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| The Rescue DVD Cover |
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 Name: Koquillion, AKA Bennett
Format: Television
show
Time of Origin: Born on Earth; confronted
The Doctor on Dido in 2493
Appearances: "The
Rescue"; peripherally involved in the events of "The Crash of Flight UK-201".
Doctors: First
Doctor
Companions: Barbara
Wright,
Ian
Chesterton and
Vicki; Steven Taylor became peripherally involved in Bennett's actions but did not meet him directly.
History: In some ways, The Doctor’s confrontation
with Koquillion is a significant moment in The Doctor’s
life, as he was the first foe The Doctor confronted because he
wanted to rather than because he had to; The Doctor’s previous
encounters with his enemies up to this point only occurred because
The Doctor or his companions were cut off from the TARDIS for
some reason and had to battle their current enemies to regain
access to the ship, but he confronted Koquillion for no other
reason than that he recognised that an injustice had been done
and sought to correct it.
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| The Rescue Target Book |
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Originally,
Koquillion was simply known as Bennett, but while he posed as a member of the crew of the space ship UK-201 as it travelled to the planet Astra, in reality he had escaped from the nearby Sky Island prison and managed to board the ship before it could depart for Astra. After the ship had been in flight for a week, Bennett's deception was discovered by one of the flight engineers, and Bennett's attempt to remain hidden by killing the engineer exposed his presence. Bennett was able to force the UK-201 to crash-land by sabotaging the engines mid-flight, but while he had planned to evacuate in an escape pod, he was caught before he could get away. As the ship was now on a collision course for the planet Dido, Bennett was forced to tell the crew how to repair his sabotage, which gave them the chance to level the ship so that the crash didn't destroy the ship completely.
After the ship crash-landed on the planet Dido, Bennett was kept locked up before his crimes could be announced to the entire ship, but he managed to escape. When the majority of the crew attended a dinner
held in their honour by the Didonians - a small population
of only around a hundred people, Bennett was able to
trigger an explosion that killed almost the entire crew
and most of the Didonians.
The only other survivor of the crash was Vicki, a young girl on the ship who had been travelling with her father but had stayed behind on the ship due to an illness.
With only he and Vicki left alive, Bennett subsequently faked paralysis to create an illusion of helplessness while using a ceremonial Didonian mask to pose as the ruthless Koquillion. With this mask concealing his identity, Bennett-as-Koquillion claimed that the rest of the Didonians had killed
the crew and he was the only one who could ‘protect’ Vicki
and Bennett from his ‘ruthless’ people. His long-term
plan was to keep Vicki confined to the ship in fear until the
rescue ship arrived, subsequently claiming that the Didonians
had killed the crew and having their city destroyed by the fleet in revenge, thus allowing him to cover up all evidence of his crimes.
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The Crash of the UK-201
(Jonathan Morris) |
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Fortunately, Bennett’s
plan was thwarted when the TARDIS arrived on the planet, the
First Doctor swiftly realising that Koquillion was lying because
he had previously visited Dido and knew that its people would
never have done what Koquillion had claimed. While Barbara
Wright and
Ian
Chesterton bonded with Vicki, The Doctor confronted ‘Koquillion’ in
the People’s Hall of Judgement to learn the true agenda
behind his actions. Although The Doctor failed to defeat Bennett
in a fight, their confrontation was interrupted by the arrival
of two surviving Didonians, Bennett being subsequently forced
off a cliff in revenge for the deaths of their people. With Bennett
dead, The Doctor, Barbara and Ian departed, taking Vicki with
them as their new companion while the Didonians disabled the
ship’s beacon for the rescue ship, allowing them to live
in peace once again.
Despite Bennett's death, Vicki had to face the consequences of his actions again when a malfunction in the TARDIS caused her to be sent back along her own timeline to the moment when Bennett had originally sabotaged the UK-201. Seizing this opportunity, Vicki decided to save her father's life by warning the crew about Bennett's sabotage, allowing them to stabilise the ship and continue travelling to Astra. Although Vicki found herself able to travel along her own timeline, she was also stalked by spectral figures that apparently sought to 'feed' on the paradox caused by Vicki's survival, forcing Vicki to eventually go back and let the crash happen as before (although she had some help from Steven Taylor, who was able to help the ship 'land' after his presence delayed Bennett's arrest and thus the opportunity to question him about the damage caused to the ship). |
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| Bennett |
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| Koquilion |
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| Koquilion and Vicki |
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| Barbara is Attacked |
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