Doctor Who - Documentary s08e12 Episode Script

My name is Toby Hadoke and I'm heading to Salisbury to spend the weekend with one of the most unusual figures in Doctor Who.
You won't see his name on the Moonbase credits, but he's in the show, making his Doctor Who debut as a Cyberman.
The following year, he was a yeti, and the year after that he appeared as Sergeant Benton, one of my favourite characters in Doctor Who.
He played the put-upon sergeant on-screen opposite three Doctors over the next 10 years.
Don't be a fool, Benton.
I'm one of you.
HADOKE: But these days, he has a reputation as an unpredictable and sometimes controversial figure on the Doctor Who convention circuit.
They say you never meet your heroes, but I want to get to know the real John Levene.
So, I'm spending a weekend at Benton's.
Wish me luck.
-Hello, Toby.
-Hello, John.
What on Earth could you be doing in this neck of the woods? -Well -Come on in.
Come in.
HADOKE: After 20 years in Los Angeles, John's back in Blighty, looking after his old mum.
Well, it's small.
It's just a little two up and two down.
You know, we were so poor when we were born, we thought knives and forks were jewellery.
That's how it was.
This is my pride.
Well, I'll take your coat in a moment.
-Hang on, look.
-Yeah, that's me being a bit, uh Being a bit butch there.
The front cover of Doctor Who Magazine said, -"Benton is back!" And it was bought up.
-Yeah.
Because then, unlike when Doctor Who is all over the place now, that was something that was to be waited for.
-My first leading man, too.
-Yeah.
I just love looking at the Doctor Whos and realising And to this day, I still can't understand that it's me in there.
Does that make sense? -Well, yeah, I think.
Yes.
-Even now.
Is that you? Oh, yes.
The reason I love that is, my mother will tell you, I was born jaundice, breach and dead.
They were bombing Southampton.
Remember I was born in 1941, Christmas Eve, and it was one of the third coldest winters of the century.
And I thought that was a little baby that survived the bombing of Southampton.
And you've got a lovely sort of Mohican.
Yeah, that was how it was.
And it is now.
It's like that today.
Now, you're Christmas Eve, so I want to see if we have a point of identification.
I'm January the second.
Did it always happen to you that people would give you a Christmas present and go, "That'll do for your birthday"? Yes, they did.
And what was worse, last Christmas, I remember when I was six years old, my father gave me And I opened it up.
It was an empty shoe box, and I remember looking very angrily at him.
I said, "What is this?" He said, "It's a G.
I.
Joe Deserter.
Shut up.
" -And I thought that was bloody cruel.
-Really? Yeah, I mean, I wasn't popular at school.
I remember passing out in the classroom one day, and 12 kids rushed forward and tightened my clothing.
I mean, it was a tough time then.
Why were you not popular? Uh, no, that was a joke, Toby, so A little joke there.
HADOKE: But in all good humour is a nugget of truth.
LEVENE: Well, yeah, well.
(PHONE RINGING) Would you believe that? What? Oh, that must be my agent! -It's one of your jokes calling.
-It's one of my agents.
Hang on! Hang on, it could be Hollywood.
Hello, John Levene.
Can I help you? Oh, Rand, I meant to leave you You're never going to believe this, Rand.
This is a close friend of mine, Rand, from Los Angeles.
Rand, I'm being filmed by the BBC.
We're doing a documentary and I've got a friend of mine.
Actually, I'm just bringing him into camera.
Toby's come to do the interviewing.
Actually, he dropped by by accident, and I just happened to be here.
So, Rand, the truth is we're doing this interview in my mother's front room.
So, yeah, if you could try again, that would be perfect.
Thank you for letting me go, Rand.
Bye-bye, Rand.
(HANGS UP PHONE) That's my friend, Superior Court judge.
HADOKE: And on that bombshell, John invited me upstairs.
Now, some people come out of the closet at a time like this.
Other people go in.
(MIMICS CINEMATIC MUSIC) The actual same material, the same style, identical in every way.
Except that they reckon it was even made in the same tailor's shop, which I believe was Savile Row.
