Doctor(s): 1st Doctor (William Hartnell) and 2nd Doctor (Patrick Troughton)
Traveled: July 1966 – July 1967
Actor: Michael Craze (29 May 1942 – 8 December 1998)
Episodes & Stories
The War Machines (introduced), The Smugglers, The Tenth Planet, The Power of the Daleks, The Highlanders, The Underwater Menace, The Moonbase, The Macra Terror, The Faceless Ones.
Personality
A good-hearted, working-class able seaman in the Royal Navy, Ben is brave, practical, a bit of a scrapper, and initially skeptical of the freshly regenerated Second Doctor.
Interesting Facts
- Ben was the companion most suspicious of the newly regenerated Second Doctor, voicing the audience’s own uncertainty.
- He and Polly are the only companions present for both the First Doctor’s final story and the Second Doctor’s first story back-to-back.
- Michael Craze had a long career in British television, including EastEnders in the 1980s.
What Happened to the Character
Ben leaves with Polly in The Faceless Ones (1967), dropped back in London on the same day they departed.
The Actor Today
Michael Craze continued acting for decades. He died of a heart attack on 8 December 1998, aged 56.