All Saints: profiles


Brian Vriends…

Brian Vriends is originally from South Australia. He graduated from NIDA in 1988.

His theatre credits include Gilgamesh (RQTC), Phaedra, Titus Andronicus and The Life of Galileo (Sydney Theatre Company).

His film credits include Weekend with Kate, Struck by Lightning and two Bill Bennett films Mortgage and Spider and Rose.

And television credits include Tales of the South Seas, Fallen Angels, Pacific Drive, Feds, Feds III, Time Trax, The Flying Doctors, Bony, A Country Practice and Rafferty's Rules.

…as Ben Markham

Ben is your average, happy go-lucky decent sort of a bloke. A genuine nice guy, he comes from a good, solid family background.

You knew it was summer in the Markham home because beers were in the fridge and cricket was on the telly. In winter, beers were in the fridge and footy was on the telly. And all year round there were barbecues on the weekends. The Markham family adores Stephanie as much as Ben does, and they welcomed her into their family with open arms. This surprised and touched Stephanie, who now relishes her relationship with them.

Ben would love to have kids of his own with Steph but is trying to accept that she does not want this at all.

Ben loves his job as a paramedic and he is good at it. His physical presence and engaging nature mean he gains his patients' trust and is able to put them at ease in an instant. But after being attacked as a reprisal for getting involved in a gang dispute, Ben suffered post-traumatic stress disorder. His reluctance to talk to anyone, even Steph, about this put more strain on the marriage.

His close working relationship with his new ambulance partner Bron turned out to be a blessing in disguise. At first it seemed he was confusing friendship for Bron with love, but she has been the one to set him straight and make him accept that he needs help to get his personal life with Steph and his professional life back on track.