This is my Benton.
As close as I'll ever get.
But isn't it beautiful? Do you get it out sometimes and go (IMITATES GUNSHOTS) Actually, I do.
(LAUGHS) No.
Just to let you know how serious I am when they ask me, I would have wanted to have been in the Paratroopers if I'd have been in the forces, and I've also been given that.
Fans keep sending me berets with, I think that's the New York -United Nations Intelligence Service.
-Yeah.
United States branch, very nice.
And whilst Doctor Who wasn't all my life I mean, I'm very lucky.
I've had seven other occupations.
But I have to be honest, Toby, and say that it's the breadth of life, the canvas of life, that Doctor Who allowed me.
And all because Douglas Camfield and Barry Letts, they just watched me.
You know, they saw me put the uniform on.
Now remember, I was a hard worker.
I have to let people understand that.
I was never late.
I mean, I do a gag where I say I get to funerals before people die.
-(HADOKE CHUCKLING) -I will never be late.
And the reason I got Benton, look, is because the actor that was going to be him ended up getting sacked for being late four days in a row.
Well, yeah, it was an actor playing a different part, wasn't it? It was the actor playing a different part, and Benton took his place.
Oh.
Is that That's the first time -I've ever heard that.
-Yes.
HADOKE: John seems in good spirits.
He's keen to show me around his beloved Salisbury.
Welcome to my cathedral, madam.
Go in and fill your boots.
LEVENE: And this is the first memory I have as a child.
It was the echo in here that fascinated me.
And I realised that we just used to sort of shout out our names, like "John, Michael," which is my brother's name.
But just up here, as you know, on the left, is the actual cathedral, but this, this is the first thing I remember.
And over there is the Duke of Malmesbury.
That's the Duke of Malmesbury.
And that, back in 1556, three people were burned to death at the stake.
In fact, there's a memorial plaque over there that's slightly singed at the edges.
HADOKE: I'm surprised by how hyper John is.
I get the feeling he's putting on a bit of a show for us.
And here, Toby, is My God, it's been quite a while since I've been here.
This is the door.
So, just knock it, eh, and see what happens.
-Do, sir.
-Wow.
Hello? HADOKE: John wants to show me his oldest Salisbury haunt, where we're due to meet with its current resident, another John.
John, a very good afternoon.
John Levene.
Nice to see you.
-Come in.
-This is my friend Toby.
HADOKE: Nice to meet you, John.
HADOKE: Why were you here? Well, because my mother was a cleaner and a cook for the lady that lived here.
And this was, of course, back My mother started in about 1936.
I was born 1941.
Oh, and I see you've still got a japonica plant there, John.
It's the one I remember.
Japonica.
Wow.
Well, this, just to let you know, John, because we've only just met, but this is where, in a way, my adventurous youth started, because when you are born in poverty, when you see a place like this where my mother and her three sisters worked, this was the adventure garden.
HADOKE: John and I went off to explore.
Poverty, does it drive success? No, I think it gives you a sense of wanting to belong.
I think it I mean, when I look at this, I don't envy John for owning this, because I was here before him, so to speak.
So, you were a smiley child, you weren't a crying child? Well, when one was ill I didn't get on very well at school because I was ill all the time.
But that's only because I was born in sort of, you know, breach, jaundice and dead is not a great way to come into the world.
Because I've always thought of you as quite a robust man.
Well, I think I just did that out of pure determination.
I mean, one of the reasons I got on in Doctor Who, wasn't it, is because I wanted to do all the rough stuff.
And everyone was willing to let me do the rough stuff, and the more stunts I did, the better my part became.
Is that You just said you always wanted to belong.
Was that part of that? Yeah, because my father didn't like me when he came home, but I found out recently that that was the case with a lot of people.
That get you in the eye? And we have branches everywhere here.
This is actually the microphone, so I must keep So, anyway, I was saying to this chap Why didn't he like you? And did he make that clear, and if so, how? Well, I think he thought I was a sissy.
When you're sick, when you're a child, and you're not very well My father was a boxer, he was, like, the Khyber Pass boxing champion.
