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

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

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 in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is at the mouth of the River Mersey, on the north-eastern corner of the Wirral Peninsula. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic county bou ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and Mabel Dorothy (, 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''. On television his credits include the Dauphin in Shaw's '' Saint Joan'', Henry VI in all three parts of '' Henry VI'', and ''

Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...

'' for the

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

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 '' ...

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 BBC1 from 15 June 1983 to 20 Ju ...

'', 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, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

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

Merlin The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...

'' and '' A Touch of Frost''. He also had parts in ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

'', ''

The Royal ''The Royal'' is a British period medical drama, produced by Yorkshire Television (later part of ITV Studios), and broadcast on ITV 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, ...

'', ''

Jeeves and Wooster ''Jeeves and Wooster'' is a British comedy 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 British Aca ...

'', ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...

'', ''

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 originally starred Kevin Whately as Dr Jack Kerruish, Amanda Burton ...

'', ''

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 fiction, mystery series, based on the Lovejoy (novel series), novels by John Grant (Lovejoy), John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six ser ...

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

Albion Market ''Albion Market'' is a British soap opera, set in a covered market in Salford, in the north-west 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. Owing ...

'', 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 Geoffrey Hughes may refer to: * Geoff Hughes (born 1939), Australian tennis player * Geoffrey Hughes (actor) (1944–2012), English actor * Geoffrey Forrest Hughes (1895–1951), Australian aviator and pilot See also * Jeff Hughes (disambiguation) ...

), and later Peggy Armstrong ( Gwen Taylor) with disastrous money-making schemes.

Film roles

His film work included roles in '' Cry of the Banshee'' (1970), Michael Crichton's '' The First Great Train Robbery'' (1978),

Roman Polanski Raymond Roman Thierry Polański (; born 18 August 1933) is a Polish and French filmmaker and actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Roman Polanski, numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, three Britis ...

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

Air An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

'' (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 Male actors from Wallasey English male television actors English male film actors English male stage actors 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors English expatriate male actors in the United States