Great Big Book Exchange

The Great Big Book Exchange - sometimes referred to as the Exchange - was a large bookshop located on South Road in Darlington. It had a unique system, where instead of buying a book, you traded for it.

The Exchange was formerly owned by Terrance, who was familiar with every book in the store, upon his disappearance, Simon inherited it. Kelly worked as a clerk in Simon's absence.

The Exchange contained the only copy of the Aja'ib, which was stolen from Hyspero by Terrance.

Iris Wildthyme compared the Exchange to Aladdin's cave and the Library of Alexandria. (PROSE: Enter Wildthyme)

History
On a Saturday in the 2000s, Simon and his grandmother came into the Exchange to shelter from rain. From this first event, Simon grew to become closely associated with Kelly and Terrance.

In 2011, Terrance was killed in the crash of the Begins at Home, leaving the Exchange to be inherited by Simon. However, Simon was prevented from taking over the business because he began travelling with Iris Wildthyme. (PROSE: Enter Wildthyme)

Behind the scenes
The Exchange originates from Paul Magrs' short story The Great Big Book Exchange, which was written for BBC Radio 4's Afternoon Reading. In one scene in the story, the main character gets The Three Doctors from the Exchange and imagines the bookshop as being like Omega's anti-matter universe.

Magrs' 2006 novel Exchange heavily features the Exchange. In one scene in Magrs' 2010 novel The Diary of a Dr Who Addict, the main character David Taylor visits the Exchange during a trip to Darlington.