He was out in the Khyber Pass for four years before the war.
And I think because he was a Geordie, and because he was so tough, he grew up with the discipline of being slapped.
And he only beat me twice with a belt, but I remember how frightened I was.
So I think there was just no love, there was no love lost between a lot of fathers that came home from the war.
HADOKE: Interesting stuff.
Time to depart from John's secret garden.
Back on the streets of Salisbury,John's showing off his shy and retiring side.
-LEVENE: Hello.
-WOMAN: Getting some fresh air.
Oh, well, there's a lot of fresh air to be had, my dear, isn't there? Yes, there is, it's lovely.
-And it's free, of course.
-Thank you very much.
-Yes.
-Thank you.
You're not afraid of talking to strangers.
You've done it a few times.
Yeah, first of all, I just naturally do it.
And I do it to older people, like when I see Is that something you'd do I do what makes me feel good.
if you weren't a man from the telly? Uh, yeah, I was always like that.
You know in The Sixth Sense, whatever the movie is, -he said, "I see dead people"? -Yeah.
I see sad people.
-Right.
-I see sad people.
I see elderly people that have never been spoken to in a (BLEEP) year.
I'll go over and say, "Nice to see you, my love.
"You look so much better than last week.
" And I watch.
I watch what my words do to that old person that nobody's spoken to for a year.
You see them smile.
So, I'll go up I won't touch them, but I'll go up and say, "Nice to see you, my love.
Last time I saw you, it was raining.
" And you can see them go by and say, "I don't know" But I see them smile.
Hello, ladies.
You look all proper.
We're not very quick.
Well, that's all right.
We've been at a great reunion, you know.
We lived here for two years.
-Oh, did you? -Yes.
Well, where are you from now, then? All over England.
But we used to be at the college here, you see? Oh, and I grew up in the close here.
That's why we're just doing a little documentary about my life here -when I was a young man.
-Oh, are you? And then I became famous in a show called Doctor Who.
-Oh, yes? -And so I will expect one of you to ask for an autograph, if you'd be kind enough.
No, no.
LEVENE: So, we're all having a reunion.
Well, thank you.
Who should we be speaking to? Well, the name is John Levene, and I played Sergeant Benton in Doctor Who for 10 years.
-I didn't watch Doctor Who.
-(GASPS) Get this woman out of this close right now.
Madam! Do you know Julian Ovenden? Oh, no, I've been out of the country for 35 years, so Oh, right.
He's the new up-and-coming one.
-Oh.
-Not in Doctor Who.
WOMAN: My daughter would have been watching Doctor Who.
Oh, well, then, tell her, yes, John Levene, Sergeant Benton.
-I'll tell her.
-Thrilled to have been in the show.
God bless you, my dear.
-WOMAN 2: Great to meet you.
-The cheque will be in the post.
-Thank you.
Bye-bye.
-WOMAN 2: Bye.
Do you like telling people you were Sergeant Benton? Oh, (BLEEP) right I do.
-Yeah? -Yeah.
Bloody right.
I mean, that's all I've been.
Even if they don't know? Oh, yeah.
Well, no.
Because 90% of the time they do.
HADOKE: It's time to talk Doctor Who.
So, when you were an extra, a featured monster, but nonetheless that's lowly on the cast list, you were this man I've seen before me for the past day, cracking jokes, because as I've mentioned, you're rarely off.
Yes.
But I don't mean to not be off.
I never consciously How do you not talk to four old ladies walking up Like, how do you not say something, why we're in their way? So, really, it's an apologetic desire to please.
And maybe to get a little thank you, which is what does make me feel good.
And as Sergeant Benton, you know you pleased the fans.
-Yes.
-The UNIT family is a famous part -of Doctor Who.
-Yes.
Is that all true that it was a very happy time, that you were a unit, in both senses of the word? It absolutely was.
I mean, the nucleus of it, to be frank, now that some people have passed away, but the nucleus of the family was basically Jon, Katy, and myself.
Because Jon loved my sense of humour.
