Casting: Jared Garfield to play Ben in ‘Twice Upon a Time’
By James Aggas
Lime Pictures
Another casting announcement for ‘Twice Upon a Time’ has been made in the new issue of Doctor Who Magazine. Jared Garfield will be playing Ben Jackson, companion to the First Doctor.
If you saw my earlier post, 5 reasons I love Ben and Polly, you can probably guess how excited I am right now about the latest casting news. We knew that Polly would be making an appearance from the Christmas special’s trailer. We also knew that actress Lily Travers will be playing her. But there had been no news of whether Ben would be in the special as well.
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So hearing the news that Jared Garfield has been cast as Ben is a bit of a relief. If Ben hadn’t been cast, it would have been a huge oversight on the production team’s part. We already know that Twice Upon a Time will be set during the First Doctor’s final story, The Tenth Planet. Both Ben and Polly had a major role in that story, too. So, while I’m sure that the two will have a small role in the overall story, I am glad that both companions have been cast.
However, at the same time, I am slightly wary about this. Mainly because, like Lily Travers, I know very little of Jared Garfield’s previous work. Apparently, he had a regular role on British soap Hollyoaks as Nathan Nightingale. But, as I’ve watched very little of the show, I really can’t comment on whether he’s a good fit for Ben or not. I hope he is, anyway.
Regardless, knowing that Ben will be appearing alongside Polly once more has made me very happy. For me, Ben and Polly come as a pair – you really can’t have one without the other. While we won’t have any idea how well either of the new casting choices will be in two classic roles, it is at least one more reason to be excited about Twice Upon a Time.