But although he sometimes wondered about another of the gypsies, Pat Grogan
who worked at the Motel and visited the Farm on his day off, Benny insisted that Maureen had been 'his girl' and he is saving
up hard to buy a headstone for her grave as his last visual token of his love.
The two actors who play Benny and his 'Gaffer', as Benny called Ed, are in no way like the two farming
characters they play.
Paul Henry went to drama school which was followed by a spell in rep and
then it was into TV in Shakespeare and other classical dramas. Since then he has been a popular member of the Crossroads
cast for several years. Benny is not an easy character to play, he could so easily become a buffoon instead of a human
being who needs care and understanding because he is mentally growing up much slower than people in his own age group.
Paul Henry manages to portray this trait of Benny's character very well, and he makes Benny a completely
sympathetic character.
Thomas Heathcote can claim some forty years of acting under his belt, starting at the Old Vic and
going on to a series of plays and films both in the theatre and in TV, which include his memorable performance as the Common
Man in the film Man for all Seasons, about the life of Sir Thomas More.
Thomas brings that extra touch of Heathcote magic to all his varied roles, and in Ed he has created
a real honest-to-goodness countryman, gruff and bluff, yet with a love of the land which seems to have been passed on for
generations to men like Ed.
He protects Benny from the outside world and helps him all he can, while in return Benny likes and
respects his 'Gaffer'. On occasions they have had differences of opinion and Benny has left the farm angry and depressed,
but he has always returned.