He often regarded me as naturally funnier than him, but he was brilliant, as you know, as a vaudevillian act.
So, what happened is Jon and Katy gave me my first sense of freedom.
They gave me the sense that I was worth something.
So what happened then is that Richard and Nick joined.
Now, you know Nick was very rarely with us.
Nick was always in the pub, and sometimes Jon used to get a little cross because Nick would want his three pints every lunchtime.
So, Nick really didn't have much of a sense of humour, and he used to ride our jokes.
I can't quite explain it.
But Nick was an important part of the family because it was his retort to my comedy and Jon's comedy which made him a little closer to us.
Nick's very well loved in Doctor Who circles.
Oh, yes.
Well, there's a difference between being loved and having a sense of humour -or not having a sense of humour.
-Sure.
You were on-screen in Doctor Who, you were this family.
Families inevitably break up.
I suppose that started first when Roger Delgado was killed.
Oh, boy.
Can you imagine, first of all, I do love using the word "love" now, to do with men.
I mean, back in those days, you couldn't say you loved a man, but I loved Roger for two reasons.
He sussed my character straight away, and Roger, along with Jon and Pat Troughton are the people that took me aside when they saw me worrying about whether I was letting them down, because I had no theatre, no stage acting, no voice lessons, I had done nothing, and so when these people came up and befriended me, I knew it was for the right reason.
And you'll notice I responded amazingly.
So you respond well to people bringing out something in you.
Who did you respond badly to, then? Uh, well, we all know Tom Baker was a tough one to crack.
His ego was rather large.
And I don't think that he wanted UNIT in.
This is public knowledge.
I mean, it's not a secret.
But he made it very difficult.
I would have said it was the producer, rather than the Doctor, who phased out UNIT.
Philip Hinchcliffe.
Oh, well, no, obviously, ultimately, it was him.
But I know Tom I think he saw his Doctor as a Doctor alone, because remember, we'd stolen a lot of limelight.
UNIT had become so entrenched in the Doctor Who phenomenon that I just think Tom wanted And I don't blame him.
So, I'm guessing that when the Android Invasion happened, it wasn't, "Oh, that's a golden wrap for John Levene.
Off you go.
" -No.
-You never got the phone call again.
But nobody ever hears, do they? Isn't that the one thing producers They never phone.
And did you know, before Barry Letts died, Barry told me that we nearly had a UNIT series.
We came that far, that close, I mean, from having a UNIT series, with Nick as the star, me the second lead, because Benton was always a little more featured than Richard.
But we were going to have our own story.
HADOKE: Some strong words from our Sergeant Benton.
A different picture of the UNIT family to the one I'm used to.
I visit John again that evening.
I'm hoping a drink may loosen his tongue.
So, what would you like to drink? A glass of wine, something like that.
Give me two seconds and I shall get some.
-John, you're kind, thank you.
-It's a pleasure.
Well, Toby, that was a long and interesting day.
-I hope that's what you like.
-Cheers, yeah, beautiful.
Thank you.
And if I may just say, cheers to you.
Well, thanks to you.
Thanks for your hospitality.
I'm trying to imagine you living in Hollywood.
It must have taken you a while to acclimatise.
I was never relaxed.
I always felt as though I was visiting.
-For 21 years? -I couldn't relax.
Yeah.
What brought you there in the first place? What was the plan? The plan was I was offered a lot of work there, based on the fame that Doctor Who was supposed to have given us.
But that fame only lasts so long.
And as you know, even some of the Doctors have been over there and were not successful.
I was too old when I got there.
-It was really very simple.
-But you stayed there for 22 years.
Yeah, I had a relationship there.
Just a relationship.
And I had all the work with the Tennis Classic, which I did for five years, and I read for the Braille.
And I did that, you know I was walking down a pavement in Los Angeles, and a blind man stumbled on a piece of garbage that had been thrown down by someone out of a car.
And I remember thinking, you know, "What must it be like to be blind?" And then one day, I'd lost a very close friend and I was crying.
Like you do.
