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Character Profiles > Ben Kirk Noah Sutherland, Sean Berends, Blake O'Leary

Ben Ian Kennedy Kirk 2001-2004, 2007-
Lived: 22, 28, 32 Ramsay Street
Parents: Drew Kirk and Libby Kennedy
Family Tree: Kirk and Kennedy

Even before he was born, little Ben was causing problems for his parents, Libby and Drew. Libby was never supposed to get pregnant, as carrying a baby full-term would have put her life in great danger. Nevertheless, Libby saw her pregnancy as a miracle and decided to keep her baby, despite advice to the contrary from everyone around her. When the time came for Libby to give birth, she was in Oakey for the annual rodeo. Looking for somewhere to rest and beginning to feel unwell, Libby found herself locked inside a barn and going into labour. When she was eventually found, it was too late for her to have the caesarean that would have made the labour much less risky, so she was airlifted to Erinsborough hospital, where she was forced into giving birth naturally.

To everyone's surprise and delight, and despite a few serious problems, both mother and son survived the ordeal. The baby was kept in the hospital for a few weeks to be monitored due to the nature of his birth, while Libby was let home. Nonetheless, she and Drew visited daily, making sure to keep an eye on their little miracle. Finding a name for the baby proved difficult, as everyone wanted to give their opinion on this, but it was eventually decided to name him Ben Kennedy Kirk (no hyphen). After a few weeks, Ben was finally allowed home, but Libby and Drew found it difficult to cope, what with having very little money, a lodger in the form of Stuart and also very little room in their one-bedroom flat. Having managed to get rid of Stuart and Drew's second job as a club bouncer eased some of the problems, but Libby still found it difficult to cope with a baby.

Libby and Drew decided to have Ben christened. Harold recommended his friend, Rev. Rosie Hoyland to conduct the service and it took place in the same church as Libby and Drew got married in. Libby chose Lou Carpenter to be Ben's godfather and also decided to add the name Ian to Ben's middle names, as a tribute to her newspaper editor, who had just died. Meanwhile, Libby and Drew were finding it difficult to get 'close' since the birth of Ben and sought advice from Joe and Lyn Scully. However, things began to ease up when Lou moved in with Harold and offered to rent out Number 22 to Libby, Drew and Ben.

After living there for a few weeks, Drew noticed that the house was infested with termites, so he called in the exterminators. While the extermination was taking place, Drew was horrified to realise that Ben had become locked inside the house, but luckily neighbour Summer Hoyland managed to crawl in a back window and rescue the baby in the nick of time. Stuart found that Ben was a useful tool when attempting to collect debts from garage customers. Taking Ben to the door with him left most customers feeling guilty and they paid on the spot.

Ben's short life was later changed forever when his father Drew was killed after falling off a horse. Ben knew very little about what was going on, something that was made clear when some balloons were released in Drew's memory. While Karl pointed them out to Ben, the child remained completely oblivious to what was going on. Libby decided to write some memoirs of Drew, so that Ben would be able to read about his father when he grew up, rather than simply rely on hazy memories. Drew's mate Stuart also vowed to stand by Libby and Ben, telling them that they would not want for anything. As time went on, Stuart began to spend more and more time around Ben, culminating in Ben calling him 'Dada'. Stuart kept this to himself, although when he did it again, this time infront of the Kennedys at the pub, Libby decided to spend less time around Stuart, realising that Ben needed a more stable environment.

Ben's life did become a lot more stable as time went on. Living with his mother and grandparents meant that he was never short of attention. However, when Libby started dating new doctor Cameron Hodder, Ben proved to be a problem, as Cameron didn't figure kids in his future. The relationship quickly ended. Another of Libby's suitors, Taj Coppin, used Ben to get closer to her as he offered to help teach him to swim. This brief relationship left Libby out in the cold, as Susan couldn't cope with her daughter sleeping with a student. As a result, Libby and Ben went to stay with Grandpa Tom. Upon their return, Libby decided she needed to be more independent and so Ben had another change of environment, this time to an apartment nearby.

