Simon (Enter Wildthyme)

Simon was an orphaned bibliophile and inheritor of the Great Big Book Exchange, who was either 20 or 26 years old. He was Kelly's best and only friend for either four or ten years.

He accompanied Iris Wildthyme during the series of adventures surrounding Anthony Marvelle's attempt to open the Ringpull, which also involved his best friend Kelly, Panda, Jenny Winterleaf, Barbra the vending machine, and Magda the mermaid.

History
In his youth, his parents died in a plane crash on their journey on a holiday which they won on TV game show.

Simon was an insomniac, like his mum and his grandmother, although when he was younger he didn't recognise the symptoms, as his avid reading often took him deep into the night anyway.

He would later go to university, where he discovered more about himself, such as finding himself to be gay, although he never really told anybody about it. He also became a fan of Vince Cosmos.

When Terrance disappeared in the 2010s, ownership of the Exchange passed onto Simon. Around this time, Simon met Iris Wildthyme and Panda and was taken to the Moulin Rouge during the eve of the Martian invasion in an alternate 1894. After two brief stop-offs at Iris' office in 1973 South Kensington and the Begins at Home, Simon was returned to Darlington by Iris, as he had one of the objects that had fell to earth from the Begins at Home, the Objet D'Oom. Discovering that it was missing, he went with Iris and Panda using information obtained from MIAOW to the planet Valcea. On the way there he stole one of Iris' diaries. After Anthony Marvelle vandalised the bus, he travelled through one of the crack to the last Vince Cosmos concert. After Panda managed to stop an assassination attempt, he joined Vince and the Tomorrow Twins at an after party. Before leaving he kissed Tommy Tomorrow. After Iris discovered that Marvelle had stolen her diaries, he admitted that he had one of them, which by coincidence contained the information on the planet Hyspero. When he learnt that Marvelle had kidnapped Kelly, he wanted to follow her immediately to Hyspero. He couldn't because of the bomb that was placed in Barbra but eventually managed to get to Hyspero on Iris' bus. (PROSE: Enter Wildthyme)

When they were travelling through Hysperon desert, he got annoyed the Iris got lost. but later felt sorry for feeling this. He was left behind on the bus when Iris went to a pub and was taken by the Vizier to see the Scarlet Empress. (PROSE: Wildthyme Beyond!)

Legacy
Seemingly coincidentally, Paul Magrs wrote drafts of a story about a character who was almost identical to Simon, in part based upon Magrs' own experiences. In the drafts, the character, referred to as "the grandson", went to live with his grandparents in a place that resembled Ferryhill after his parents tragically died in a plane crash. Every Saturday, he and his grandmother Winnie ventured out in the hunt for books in charity shops, with their most frequented shop being the Great Big Book Exchange, which Magrs had visited in his youth. There, the grandson met the owner, a man with plastic arms, and a girl who also worked there. Magrs considered adding in a a subplot about secret messages hidden inside books, with the characters misunderstanding who sent them and who the messages were intended for, but he eventually removed the idea as it was, as Magrs put it, "too much plot". Magrs also wrote the character to find parallels between The Three Doctors and the Exchange and its plastic armed owner. (PROSE: The Great Big Book Exchange)

Appearance
He had short, tufted up hair, and had a gangly body. He had a mis-matched wardrobe, and he often wore cologne. (PROSE: Enter Wildthyme)

Personality
Simon was enthusiastic and trusting, and had a strong affinity for books. (PROSE: Enter Wildthyme)

Behind the scenes
Simon originates in Paul Magrs' novel Exchange, which also introduced the Great Big Book Exchange, Kelly, Terrance, his grandparents Winnie and Ray Thompson, and author Ada Jones. In that novel much more is revealed about Simon and his friends and families.