And as I was crying, it began to rain, which is only eight days a year in Los Angeles.
And long story short, I saw a seeing-eye dog, a Labrador.
This woman was sight-impaired, blind, I hate the word, but anyway, she said, "You're crying.
I can sense it and so can my dog.
" And I touched the dog and it was like an electric shock.
Maybe it was, it was raining.
Static, maybe.
And she said, "Do you know what you should do, instead of crying? "With a voice like yours, you should come down to the second biggest "Braille institute in America.
" -It actually happened just like that? -Just like that.
She said, "You have a lovely English accent.
" And I love being English.
That's the one currency they cannot take away from you.
Curious, though, because you are, to an English ear now, slightly Americanised.
You don't think so! That's not like saying Never, surely.
(IN AMERICAN ACCENT) I mean, what are y'all thinkin' about? I would hate that.
No, I don't.
You said "garbage".
-Pardon? -You said "garbage".
-(GASPS) I didn't.
-You did.
Oh, may God forgive me.
HADOKE: But John appears to be a man in demand.
-(PHONE RINGS) -Oh! Hello, John here, good evening.
Oh, Chris Gardner from New Zealand! Oh, Chris, is there any news at all? Oh, go on.
Right.
Oh.
So, hang on, are you saying the package got lost? This, by the way, Toby, is a friend of mine.
He's a journalist in the North Island in New Zealand.
His name is Chris Gardner, and we did a couple articles together and we're working on a small project together and he's just keeping me up to date.
So are you saying, then, Chris, that the packages got lost between you But did it not have a tracking thing on it, a tracking number? Well, would you let me know? I mean, do let me know, because wouldn't it be awful after all that work we put in? Oh, and I know what I wanted to ask you, Chris, would you make sure, and I know you will, if you photocopy that letter, could you put it on the most expensive paper? There's something about a piece of paper that costs only 25 cents compared to the (BLEEP) that we have in copiers, would you actually put it on expensive paper for me? All right, Chris.
Bye-bye, my love.
Bye-bye.
Wow.
HADOKE: If I was going to figure this chap out, Sunday would require a fresh approach.
Day two of my Levene odyssey, and I'm out of bed early.
Today's plan, let the wookiee win.
John's invited me over for a Benton breakfast.
And I'm never one to say no to a good feed.
Good morning, Toby.
A fresh day.
-How are you? Thank you very much.
-Come in, sir, come in.
I'm sure, like my mother and I, you're a little hungry by now.
So, are you a dab hand in the kitchen? Well, I Yes, to a certain degree.
I can do all the obvious food, but I can't cook pastry and cakes like that.
-Right.
-So I should just start now, look, by mixing a little soy sauce in the mushrooms there.
I wonder, John, if you weren't having a documentary shot in your house, if you would have a Fender Stratocaster in your kitchen? -Well, yeah, oh, yes.
-Really, is that where it lives? You cannot cook fried mushrooms without a Stratocaster.
You can't do it.
Now that I'm doing a bit of singing, all I use her for now is to get the basic chord for the key that I may be doing.
Like for example, the song I'm doing is the key of E, which I love because it's a beautiful sound.
-She's what they call sweet melancholy.
-It's the most melancholy key.
And I like this because It was given to me in Hollywood for a favour I did someone, because I could never have afforded it.
Well, what was the favour? What sort of favour earns you a guitar in Hollywood? I helped a bloke out of a crashed car.
-Right.
-He had a crash and I helped him.
And he said, "You know, you've saved me getting really badly injured," so he bought me this, and it was on sale.
-Really? -Yeah.
Well, Hollywood is rich.
Is this the sort of thing that happens to you? Um, I'm quite lucky like that, yes.
I just do favours, you know, and You sort of walk past disaster, and sort it out, and get paid with a guitar.
He said, "Would you like a guitar?" And I said, "So long as there's no strings attached.
" HADOKE: With breakfast on the boil, it was time to meet John's mum, Vera.
Mum, this is Toby, the gentleman who's been coming to interview us today.
Thank you for having me around for breakfast.
-Oh, right, yeah.
