brian first appears in april 1988. he has been informed that pat has settled down with frank butcher, and is running the queen vic pub. brian is interested in pat's monetary affairs and their brief reunion is not pleasant. after calling pat a slag and almost getting into a fight with frank, brian leaves. it isn't until a dying lou beale (anna wing) pressurises pat in july 1988 to give simon peace of mind regarding his paternity, that pat finally reveals that simon's biological father is brian, the mentally unstable man simon grew up assuming was his stepfather. simon and brian never appear on-screen together, although later plots imply that they do correspond with each other, despite simon (who left walford in december 1990) claiming regularly that he hates him and describing to frank that growing up with brian was like "living with a nutter".