Derek Benfield

Derek Benfield (left) (1972)

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

He was born in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, and educated at Bingley Grammar School. He was the author of the stage farce Running Riot and played Patricia Routledge's character's husband in Hetty Wainthropp Investigates (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, Timeslip. Some of his other television roles included Walter Greenhalgh in Coronation Street (1961–1969), Albert the Clerk in Rumpole of the Bailey (1978–80), and characters in Breakaway (1980) and First of the Summer Wine (1988).

His film credits include small roles in Crossplot (1969), I Don't Want to Be Born (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 as John Hallam in the Doctor Who audio play Catch-1782 produced by Big Finish Productions.

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

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1959	Room at the Top	Man in Bar	Uncredited
1962	A Matter of Conscience	Gerasimovich	TV film
1964	House of Glass	Sapper Maggs	TV film
1969	Mosquito Squadron	Airman Valet	Uncredited
	Crossplot	Man in cafe
1975	I Don't Want to Be Born	Police Inspector
1979	The Knowledge	Football Driver	TV film
1980	The Boy Who Never Was	Inspector	TV film
1982	Remembrance	Vincent's Farmer
1984	Arthur's Hallowed Ground	Eric	TV film
1985	Lifeforce	Physician
1987	The Girl	Janitor
	Our Geoff	Ronnie	TV film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1955	Return to the Lost Planet	Professor Bergman	3 episodes
1958	The Larkins	Mr. Burlington Thrush	Episode: "Angry Young Man"
1959		Third Barrister	Episode: "Haul for One"
	Great Expectations	Landlord	1 episode
1960	Suspense	Prison Doctor	Episode: "Decision at Nine"
	ITV Sunday Night Drama	Graves	Episode: "The Devil Makes Sunday"
	Probation Officer	George Cooper	1 episode
1961	Three Live Wires	Higgenbottom	Series regular
	Maigret	Emile	Episode: "Death of a Butcher"
1962	Harpers West One	Cedric Gilbert	1 episode
	Winning Widows		Episode: "The Supermarket"
	Faces of Jim		Episode: "The Face of Tradition"
	ITV Play of the Week	Chancellor of the Exchequer	Episode: "The Apple Cart"
1963		Dr. Kusmich	Episode: "War and Peace"
	Z-Cars	Mr. Healey	Episode: "It Never Rains..."
	Crane	Osman	Episode: "The Cannabis Syndicate"
	Drama 61-67	Taxi Driver	Episode: "The Taxi's for Johnnie"
	The Victorians	Tubbs	Episode: "The Silver King"
	Marriage Lines	Harold	Episode: "The Threshold"
	ITV Playhouse	Barrett	Episode: "They Don't Make Summers Like They Used To"
	Sergeant Cork	Mr. Spiller	Episode: "The Case of the Fenian Men"
	Coronation Street	Jim Baker	3 episodes
1964	Dixon of Dock Green	Mr. Stevens	Episode: "All Sorts to Make a World"
	Z-Cars	Mr. Brooke	Episode: "Whistle and Come Home"
		McKinley	Episode: "Finders Keepers"
	Detective	Dr. Hamm	Episode: "The Drawing"
	The Villains	Harry	Episode: "Contraband"
	Happily Ever After		1 episode
	The Protectors	Betts	Episode: "Who Killed Lazoryck?"
	Catch Hand	Baxter	Episode: "It's Only Bricks and Mortar"
	R3	Tom Collis	3 episodes
	No Hiding Place	Henry Mercer	Episode: "Scaremonger"
1965		Prescott	Episode: "Music for Murder"
	Story Parade	Mr. Laker	Episode: "The Make-Believe Man"
	Cluff	Josh Tupman	Episode: "The Brothers"
	Riviera Police	Voisin	Episode: "That Kind of Girl"
	Jury Room	Mr. Blakiston	Episode: "Traitor"
	Theatre 625	Sergeant Byrom	Episode: "The Siege of Manchester"
	The Mask of Janus	Andrew Parsons	3 episodes
1966	Dixon of Dock Green	Mr. Delaney	Episode: "The Heister"
		Publican	Episode: "Street of Fear"
	The Baron	The Scientist	Episode: "The Persuaders"
	The Likely Lads	Cloakroom attendant	Episode: "Brief Encounter"
	Public Eye	Carter	Episode: "I Could Set It to Music"
	The Troubleshooters	Sloan	Episode: "Four Cheers for Geoffrey"
	Blackmail	Cully	Episode: "The Haunting of Aubrey Hopkiss"
	Vendetta	Police Sergeant	Episode: "The Ice-Cream Man"
1967	Z-Cars	Mr. Blacker	Episode: "The Great Fur Robbery"
	Dixon of Dock Green	Jack Bowden	Episode: "The Step-Brother"
	The Newcomers	Mr. Hutchinson	3 episodes
	The Gamblers	Fireman	Episode: "The Man Beneath"
	Coronation Street	Walter Greenhalgh	Recurring role