-Good timing.
So, Toby, I thought if you could sit here, I won't move your chair out, because you've got to keep most of your masculinity intact.
-Most of it.
-You know.
What, did I leave some at the door? Yes, there's a little bit out there.
I will go and pick it up whilst I'm cooking your breakfast.
-Thank you.
Thank you.
-So I'll see you in just a moment.
I won't be long.
So, does John make a good breakfast, Vera? -Sorry? -Does John make a good breakfast? Oh, he cooks all my meals.
-Oh, that's nice.
-Yeah, oh, yeah.
He really does look after me well.
How has it been having him back in the UK after being in America for all those years? It's lovely, yeah.
HADOKE: I was hoping that Vera might give me a different perspective on John.
He told me he was quite a poorly child.
Is that right? Oh, yes.
He didn't go to school until He was poorly.
He had to sit still.
He had something wrong with his blood.
And the doctors made him sit still for a good, oh, three months, without moving much.
-John had to sit still for three months? -Yeah.
Do you think he's been making up for that ever since? Absolutely! And where do you think this performer comes from? Was he like that as a child? He's always been a bit of the joker of the family, really.
HADOKE: Is he shy as well? VERA: He was very shy when he was younger.
HADOKE: But would you say he's still shy now? Won't be long, Toby.
Won't be long, Mum.
Not really.
I mean, you can't call him shy.
Not now.
Does he tell you as many jokes as he's been telling me over the past 24 hours? He tells me all the jokes.
Here we are, Mum, here's your breakfast, mushrooms, egg And this is really yours.
We have sea salt, ordinary salt, and an insult, if you need it.
So, I'll be Toby, yours is coming right up.
Here you are, Toby, you've been very patient.
No, bless you, John.
You know, we working actors, we have Look at that, now, just look at that.
It's almost worth filming that, isn't it? It's a shame we don't have a camera here.
If I could tell my 11-year-old self that Sergeant Benton would make me breakfast.
John told me that he didn't get on especially well with his father.
Do you think that's because they were very similar? I think that was the trouble.
Yeah.
-Gosh, this is good.
-This is fantastic.
I'm into sea salt at the moment.
I can't believe how beautiful it is.
Really, Dad was a bit on the side where he would've liked to have been doing what things that you did.
Yeah, I think so.
I think there was a little bit of envy.
He was an army man.
He'd been in the army all his life, you see? Right, so he had that taken away from him in a way.
-And saw John doing it.
-VERA: Yes, yes.
That must be a very difficult dynamic.
He might quietly have been jealous of him, of course.
-Right.
-Who knows? HADOKE: My plan is to put John in his comfort zone, to help him be himself.
Okay, Toby, let's go and play a bit of golf, eh? HADOKE: So, I've challenged him to a round of his beloved golf.
Only problem is I've never played a round of golf in my life.
When should I tell you that I can't actually drive, John? Um, I think now would be a good time, Toby.
LEVENE: It's a lovely course.
HADOKE: Is it a relaxing game, then, golf? LEVENE: Well, it is.
I'm not competitive.
I mean, I I don't go out.
I mean, I don't mind, you know, some people pay five pounds a hole.
But I don't enjoy the competitive side of it.
I just like to relax.
HADOKE: We got to chatting about John's stand-up career on the Who convention circuit.
LEVENE: My opening gag, mainly in the States, was, "I want to thank Bob, the producer.
"They've given me a lovely room.
"I've got sliding doors, carpet wall-to-wall.
It's beautiful.
"I've never slept in a bloody lift before.
" And I just do those, and all the hotel jokes, 'cause America's easy to entertain, you see.
It's much easier to entertain an American audience.
HADOKE: Well, and it's a different style because you've got this storehouse of gags which, you know, you don't see at comedy clubs.
The weekend comedy clubs that I do, you don't see patter gags.
-It's a very different style.
-Is it? Yeah.
Yeah, I don't know.
We don't It's a funny thing about Britain.
I don't think we trust people who look like they're trying to entertain us.
-No, no, you -It's a peculiar dynamic.
