Wartime (home video)

Wartime (sometimes printed as War Time) was a short film produced in 1987 by Reeltime Pictures. Starring John Levene reprising his Doctor Who character John Benton and also featuring UNIT, it was the first independently produced (i.e. non-BBC) Doctor Who spinoff video. Under licensing rules, companies such as Reeltime (and BBV Productions from 1992 onwards) were able to obtain permission to use characters, races and concepts from their creators, except for those characters -- such as The Doctor -- that were wholly owned by the BBC.

A major difference between Wartime and the spin-offs that followed is that it was the only such production mounted while the original Doctor Who series itself was still in production (most of the others were produced in the interregnum between the show's cancellation in 1989 and the 1996 TV movie).

Two versions of Wartime were released. A revised version issued in the mid-1990s added a voice-only cameo by Nicholas Courtney as The Brigadier.

Synopsis
Warr. Off. John Benton gets visions of his deceased father.

Plot
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Cast

 * John Benton - John Levene
 * Father - Michael Wisher
 * Mother - Mary Greenhalgh
 * Chris Benton - Peter Greenhalgh
 * Johnnie Benton - Steven Stanley
 * Pvt. Willis - Peter Noad
 * Man - Paul Flanagan
 * Soldier - Nicholas Briggs
 * Voice of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart - Nicholas Courtney (1995 version only)

Production crew
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Story notes

 * Technically, the comedy video Myth Runner predates Wartime as the first independently made fictional story tied into Doctor Who. However Myth Runner was a simple send up with more of a connection to the real world actors featured in it than any sort of "Whoniverse" storyline, as opposed to Wartime which is a dramatic continuation of Whoniverse characters and concepts.

Myths
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Filming Locations
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Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors
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Continuity

 * Presumably this story takes place before Benton left UNIT to become a used car salesman (per DW: Mawdryn Undead), however it is also possible that at some point after 1983 (when Mawdryn is set) Benton rejoined UNIT and experienced the events shown here.

Video and DVD releases
to be added