List of Neighbours characters (2000)

Brendan Bell, played by Blair Venn, made his first screen appearance on 19 January 2000. Brendan was married to Teresa Bell (Krista Vendy) and he was often violent towards her. Vendy revealed that Brendan physically and mentally abused Tess and she became desperate to get away from him. When the Kennedy family ask Tess to move in with them, she made the decision to leave Brendan. Of Tess and Brendan's marriage, Vendy said "Teresa is a very strong woman, but she has lost a lot of her confidence during the abusive marriage. She is only 24 years old and she looks up to Brendan because he is 11 years her senior and is a successful lawyer. Sadly, he only sees her as a trophy." Brendan came to see Tess and tried to talk his way back into her affections. Vendy stated that despite Brendan's past behaviour, Tess wanted her marriage to work and her stubbornness kept her going back. Tess believed Brendan when he said that he would change and her friends became concerned when she allowed Brendan back into her life. Tess was unaware that Brendan was "playing a double game." Despite being sincere around his wife, she was unaware that he had turned on a few people and displayed a split personality. One night, "a highly jealous" Brendan got into his car and sped through the rain to try to find Tess, he then crashed into Libby Kennedy (Kym Valentine) and Stephanie Scully (Carla Bonner).

Brendan is a lawyer married to high school teacher, Teresa. Brendan is older than Tess and he often abuses her. Brendan learns his Tess is leaving him when he finds her packing up her belongings. Brendan becomes angry, but does not show his emotions, so it makes Tess' accusations against him look bad. Brendan continues to put on a front and when he meets Susan Kennedy (Jackie Woodburne) at the Coffee Shop, he tells her Tess has been emotionally unstable ever since her mother died. Brendan informs Tess that he is going to attend anger management classes and he later tells her that he has changed. Tess is wary, but Brendan becomes a part of her new life and she starts relying on him more and more. Tess is impressed when Brendan backs away from a fight at the local pub and starts to believe that he has changed. Brendan cooks dinner for Tess one night and his car fails to start, so he spends the night on the sofa.

After a week away on business, Brendan returns and he and Tess go on a couple of dates. When Paul McClain (Jansen Spencer) narrowly misses hitting Brendan with his bike, Brendan becomes enraged by the incident. Susan sees him and tells Tess, but she refuses to listen. Brendan asks Tess to get back together with him and move home. He also reveals that he has to go away on business again, so he gives her five weeks to answer him. On his return, Brendan learns that Tess is still living in Ramsay Street. When he finds out she has gone dancing with Daniel Fitzgerald (Brett Tucker), Brendan flies into a jealous rage and rushes to confront her. On his way, Brendan hits Libby Kennedy and Steph Scully with his car. Brendan is taken to the hospital and charged by the police with causing the accident. Brendan begs Tess for forgiveness. Shortly afterwards, an undetected internal injury causes Brendan to have a fatal heart attack. Provided by Wikipedia