Born in Trowbridge, Wiltshire in 1934, Christopher Benjamin decided at an early age that he wanted to become an actor. He learned his craft in amateur dramatics in Bath, while carrying out his national service with the Royal Air Force, then went on to study at RADA. 

Christopher began his professional career in repertory theatre with the Manchester Library Theatre, followed by stints at the Salisbury Arts Theatre and Bristol Old Vic, and later with the Royal Shakespeare Company. 

While the theatre remained his medium of choice, Christopher began a successful TV career in the 1960s, appearing in popular series including Z Cars, The Avengers, and The Saint. One of his most notable roles was as Prosper Profond in the acclaimed 1967 adaptation of The Forsyte Saga. 

Christopher’s first appearance in Doctor Who was in the 1970 serial Inferno, playing Sir Keith Gold opposite Jon Pertwee’s Third Doctor. He returned to the series in 1977’s fan-favourite Fourth Doctor story The Talons of Weng-Chiang, in which he played Henry Gordon Jago, one half of a double act of Victorian gentlemen alongside Trevor Baxter’s Professor Litefoot. 

In 2008, Christopher joined the Big Finish family when he played Tardelli in the Eighth Doctor Adventures story Grand Theft Cosmos. In the same year, he appeared again in Doctor Who on television, playing Colonel Hugh in The Unicorn and the Wasp alongside David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor. 

But the character Christopher had become inextricably linked with was Henry Gordon Jago. He and Trevor Baxter reprised the roles on audio for the first time in the 2009 Companion Chronicles release The Mahogany Murderers. They then went on to appear together in 13 box sets of their own audio series, Jago & Litefoot, alongside guest roles in the Doctor Who Monthly Range and other Big Finish series. 

Christopher continued acting into his later years. One of his last stage performances was as Sir John Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor at Shakespeare’s Globe in 2010, before he retired from the stage in 2012. His last screen role was as Lord Knutsford in 2016’s blockbuster adventure movie The Legend of Tarzan. 

Producer David Richardson, who worked with Christopher on many releases, paid tribute to him: 

“I was fortunate enough to work with Christopher Benjamin over 11 blissful years, starting with The Companion Chronicles: The Mahogany Murderers and sadly ending with The Paternoster Gang: Merry Christmas, Mr Jago. 

“When he came in to record The Mahogany Murderers, he and Trevor Baxter hadn’t seen each other since The Talons of Weng-Chiang in 1977. The instant reigniting of their friendship was joyous and explosive; we realised very quickly that we’d managed to recapture lightning in a bottle and that these two wonderful characters and actors deserved their own series. 

“I loved producing Jago & Litefoot, and I loved them. Every six months, I’d attend production meetings with Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs, and Jason would laugh, ‘David, are you going to ask for two more series of Jago & Litefoot?’ And every six months I did, and Jason said yes, and so that long-running series was born. 

“In the studio, Christopher was the quieter one of the pair – I emphasise quieter, not quiet – and like us would hang on every one of Trevor’s deliciously witty words. To use a cliché, we became like a family – Trevor, Christopher, director and Ellie actor Lisa Bowerman, Conrad Asquith, studio engineer Toby Hrycek-Robinson... Members of the production team would often come in to share in it with us – cover artist Alex Mallinson, sound designer and musician Howard Carter. Like us, they just enjoyed the friendship and the joy of it. 

“After Trevor’s passing, Christopher was understandably devastated. He agreed we should do one more story, Jago & Litefoot Forever, to honour Trevor’s memory. There’s one scene, beautifully written by Paul Morris, in which Jago ponders the emptiness of life without Litefoot. We all sat in the control room, and we wept – his delivery was beautiful and heartfelt. 

“Christopher had the naughtiest twinkle, the warmest smile, the most delicious voice, and was a towering talent. I worked with him for 11 years but he was in my life forever. As a toddler, I repeatedly played the vinyl audio play for kids called Oliver in the Overworld – Chris was in that. I loved watching him in The Prisoner, The Forsyte Saga, The Avengers (three guest roles!), The Saint, Ace of Wands, Jason King, The Protectors, Upstairs Downstairs, Doctor Who (three guest roles)…  the list goes on and on and on, and that doesn’t even include his stage roles. 