Well, my only The one benefit I get is I never go out and say, "Have you heard the one?" -Yeah.
-Nobody ever knows I'm telling a joke.
-Yeah.
-So that's, I think, my success.
And people don't expect a smart lad like me to say a couple of rude things, you know.
Um, you know, we had an Irish couple living next to us.
She bought a vibrator, you know.
I saw her the day after, she said, "I just had to take my vibrator back to Boots.
" I said, "Why?" She said, "Well, it's knocking all my teeth out.
" -(LAUGHING) -You know, I love that kind of That kind of stuff.
It's HADOKE: What they should have had was some chickens in here.
Oh, yeah.
They should just fly.
-Scatter! -Whoo! HADOKE: We were here to play against John's golfing buddy and oldest friend.
Beautifully done, Toby.
You're a golfer.
You're a born golfer.
Yes.
-Hi, John.
Hi, John.
-Hello, Bob.
Nice to see you again.
-Nice to see you.
-And this, of course, is Toby.
My close friend.
Bobby's an old school friend and a reasonably good golfer, too.
But today I'm gonna prove him just a little shabby.
I'm in the mood.
I'm in the mood.
Right, Toby.
We've -It's got a sock on it.
-It's got a sock on it.
-John, would you like to tee off first? -Well, I would love to, Bob.
And that's Oh, look at the green down there.
That's beautiful.
Okay, I'm playing a Pinnacle two.
HADOKE: What are you aiming at, John? LEVENE: The little white flag down there.
HADOKE: Is that the golf course surrendering? -That's the yellow flag at the end.
-HADOKE: Is he any good, Bob? He can John can play.
Yes, he's quite a good golfer.
-Straight down the middle.
-Oh, you missed the bird.
-Is that a birdie? Is that a birdie? -That was a birdie.
Nearly killed the birdie.
-ROSE: Now, Toby, you can -Oh, is it me next? -(LAUGHING) -Oh, dear.
We could be quite some time.
It's not going to be easy.
You're most likely not going to hit the ball.
-I say that in a kind and caring way.
-HADOKE: That's a challenge.
Oh, okay So I've got to get the swing right.
So, just like that.
ROSE: Just like that.
Right.
Just like that.
So LEVENE: Oh, my goodness! ROSE: Well done! That's That's not shabby.
It's easier on the Wii, I have to say.
LEVENE: Oh, that's beautiful.
Right.
Well done, there, Toby.
Well done.
-I didn't expect it.
-ROSE: Fancy all these years, John.
HADOKE: With John off looking for his ball, I took the opportunity to chat to Bob about his old pal.
I mean, I've seen him be very ebullient and outgoing and he's a great performer and he's always cracking jokes.
Have you seen him in quieter moments? Well, I think John, when he was at school, he was a quiet, shy sort of person.
He was (CLEARS THROAT) He was always In the playground, John would be in the corner.
He wouldn't be the one out in the front.
You know, he'd be sort of away from everybody and just chose his own quiet friends to go with him.
And what do you make of this whole Doctor Who thing? Well, when we were kids we always watched it.
And I always used to say, "Oh, there's John.
" Because we always called John as Johnny Woods from school.
And I said, "Oh, there's Johnny Woods on the screen.
" And that was marvellous, you know, to think that somebody you knew was actually portrayed on television.
What does he tell you about this life that he has? Well, it seemed all very glamorous when John used to say, "I lived in Hollywood "and I played golf with all the stars.
" And I was very envious.
Um, I just wished I'd been a part of it, you know.
He's someone special, I think, yes.
And do you think he needs that sort of attention? Well, I'm not sure if he needs that sort of attention.
So, this is where you hit from all the way over there.
-Yes, yes.
-All right.
Okay.
I think we got about 110 yards left or so to the stick.
Oh, that'll be a doddle.
HADOKE: With the hole in sight, it was time to apply our game faces.
Oh, very nice.
Oh, my goodness, Toby.
You jammy (BLEEP) Oh, gosh! Not good.
(LAUGHS) HADOKE: Oh, dear! ROSE: Never mind.
