Ben Mitchell (EastEnders)
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- For other uses, see Ben Mitchell.
| EastEnders character | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Ben Mitchell | |
| Portrayed by | Charlie Jones |
| Duration | 1996–1998, 1999–2000, 2006— |
| First appearance | 21 March 1996 |
| Date of birth | 21 March 1996 |
| Marital status | Single |
| Home | The Queen Vic |
| Occupation | Student |
| Family | Phil, Kathy, Louise, Ian |
Ben Mitchell is a fictional character in the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders. He was originally played by Matthew Silver, then Morgan Whittle. Since 6 March 2006 he has been played by Charlie Jones.
[edit] History
Ben is the son of Phil and Kathy Mitchell. He was born in 1996 and had meningitis as a baby, leaving him partially deaf in one ear. He left Albert Square with his mother to live in South Africa in 1998 and made a brief return in 1999 to attend the wedding of his half brother Ian Beale to Melanie Healy (they later divorced).
Ben's world was turned upside down when Kathy was killed in a car crash. A short time later, her husband Gavin died so Ben came to live with Ian, Ian's partner Jane, and children Peter, Lucy and Bobby.
His grandmother, Peggy, demanded to see him but Jane convinced her to back off because Ben didn't need any more upset. She also told Peggy not to tell Phil that Ben was back. She agreed to this, but only for a while. At Ben's birthday party, he met his father for the first time since leaving England, but he was scared of Phil when he nearly pushed Ian's face into Ben's birthday cake. Ian was upset when Ben requested more time with Phil and the pair bonded. Ben decided that he could not cope with the arguments at home and ran away. Ian and Phil were relieved when Dr. Oliver Cousins found Ben and brought him home.
Little Mo Mitchell believed that Ben was the reason for her son Freddie Mitchell's head injury. She confronted him about it and shook him when he did not answer her.
In May 2006, after spending several nights at The Queen Vic, Ben decided he wanted to live there with his biological father, rather than his half-brother, who he still wanted to visit. Ian and Phil took the children bowling and Phil was thrilled when Ben finally called him dad for the first time. Ben didn't get on very well with his nine-year-old cousin Courtney. She has teased him many times and broke a toy plane that Gavin had given him.
Ben told Courtney that he had once overheard his mum tell Gavin that everyone knew Courtney's father Grant had killed her mother Tiffany on New Year's Eve 1998. Courtney asked Grant what had really happened and he said that it was an accident. However, Courtney didn't believe him and Grant secretly left walford without Courtney. She told Ben that if he didn't behave his dad would leave just like hers did. Grant returned a week later. Ben then decided to tell Phil the truth about what had happened to Freddie; they had been playing horsey and he had fallen of.
Ben saw Rebecca Miller practising for the sports day at school. He was jealous and thought that she was better than him. Phil decided to teach Ben how to do the sack race. He made a friend in Abi Branning. When Abi's sister Lauren was making fun of them playing together, Abi and Ben soaked her with water bombs.
Phil suggested to Ben that they should find Phil's daughter Louise, but Ben wasn't very enthusiastic about the idea of finding his little sister.
Phil also bought the video shop for Ben. Ben was very pleased and told all his friends, and Phil invited them for a party, but when Phil's lawyer Stella Crawford arrived and told Phil that it wasn't his yet as the paper work hadn't come through, Ben was teased by his friends. Phil started dating Stella, but Ben isn't very impresssed by her. He called her a fat, stupid cow and spilt water over her CV.
In November, Ben and Abi worked on a science project together. Abi convinced Ben to pour wet mud all over Ben's grandmother Peggy's kitchen table and then add ants to make an ant farm. They told Ben's dad Phil that they would tidy up when they were finished although they made a big mess and left Phil to tidy up when they went to Abi's house to write the results of their project.
[edit] Family
- Father: Phil Mitchell
- Mother: Kathy Hills (deceased)
- Half-brother: Ian Beale
- Half-sisters: Donna Ludlow (deceased), Louise Mitchell
- Grandfathers: Eric Mitchell (deceased), Dennis Hills
- Grandmothers: Peggy Mitchell, Brenda Hills
- Uncles: Grant Mitchell, Ted Hills
- Aunt: Sam Mitchell
- Great uncle Clive Mitchell
- Great aunt: Sal Martin
- Nephews: Peter Beale, Bobby Beale
- Niece: Lucy Beale
- Cousins: Courtney Mitchell, Mark Fowler Jr., Tony Hills, Sarah Hills
- Second cousins once removed: Billy Mitchell, Charlie Mitchell (deceased)
- Third cousins: Jamie Mitchell (deceased), Petal Mitchell