“I’d often try and mine his memory of some of these shows, but he’d admit it was a bit of a blur – he spent years running from one TV show to another. What a career. I last saw him at Big Finish Day in the summer of 2024. We sat together and had a cup of tea, and I told him what it had meant to me to work with him, to spend so many happy days with him and Trevor, and experience the constant laughter and good work on all those episodes of Jago & Litefoot. He was touched, and said how much it had meant to him too. 

“Rest in peace, Christopher. You were wonderful.” 

Louise Jameson, who starred alongside Christopher in The Talons of Weng-Chiang, as well as several Big Finish audio dramas, added: 

“Laughter. That's what I remember most. In 1976 on The Talons of Weng-Chiang, there was a scene with Chris and Trevor Baxter and they literally couldn’t get through it for giggling. Later at The Bristol Old Vic in rep, laughing in the rehearsal rooms, then later corpsing on stage. And later still when Big Finish reunited Chris and Trevor. Like naughty schoolboys misbehaving and keeping us all in stitches. Oh my goodness, I LOVED working with him. I’m so sad I won't be teased by him again. Perfectly cast as Jago. You were one of a kind. With much love and respect, RIP Mr Benjamin.” 

And Lisa Bowerman, who worked with Christopher for many years, also said: 

"There are few actors who you feel genuinely honoured to have worked with and genuinely excited to get the chance to act with and it’s safe to say Christopher Benjamin was one of those. Apart from him being a large part of my formative television watching years, enjoying his consistently wonderful performances, my first actual experience of him was sitting in a restaurant with my parents, whilst out for an evening having gone to see my brother Robin at the Royal Theatre in Northampton in the mid-'70s... I looked over to the other tables and announced excitedly and in suitably reverential hushed tones…’Look! There’s Christopher Benjamin!’ (I was a bit of an actor geek even back then). The irony was, he was probably there to film some of the episodes of the Doctor Who story The Talons of Weng Chiang."

"Cut to 23 years later and a studio in West London where Christopher and Trevor Baxter turned up to recreate their roles from that story, as Henry Gordon Jago – theatrical impresario – and Professor George Litefoot – pathologist. There to record a short drama called The Mahogany Murderers."

"To say we struck theatrical gold is an understatement. Despite them not seeing each other in all that time, it was obvious the chemistry between them both was something to savour. They didn’t want to see the DVD of the actual TV story, which we’d brought along to refresh their memories... however, they did watch the extras and guffawed heartily at all the banter and japes that had been going on during filming. Both David Richardson and I realised this partnership was really too good to confine to this one story and there ensued (after a number of pleadings... on a regular basis) eight years and 14 glorious series of the wonderful adventures of Jago & Litefoot. After the devastating loss of Trevor just after we’d released series 13, and despite Chris’s huge sorrow at his death, it was an example of his devotion and kindness that he agreed to record the ‘tribute’ episode Jago & Litefoot Forever and to record one of the stories in the already written Series 14 as an audiobook."

"I say eight years. They were eight glorious years of great scripts, laughter and fun and entertainment and friendship. Chris was a consummate actor with a beautifully melodious voice, comedy timing to die for and a twinkle in his eye; memories of his catching up on the cricket results with Toby Hrycek-Robinson and arriving on his motorbike, crash helmet in hand. To be in his company was to count your blessings; the merest mention of his name would bring a smile. I was honoured to call him a friend and I shall miss him hugely. How lucky we all were both in front of and behind the mic to have worked with such a proper theatrical legend... and how lucky were the listeners."

Christopher leaves behind his wife, the actress and writer Anna Fox, who he married in 1960, and three children. 

• Christopher Benjamin, actor, born 27 December 1934; died 10 January 2025.