HADOKE: Oh, that's better.
-Oh, look away.
-LEVENE: No! HADOKE: Oh, dear! -Oh, it's ricocheted.
-ROSE: We're shaking hands.
HADOKE: And it's gone in.
Well, that's the best game we've had for a long time.
LEVENE: That was really That was really nice.
HADOKE: So, my first game of golf had been a good chance to get to know John.
I think he was starting to relax with me.
With our weekend drawing to a close, it was time to tackle some big questions and some difficult home truths.
I'll have to be honest with you now.
I used to describe you to friends of mine and I'd say, "The guy who played Sergeant Benton I love Sergeant Benton "'cause he's really nice.
"But the guy that plays him gives you the impression "he's been to one too many motivational speakers.
" 'Cause you're always sort of high and always talking about John Levene.
I used to think that was, again, the ego, but having spent a weekend with you, is it the little boy? "Don't pass me by.
Don't ignore me.
" I've tried so hard.
From a kid that was born dead.
Breach, jaundice and dead, then that dreadful blood disease, peritonitis, tuberculosis, mumps, whooping cough, chicken pox, no schooling, very little education.
I think it's because I didn't want to just disappear and not be anybody.
I mean, I am now thrilled with the footprint I have left behind.
The footprint I have left behind as Sergeant Benton pleases me because I made a lot of kids happy.
A lot of adults respect me.
I mean, I like to be respected.
I don't demand it.
But I do demand loyalty in my friends.
I am not shy about that.
HADOKE: There's nobody quite like you at Doctor Who conventions.
Do you know what I mean? LEVENE: No, there isn't.
I have to admit.
Um, do we worry that you're a bit of a nutter? Oh, I would like the word eccentric.
I was called eccentric in America.
I like that.
Because what is eccentricity? It's a little bit of a personality bump.
I mean, I don't think I'm outrageous.
Although the colour thing confuses me sometimes.
I mean, I wonder where I got this bright colour fetish from.
But then, at my age, I'm allowed to do.
I mean, one is allowed to be a little bit expressive.
But I would have thought just I'm just a bit I'm not scared to be different.
-Sure.
-I mean, I'm not scared to be different.
-But that's because -You're not pretending, are you? No.
No, not at all.
I feel I'm totally sincere.
But, yeah, I mean, it's a contradiction in terms in so far as I'm quiet all day at home.
And another reason I talk, remember, is I'm not with anybody during the week.
I've got no All my close friends are in LA.
What have I got? Who do I have to talk to? But I must say I'm much happier now I'm back in Britain.
I'm happier that we've got the four seasons.
I'm happy that I can wear my overcoat now.
I'm happy that I can see the few old friends I have.
And I still feel I have a bit of a life here.
You've still got Doctor Who.
Well, I've still got Doctor Who, and there's about five years left in that, I think.
And you never know, there's a rumour that they want me in the new show.
But I don't That's never going to happen.
You know, the fans have I mean, I'd love it.
Do you There's something in there that hankers for that? Oh, yeah.
Well, I can tell you now that the only time I had a real pang is when Catherine Tate, when I saw UNIT in one of her stories, I wanted to jump on that screen.
They had the red beret.
I wanted to jump on that screen and take over and be Benton again.
I really The only thing I can say I'm a touch miffed about is that I'm surprised they haven't had Benton back, given that so many people say, "Why don't they have Benton back?" So, I'm only really resting on the laurels of other people wanting me back in the show.
Of course I would love to go back.
Of course I bloody would.
To go back and put that uniform again? And I'd be the Brigadier now.
HADOKE: I went into this weekend worried that you shouldn't meet your heroes.
That John's mad image might destroy the huge affection I have for the character he played.
But I think it all makes a bit more sense now.
John the showman seems like a smokescreen for John the shy little boy.
Still insecure.
Still eager to please.
And when I got to know that John -God bless you, Toby.
-Take care.
-Take care.
Bye-bye, my love.
-Bye.
HADOKE: I found I rather liked him.
Good old Sergeant Benton.