Lofty Chiltern

Lofty Chiltern
Casualty and Holby City character
Lee Mead as Lofty Chiltern
First appearance	"The Last Chance Saloon" 1 March 2014 (Casualty) "Project Aurous" 16 May 2017 (Holby City)
Last appearance	"Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep" 17 June 2017 (Casualty)
Portrayed by	Lee Mead
Spinoff(s)	"Mrs Walker-To-Be" (2015)
Information
Occupation	Staff nurse (prev. Senior staff nurse)
Significant other(s)	Dominic Copeland

Ben "Lofty" Chiltern is a fictional character from the BBC medical drama Casualty, played by actor Lee Mead. He first appeared in the series twenty-eight episode "The Last Chance Saloon", broadcast on 1 March 2014. The character was introduced to fill the role left by Jamie Collier, following actor Daniel Anthony's decision to leave. Mead had previously appeared on the show in its twenty-sixth series as a patient and was honoured to be invited back. Lofty was originally a staff nurse but was promoted to senior staff nurse in 2016.

The character was specifically written for Mead, who was known for his work in musical theatre. Originally, Mead was contracted to the show for a year and was not required to complete any medical training for the role. Lofty is portrayed as a nice person who is likeable and popular. He is very clumsy and occasionally naïve but a brilliant nurse and team player with good intentions. Lofty's backstory states he used his parents' money to party regularly, but when his parents grew tired of his attitude, they kicked him out. The character's introduction saw him found to be living in Robyn Miller (Amanda Henderson) and Max Walker's (Jamie Davis) loft.

During his time in the emergency department, Lofty has developed friendships with Robyn, Max, and Dylan Keogh (William Beck); his friendship with Dylan has been well-received by critics. Mead opted to take a sabbatical from the show in 2015. On-screen, while the character was left running the department, agency nurse Diane Stuart (Catherine Skinner) died and consequently, Lofty left Holby. The character departed in the series thirty episode "High Tide", broadcast on 12 March 2016.

It was announced in February 2017 that the character would be reintroduced to Casualty's sister show, Holby City, working as a staff nurse on the fictional Keller ward. Lofty made his first appearance in Holby City in the series nineteen episode "Project Aurous", broadcast on 16 May 2017, and began to explore his absence and his ability to work in the hospital, as well as establishing friendships with his colleagues.