When Libby was offered a teaching job in Adelaide, she and Ben made yet another move, down to South Australia. Several months later, they came back to live at number 28 Ramsay Street. It looked like Ben had a new father figure when his mother’s ex-boyfriend, Darren Stark, returned to Erinsborough. Ben formed a close friendship with Darren, but problems from the past reared their head again when Darren was framed for a robbery he hadn’t committed. Darren left town, but a few months later, he got back in touch, asking Libby and Ben to move to Shepparton to live with him. And so, for the fifth time in his short life, Ben packed up his toys and left town with his mum for a fresh start. A few weeks later, Susan thought that Libby and Darren could do with a little time by themselves, so Ben came back to Ramsay Street for a short stay with his grandma. And, since he was staying with her so close to his birthday, she decided to throw him a party.

In 2007, Ben returned with his mum to visit his 'Pop' and 'Nana', complete with a baritone tuba, the musical instrument he'd just started learning. In his three years living in Shepparton, Ben had grown close to Darren, seeing him as a father figure, but knew that something was wrong, having heard his mum arguing with Darren before they left. Ben quickly settled into Ramsay Street, however, befriending neighbour Mickey Gannon, who was a couple of years older. Ben soon started following Mickey everywhere he went, and was delighted when Libby decided to stick around, and enrolled him at Mickey's school. At home, things were more difficult - Susan had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, while Darren had returned and emotions were strained. Though nobody told Ben the details, Libby had found out that Darren had been cheating on her and was refusing to take him back. Ben, however, was determined to spend time with Darren, and the pair went fishing together, with Libby eventually agreeing to give her ex-boyfriend another chance. Plans were made for the three of them to move back to Shepparton together, but it all came to a sudden halt when Libby found out that Darren had once again cheated - this time a kiss with Janae Timmins, the girlfriend of Mickey's dad, Ned. As Darren left town, Ben sadly said goodbye, and promised to take care of his mum, but he did manage to pick up snippets of information from overheard conversations, leading to an argument with Mickey over whether Janae was to blame for Darren leaving. When Janae sat the boys down and explained that she had kissed Darren and it was all her fault, Ben became confused and upset, and Janae realised that perhaps it wasn't always wise to expose children to adult problems.

Over the weeks that followed, Libby grew close to her new teaching colleague Dan Fitzgerald, and Ben also started to look upon him as a new male role model, and mother and son moved across the street to share a house with Libby's best friend Steph and her two-year-old son, Charlie. When Dan was involved in a mineshaft cave-in whilst working with the SES, he was badly injured, but ultimately led the rescue team to help brothers Steve and Ned Parker. Ben was impressed, but Libby was keeping her distance from Dan, as his estranged wife Samantha had come to town. Ben pestered his mum, wanting Dan to come and visit his class and give a talk on his adventure, and even making a 'hero' badge for him, but Libby was adamant that Ben keep away. He eventually managed to sneak out of the house, and went to see Dan, but Libby dragged him home. Ben then found a new way to emulate his hero, taking Charlie and a pair of walkie talkies to play outside, he went and hid down a drain, only to get trapped when resident Marco Silvani parked over the drain cover. As everyone left on a search for the two missing boys, Dan stayed behind, and eventually heard Ben shouting. Sam then returned, and smashed the window of Marco's car, let off the handbrake and pulled Ben to safety, with Charlie later being found hiding in a cupboard. The whole incident made Libby realise how unfair she was being on her son, and she allowed him to see Dan whenever he wanted. The next morning, they went over to see Dan to give him his hero badge, but Ben surprised everyone when he gave it to Sam instead, thanking her for saving his life by pulling him from the drain.

Trivia Notes
• Until his Christening, Ben was credited as "Baby K.", the nickname he was given by family and the hospital staff
• Ben's middle name, Ian, was a tribute to the late Neighbours writer Ian Coughlan. Accordingly, the episode featuring Ben's christening was dedicated to Coughlan's memory
• Sean Berends took over the role for all of his 2004 appearances, while Blake O'Leary then played Ben from his 2007 return onwards
• Blake is the younger brother of Fletcher O'Leary, who plays Mickey Gannon, and previously appeared earlier in 2007 as the first actor to portray Tyler Smith
• Ben plays the baritone which is a small version of a tuba