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John Anthony Woods (born 24 December 1941), known professionally as John Levene, is an English actor, producer, entertainer and singer. Although he has appeared in a large number of films and television series, Levene's best-known role is that of Sergeant Benton , of UNIT in the science-fiction television series Doctor Who , a role he played ...
John Levene (born John Anthony Woods) is best known for playing Sergeant Benton in Doctor Who from 1968 to 1975. He also appeared in other TV shows and films, and provided voice work for podcasts and audiobooks.
- January 1, 1
- 1.88 m
- Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, UK
- Actor
- Overview
- Career
- Credits
- External links
John Anthony Woods (born 24 December 1941 in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England), better known by his stage name John Levene, played Sergeant John Benton of UNIT on Doctor Who, beginning with The Invasion and concluding with The Android Invasion, as well as an alternative version in Inferno.
He previously portrayed a Cyberman in The Moonbase, although uncredited, and a Yeti in The Web of Fear.
Levene was working in a men's clothing store on Regent Street in London when he met Telly Savalas, who was appearing in the American war film The Dirty Dozen (1967) being filmed at MGM British Studios; and encouraged him to sign up as an extra. However, Levene found himself unable to take part in the film as he was not a member of the British actors' union Equity, but despite this setback he became interested in acting. On joining Equity, he discovered there was already a John Woods registered and so adopted the professional name John Levene.
His first acting role was in the television series Adam Adamant Lives! (1966-67), playing an uncredited S.S. Guard in the last ever episode "A Sinister Sort of Service". Other television roles included episodes of Callan (1970), UFO (1970), The Adventurer (1972) and the film Go For A Take (1972). He also played a police constable in the horror film Psychomania (1971), and a military policeman in two episodes of the ITV thirteen-part children's science-fiction thriller serial The Jensen Code (1973).
He made an uncredited appearance as a Cyberman in the 1967 Doctor Who serial The Moonbase (DWM 322) and as a Yeti in The Web of Fear before making his debut as then-Corporal Benton in the Doctor Who serial The Invasion in 1968. Levene had initially signed up to play a Cyberman in The Invasion, but landed the role of Benton after the actor originally chosen for the part was fired by director Douglas Camfield for continually turning up late for filming, causing the carefully planned shooting schedules to be changed.
was, incidentally, the serial that introduced Benton's commanding officer, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. Lethbridge-Stewart and UNIT were featured heavily in early 1970s Doctor Who and the promoted Sergeant Benton also became a regular. Levene also played a parallel universe version of Benton in Inferno.
The character of Benton was later promoted to Warrant Officer in Robot, therefore entitling him to be addressed as "Mister", but he is usually referred to as "Sergeant" by fans.
Benton's last regular Doctor Who appearance was in The Android Invasion, in which Levene played both the real Benton and his android duplicate. Levene did not enjoy this story, as he missed the presence of Nicholas Courtney, who was committed to a theatre tour and unable to return, and also knew UNIT was being phased out of the series. The Android Invasion also appeared to show the death of Benton, although this was never the intention at the time, when the android Benton ordered the removal of his body. Thankfully, fans learned Benton was alive and well when it was mentioned by the retired Brigadier in Mawdryn Undead that Benton had left the Army in 1979 and was working as a second-hand car salesman.
TelevisionDirect-to-videoStageAudioTelevisionAudiobook ReadingsDec 13, 2022 · A spontaneous interview with John Levene at Devil's End in August 2021. Thanks to John for letting me interview him, and Martin Parsons and the other organisers of the event for helping me ...
- 5 min
- 798
- Peter Adamson
Our guest this time is John Levene, in a heartfelt chat about life in and out of Doctor Who on TV and audio. In our rabbit hole topic we review the Big Finis...
- 70 min
- 1405
- The Sirens of Audio
John Levene is a British actor who played Corporal Benton in Doctor Who from 1968 to 1975. He also appeared in The Dirty Dozen, BeetleBorgs and other films and TV shows.
John Levene is an English actor, born in Salisbury , Wiltshire , best known for his role as Sergeant Benton one of the mainstays of UNIT during the tenure of the third Doctor.