	Softly, Softly	Palmer	Episode: "The Same the Whole World Over"
1968		Moxham	Episode: "In Bulk"
	Z-Cars	Timmy Cater	Episode: "Special Relationship"
	The Revenue Men	Fender	Episode: "Sentimental Value"
	The First Lady	Mowbray	Episode: "Cleverclogs"
	Champion House	Gerald Dobson	Episode: "Breakout"
	The Expert	Harry Murdoch	Episode: "Full Choke"
	The Root of All Evil?	Peter Whittaker	Episode: "You Can Only Buy Once"
1969	Dixon of Dock Green	Harry Fisher	Episode: "The Jelly Man"
	Plays of Today	Purdon	Episode: "Men of Iron"
	Hadleigh	Sergeant Moggs	Episode: "Safety of the Realm"
	Paul Temple	Victor Burgess	Episode: "Message from a Dead Man"
	Out of the Unknown	Tom Clarke	Episode: "Immortality Inc"
1970	Oh, Brother!		Episode: "The Laughter of a Fool"
	Z-Cars	Dicky Green	Episode: "Cruising for Burglars"
	The Borderers	Herdsman	Episode: "Hostage"
1970-1971	Timeslip	Frank Skinner	Series regular
1971	Z-Cars	Thurley	Episode: "Dan Dan..."
	Dixon of Dock Green	Quilter	Episode: "Flashpoint"
	Out of the Unknown	Dr. Liam Moore	Episode: "Welcome Home"
	Thirty-Minute Theatre	Bradford	Episode: "Jenkins"
	Doomwatch	Arnold Payne	Episode: "Public Enemy"
1972		Dr. Ridley	Episode: "Flood"
	Z-Cars	Byrne	Episode: "Sweet Girl"
	Man at the Top	Mr. Cunliffe	Episode: "All Very Hush, Hush"
	The Long Chase	Fisherman	3 episodes
1972-1976	The Brothers	Bill Riley	Series regular
1973	The Flaxton Boys	Sergeant Brophy	3 episodes
	Armchair Theatre	Cyril	Episode: "The Death of Glory"
1975	Late Call	Voice #2	Mini-series
	Dixon of Dock Green	Skinner	Episode: "Chain of Events"
1976	Hunter's Walk	Bert Brown	Episode: "Say Nothing"
1978	Armchair Thriller	Mr. Cooper	Episode: "The Girl Who Walked Quickly"
	Z-Cars	Detective Superintendent Ramsden	Episode: "Departures"
1978-1980	Rumpole of the Bailey	Albert Handyside	Recurring role
1979	Thundercloud	Beattie	Episode: "Carry on Number One"
1980	Breakaway	Leo Corby	3 episodes
	Minder	Brown	Episode: "A Lot of Bull and a Pat on the Back"
	In Loving Memory	Alfred Pardoe	Episode: "The Outing"
1981	Hi-de-Hi!	Rose's Dad	Episode: "Desire in the Mickey Mouse Grotto"
	Crown Court	Alfred Warrington	Episode: "Leonora"
	Wilfred and Eileen	Mr. Clough	1 episode
1982	A Kind of Loving	Franklyn	Mini-series
	Shine on Harvey Moon	Chairman	2 episodes
	Yes Minister	Aston Wanderers Board Member	Episode: "The Middle-Class Rip-Off"
1983	Hallelujah!	Arthur Walton	Episode: "Poor Box"
1984		Andrew Gibson	Episode: "Rock Bottom"
	Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense	Undertaker	Episode: "The Late Nancy Irving"
	The Gentle Touch	Mr. Devis	Episode: "Wise Child"
	Remington Steele	Hector Tolouse	Episode: "Maltese Steele"
	Juliet Bravo	Mr. Darcy	Episode: "Workforce"
1985	Travellers by Night	Man in the forest	Mini-series
	The New Statesman	Mr. Walmsley	1 episode
1986	Casualty	Mr. Davies	Episode: "Crazies"
1987	Worlds Beyond	Dr. Meredith	Episode: "The Black Thumb"
	Intimate Contact	Edgar	3 episodes
1988	Gentlemen and Players	Harry Griffen	Episode: "One for Sorrow, Two for Joy"
	Help!	Mr. Kinnell	Episode: "We Are Sailing"
1988-1989	First of the Summer Wine	Mr. Scrimshaw	Series regular
1989	Only Fools and Horses	Registrar	Episode: "Little Problems"
	That's Love	Brian	1 episode
1990	Agatha Christie's Poirot	Dr. Adams	Episode: "The Cornish Mystery"
	Making News	Philip Baxter	Episode: "Conspiracy"
	Casualty	Eric Hogarth	Episode: "Street Life"
1992	Lovejoy	Don	Episode: "Angel Trousers"
	The Brittas Empire	Mr. Franklin	Episode: "New Generations"
	Screen One	Man on Bus	Episode: "Trust Me"
1993	Mulberry	Alf	Episode: "A Musical Evening"
1994	The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries	Alfred Belt	Episode: "Hand in Glove"
	Men of the World	Mr. Buxton	Episode: "Lost in France"
1996	Peak Practice	Fred Hargrave	Episode: "Whipping Boy"
1996-1998	Hetty Wainthropp Investigates	Robert Wainthropp	Series regular
1997	Frighteners	Jack Hammond	Episode: "Rose Cottage"
2001	Hearts and Bones	Mike Piper	1 episode

External links

• Derek Benfield at IMDb
• Obituary in The Times
• Obituary in The Daily Telegraph
• Obituary in The Guardian
• Obituary in The Independent
• http://www.timeslip.org.uk/whoswho/derekbenfield.php