Peter Henry Benson (3 April 1943 – 6 September 2018) was a British actor, best known for his role as Bernie Scripps in the popular

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 ...

television series '' Heartbeat'', a police drama set in the fictional

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

village of Aidensfield during the 1960s. He also had a number of other film and television roles, often playing weak or vacillating characters.

Television and theatre

Born in

Wallasey Wallasey () is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England; until 1974, it was part of the historic county of Cheshire. It is situated at the mouth of the River Mersey, at the north-eastern corner of the Wirral Pe ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, the son of schoolmaster Herbert George Benson (1888-1972), who served as a Special Constable during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and Mabel Dorothy (née Lord, 1902-1979), Peter Benson was a talented singer and dancer and an accomplished theatre actor. His other television and theatre work included the regional premiere of Stephen Sondheim's ''

Assassins An assassin is a person who commits targeted murder. Assassin may also refer to: Origin of term * Someone belonging to the medieval Persian Ismaili order of Assassins Animals and insects * Assassin bugs, a genus in the family ''Reduviida ...

''. On television his credits include the Dauphin in

Shaw's Shaw's and Star Market are two American supermarket chains under united management based in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, employing about 30,000 associates in 150 total stores; 129 stores are operated under the Shaw's banner in Maine, Massach ...

'' Saint Joan'', Henry VI in all three parts of '' Henry VI'', and ''

Richard III Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battl ...

'' for the

BBC Television Shakespeare The ''BBC Television Shakespeare'' is a series of British television adaptations of the plays of William Shakespeare, created by Cedric Messina and broadcast by BBC Television. Transmitted in the UK from 3 December 1978 to 27 April 1985, it ...

Series, Reuben with

Bill Maynard Walter Frederick George Williams (8 October 1928 – 30 March 2018), better known by his stage name Bill Maynard, was an English comedian and actor. He began working in television in the 1950s, notably starring alongside Terry Scott in '' G ...

in Alan Plater's ''Trinity Tales'', Henry VII in ''

The Black Adder ''The Black Adder'' is the first series of the BBC sitcom ''Blackadder'', written by Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson, directed by Martin Shardlow and produced by John Lloyd. The series was originally aired on BBC 1 from 15 June 1983 to 20 ...

'', Bernard in '' All Creatures Great and Small'', and Bor 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 ...

'' serial ''Terminus''. Later roles included the made-for-TV film '' Merlin'' and ''

A Touch of Frost A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes' ...

''. He also had parts 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 ...

'', ''

The Royal ''The Royal'' is a British period medical drama, produced by Yorkshire Television (later part of ITV Studios), and broadcast on ITV1 from 2003 until its cancellation in 2011. The series is set in the 1960s and focuses on the lives of the st ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

Jeeves and Wooster ''Jeeves and Wooster'' is a British comedy-drama television series adapted by Clive Exton from P. G. Wodehouse's "Jeeves" stories. It aired on the ITV network from 22 April 1990 to 20 June 1993, with the last series nominated for a Britis ...

'', ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused on ...

'', ''

Peak Practice ''Peak Practice'' is a British drama series about a GP surgery in Cardale—a small fictional town in the Derbyshire Peak District—and the doctors who worked there. It ran on ITV from 10 May 1993 to 30 January 2002 and was one of their most ...

'', ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

'', '' Tenko'', and ''

Lovejoy ''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery series, based on the novels by John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six series, was originally broadcast on BBC1 between 10 January 19 ...

'', among others. Benson played the part of Larry Rigg in Granada's short lived market soap, ''

Albion Market ''Albion Market'' was a British soap opera, set in a covered market in Salford, in the northwest of England. It was intended as a companion to fellow ITV soap '' Coronation Street'', starting at 7:00 pm on Fridays and 7.15 pm on Sundays. Howe ...

'', from 1985 to 1986. He played Bernie Scripps in '' Heartbeat'' between 1995 and 2010. In the series, Bernard 'Bernie' Scripps ran Aidensfield Garage and the local funeral service. He was often involved helping Claude Greengrass (

), his half-brother Vernon Scripps ( Geoffrey Hughes), and later Peggy Armstrong (

Gwen Taylor Gwen Taylor (born 19 February 1939) is an English actress who has appeared in many British television programmes. She is known for her roles as Amy Pearce in the sitcom ''Duty Free'' (1984–1986); Barbara Liversidge in the sitcom '' Barbara'' ...

) with disastrous money-making schemes.

Film roles

His film work included roles in ''

Cry of the Banshee ''Cry of the Banshee'' is a 1970 British horror film directed by Gordon Hessler and starring Vincent Price as an evil witchhunter. The film was released by American International Pictures. The film costars Elisabeth Bergner, Hilary Dwyer, and Hu ...

'' (1970), Michael Crichton's ''

The First Great Train Robbery ''The First Great Train Robbery'' (known in the United States as ''The Great Train Robbery'') is a 1978 Irish heist comedy film directed by Michael Crichton, who also wrote the screenplay based on his 1975 novel '' The Great Train Robbery''. ...

'' (1978),

Roman Polanski Raymond Roman Thierry Polański , group=lower-alpha, name=note_a (né Liebling; 18 August 1933) is a French-Polish film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two ...

's ''

Tess Tess or TESS may refer to: Music * Tess (band), a Spanish pop band active from 2000 to 2005 * TESS (musician), a UK musician Film and theatre * ''Tess'' (1979 film), a 1979 film adaptation of '' Tess of the d'Urbervilles'' * ''Tess'' (2016 film ...

'' (1979), and Christian Cantamessa's ''

Air The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing f ...

'' (2015).

Death

Benson died on 6 September 2018 aged 75, following a relatively short illness. He was surrounded by family and close friends.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Benson and Doctor Who
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benson, Peter 1943 births 2018 deaths People from Wallasey English male television actors English male film actors English male stage actors Male actors from Merseyside 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors British expatriates in the United States