Ben "Lofty" Chiltern is a fictional character from the BBC medical dramas Casualty and Holby City, played by actor Lee Mead. He first appeared in Casualty's twenty-eighth series episode "The Last Chance Saloon", broadcast on 1 March 2014. The character is introduced to fill the role of a young, male nurse. Mead previously appeared in the drama in the twenty-sixth series of Casualty. Lofty originally appears as a staff nurse but is promoted to senior staff nurse in 2016. The character is specifically written for Mead and he was contracted to the show for a year. Lofty is portrayed as a nice person who is likeable and popular. His clumsiness often leaves him in awkward situations although he is a brilliant nurse and a team player. Lofty's backstory states that when his parents grew tired of his wild behaviour, they kicked him out.

Lee Stephen Mead is an English musical theatre, television actor and occasional singer, best known for winning the title role in the 2007 West End revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat through the BBC TV casting show Any Dream Will Do. As well as subsequent West End roles in Wicked, Legally Blonde: The Musical and The West End Men, Mead has pursued a music career, releasing four solo albums and undertaking concert tours in the UK and Japan.