless Ones
Portrayed by Michael Craze

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 merchant marine from 1966, he was a companion of the First and Second Doctors and a regular in the programme from 1966 to 1967.

Contents

[edit] 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. Ben is feeling depressed and angry because he has a six-month shore posting while his ship is going 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. They are bearers of the news of Dodo's decision to stay in 1966 to the Doctor, and accidentally get carried away in the TARDIS when they try to return Dodo's key to the time machine.

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. He is very attached to Polly, considering her posh, giving her the nickname of "Duchess" and appointing himself as both her protector and that of the Doctor's. He is present with Polly when the First Doctor regenerates into the Second, and continues to travel with the Second Doctor.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Eventually, the TARDIS finds its way back to 1966 London (in The Faceless Ones) on the very day Ben and Polly had left (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 known.

[edit] 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. The canonicity of the spin-offs is unclear.

[edit] List of appearances

[edit] Television

Season 3
Season 4

[edit] Novels

Virgin Missing Adventures
Past Doctor Adventures
Telos Doctor Who novellas

[edit] Short stories

[edit] Comics

 v • d • e Companions of the First Doctor
Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Season 4→
001 002 003 004 005 006 007 008 009 010 011 012 013 014 015 016 017 018 019 020 021 022 023 024 025 026 027 028 029
Susan Vicki Sara Dodo
Ian Katarina Ben→
Barbara Polly→
Steven
 v • d • e Companions of the Second Doctor
←Season 4 Season 5 Season 6
030 031 032 033 034 035 036 037 038 039 040 041 042 043 044 045 046 047 048 049 050
←Ben Victoria Zoe
←Polly
Jamie
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