Ben Ian Kirk (also Kennedy-Kirk and Fitzgerald) is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, last played by Felix Mallard.

Ben and Libby departed Ramsay Street in 2003, returning briefly the next year before moving to Shepparton with Darren Stark (Todd MacDonald).

In 2001, Libby Kennedy (Kym Valentine) gave birth to her and husband Drew Kirk's (Dan Paris) son.

Valentine commented, "Libby's parents, Karl and Susan, are beside themselves, because they think you can't baptise a baby with just a Christian name.

On-screen, Ben moved in with his grandparents Karl (Alan Fletcher) and Susan Kennedy (Jackie Woodburne) on Ramsay Street.

Susan grew concerned after Ben deleted his social media account and skipped school, after receiving a text message from an old friend in Ballarat.

[13] Susan tried to help Ben find a way to deal with his shame, but it was his teacher Brad Willis (Kip Gamblin) who suggested that he take control of the controversy.

[13] Ben filmed himself revealing the history behind the pictures and the guilt and shame he felt about the leak, before showing the video to his classmates.

[15] Ben later told Susan that he did not want to be a part of the band and she encouraged him to speak to Karl, but he was worried about breaking his heart.

With Piper's encouragement, Ben lit a piece of paper on fire and held it under a sprinkler to set off the alarm system.

[16] They get jobs as fruit pickers to raise money, but Piper has to work alone, as Ben struggles with pain from his fractured ribs, which he sustained after being struck by Sheila Canning's (Colette Mann) car.

[22] Ben's exit storyline begins with him feeling like he is "at a loose end", as he struggles to bond with Mark Brennan (Scott McGregor) at the garage.

Libby begins a relationship with Darren Stark (Todd MacDonald) and they leave Ramsay Street to live in Shepparton.

Ben befriends Callum Jones (Morgan Baker) and they, along with Mickey and Charlie Hoyland (Jacob Brito), form a band.

Ben becomes friends with Sophie Ramsay (Kaiya Jones) too and they join the soccer team, which is being coached by Andrew Robinson (Jordan Smith), until he is banned from training them.

Ben enrols at the school and befriends Bailey Turner (Calen Mackenzie), when he notices he is being bullied by Jayden Warley (Khan Oxenham).

Ben bonds with Tyler Brennan and reveals that his ex-girlfriend posted his naked photos online, leading to his move to Erinsborough to get away from the negative attention.

Ben isolates himself at school and refuses to take part in a social media assignment set by Brad Willis.

Ben shows the students a video that he has recorded, in which he holds up cards detailing how he was in love and hoped that others would not make the same mistake.

They get jobs as fruit pickers to earn money to get to Sydney, but Ben is unable to work when his ribs cause him to collapse in pain.

This turns out to be a ruse so they can spend time together, and they are briefly trapped in the hotel following an explosion, during which they find money belonging to Tom Quill (Kane Felsinger).

When Tom demands his money back, Ben, Xanthe and Angus sell old clothes and busk to raise the amount.

He kisses Alison Gore (Madeleine Andreopoulos) and they briefly date, until Ben sets out to prove Xanthe was assaulted by Cooper Knights (Charlie Hannaford).

Ben visits Piper to say his goodbyes and Xanthe tells him that they will make their relationship work, before Susan drives him to the airport.

A few months later, Ben video calls Xanthe on New Year's Eve to tell her about a job offer at an aged care facility near to him in Oakey.

Hopefully there'll be some sort of Ben gets redeemed storyline, because right now, he's fast threatening to overtake Hannah 'Button' Martin as the most irritating child to ever hit Ramsay Street".

But worst of all, he idolises Fitzy, who isn't even the good Fitzgerald brother, and wants to get rid of the saintly Drew's surname, who (despite being long dead) any normal child would surely prefer to be named after.

"[28] Writing for Digital Spy, Laura Morgan included Ben in her feature on the nine soap characters in need of a decent storyline.

She wrote that both her colleagues and Woodburne (Susan) thought Mallard was "a huge talent", but wondered why his character had not been involved in anything more than small dramas with Xanthe.

She added, "He deserves a slice of the action too, and given that Karl and Susan are his grandparents, we can't think it would be too tricky for the writers of Neighbours to come up with a suitable story to showcase his skills.