Derek Benfield (11 March 1926 – 10 March 2009) was a British playwright and actor. He was born in

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

, and educated at

Bingley Grammar School Bingley Grammar School (BGS) is a Voluntary aided school for students from the ages of 11–18 and is located on the outskirts of Bingley, West Yorkshire, England. Bingley Grammar School was a specialist school for Business & Enterprise from ...

. He was the author of the stage

farce Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...

''Running Riot'' and played

Patricia Routledge Dame Katherine Patricia Routledge, (; born 17 February 1929) is an English actress, singer and broadcaster. For her role as Hyacinth Bucket in the BBC sitcom ''Keeping Up Appearances'' (1990–1995), she was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award f ...

's character's husband in ''

Hetty Wainthropp Investigates ''Hetty Wainthropp Investigates'' is a British crime drama television series, starring Patricia Routledge as the title character, Henrietta "Hetty" Wainthropp, that aired for four series between 3 January 1996 and 4 September 1998 on BBC One. T ...

'' (1996–1998). Arguably Benfield's best known character portrayal was as transport company foreman Bill Riley in the UK television series '' The Brothers'' in the early 1970s. Before this, he starred as Frank Skinner in the 1970 cult sci-fi series broadcast on UK

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

, ''

Timeslip ''Timeslip'' is a British children's science fiction television series made by ATV for the ITV network and broadcast between 1970 and 1971. It was first broadcast on Friday evenings at around 5:10-5:15pm in the ATV region with the other ITV re ...

''. Some of his other television roles included Walter Greenhalgh in ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...

'' (1961–1969), Albert the Clerk in ''

Rumpole of the Bailey ''Rumpole of the Bailey'' is a British television series created and written by the British writer and barrister John Mortimer. It starred Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, a middle-aged London barrister who defended a broad variety of clients, o ...

'' (1978–80), and characters in ''Breakaway'' (1980) and ''

First of the Summer Wine ''First of the Summer Wine'' is a British sitcom written by Roy Clarke that aired on BBC1. The pilot originally aired on 3 January 1988, and the first series of episodes followed on 4 September 1988. The show ran for two series of six episodes eac ...

'' (1988). His film credits include small roles in '' Crossplot'' (1969), ''

I Don't Want to Be Born ''I Don't Want to Be Born'' is a 1975 British horror film directed by Peter Sasdy and starring Joan Collins, Ralph Bates, Eileen Atkins, and Donald Pleasence. Its plot follows a woman who gives birth to a child that appears to be demonically p ...

'' (1975) and '' Lifeforce'' (1985). His plays included the farces ''Post Horn Gallop'' and ''Wild Goose Chase'', both about the fictional exploits of the eccentric Lord and Lady Elrood and visitors to their castle. He also appeared with

Colin Baker Colin Baker (born 8 June 1943) is an English actor who played Paul Merroney in the BBC drama series '' The Brothers'' from 1974 to 1976 and the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series '' Doctor ...

as John Hallam in the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' audio play '' Catch-1782'' produced by

Big Finish Productions Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on cult science fiction properties. These include ''Doctor Who'', the ...

Plays

*Wild Goose Chase, 1956 *Running Riot, 1958 *Fish out of Water, 1963 *Down to Brass Tacks, 1964 *Third Party Risk, 1964 *The Party, 1964 *Post Horn Gallop, 1965 *Murder for the Asking, 1967 *Off the Hook, 1970 *A Bird in the hand, 1973 *Panic Stations, 1975 *Caught on the Hop, 1979 *Beyond a Joke, 1980 *In for the Kill, 1981 *Bedside Manners, 1988

Personal life

Benfield was married to actress Susan Lyle Grant from 1953. They had two children together. Benfield died in 2009 aged 82.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
Obituary in ''The Times''

Obituary in ''The Guardian''

* http://www.timeslip.org.uk/whoswho/derekbenfield.php {{DEFAULTSORT:Benfield, Derek 1926 births 2009 deaths English male television actors Male actors from Bradford People educated at Bingley Grammar School English male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art 20th-century English male writers Writers from Bradford