The Characters
Everyone Beatrice talks to
Some of them are people. Some of them are a bus, a cat, a duck and a rather grand palace. All of them have an opinion.
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Beatrice
The dreamer
Nine years old, enormous imagination, one very specific ambition: to drive a London bus. She is one of the few people who can hear RM 168 talk.
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RM 168 via Waterloo
The talking London Bus
A red Routemaster in a bowler hat who can only be heard by people with a very big imagination. Beatrice’s Sunday companion and the reason she keeps getting into trouble.
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Mark
The best friend
Beatrice’s best friend at school and the only human being who gets to hear a share of the secrets — usually on Monday morning, usually at high speed.
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Mum
The dream-flusher
Beatrice calls her a dream-flusher: a grown-up with an unfortunate habit of pulling the chain on any idea that has not been pre-approved.
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Dad
The armchair
Mostly visible as a pair of slippers and the top of a head behind the Grown-Ups Daily News, which is currently reporting that London is sinking.
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Pepe
Wanted alive
A cat in sunglasses with a sombrero under one arm, once declared WANTED ALIVE on the front page of the Daily Warrior.
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The Duck
The local
A duck of firm opinions and excellent posture, encountered wherever London keeps its water and its gossip.
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Mortisia
The cactus lady
Tall, immaculate and permanently disappointed, Mortisia carries a small potted cactus everywhere and wears a dress printed with more of them.
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The Magician with the 1000 Hats
The resizer
The man you call when a Routemaster needs resizing before tea at Buckingham Palace. His spells are enthusiastic rather than accurate.
And the ones who are not people at all
Across the three books Beatrice also befriends a whimpering red telephone box that has lost its phone, a palace that is best friends with the Queen, a London Eye that goes on fun-strike, and a set of newspapers that cannot report a single fact without making it more exciting than it was.