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At last I have surfaced again after the build up to and performance of this year's panto. Most of my autumn activity was taken up by Big Finish - the Lost Stories and the sequence of stories with Frazer Hines.  All of which were great fun to do and which I am delighted to learn are receiving good feedback from the listeners as they are slowly realised.  I have also been preparing the content of the my first book to be published.  Tim Hirst who made such a superb job of  Anneke Wills two autobiographies, approached me with the idea of publishing a selection of my fourteen years output of weeklt articles in the Bucks Free Press in a softback book.  As I write this the wonderful people who pre-ordered Look Who's Talking have all hopefully received their copies and I would like to thank them all for their orders of the book, which meant that Tim knew that he wouldn't lose his house in the risky business of book publication on my weekly musings in a local newspaper.

I cannot tell you how proud I felt when I held in my hand a book that I had written entirely on my own.  I think that lists along side all those other things that fit into the category of "If you had told me all those years ago that one day I would...I would never have believed you."  That list  varies according to how far back you go.  When I was at Primary School it would have been "If you had told me that one day I would drive a car....."  Then it would have been "... have a girl friend...",   then "become an actor...." and "be on television..." - with lots of other unlikely activities along the way culminating of course in " be Doctor Who" or "have a regular column in a Newspaper...."

I wonder what the next unexpected thing will be....

My life is rarely boring, I must say.  Last week after finishing panto I was opening a new high-tech medical scanner in Harley Street and compering and presenting an insurance company's annual sales conference in Wales.  This week the busy period is behind me and I have the opportunity to reflect on the time that has passed since I last posted my thoughts here.

Panto was fun again as always.  It was Jack and the Beanstalk in Malvern, Worcestershire - a beautiful town that I have appeared in before at the Festival Theatre but never stayed for any length of time, as when I am appearing once nightly it is communtable from my home in Buckinghamshire.  But as panto, as always, is twice daily I rented a very nice flat near the theatre for the duration.  Ity was 400 yards from the theatre which was just as well given the appalling driving (and walking) conditions that we have recently endured all over the country.

Also in the cast were a lovely bunch of folk, which is always a relief.  All actors have the  fear of spending two months in close proximity to anyone difficult, but fortunately there are only a few performers, directors or producers who fit that description and I have been very lucky for a few years now.  Douglas Mounce, the Dame, interviewed me several times I think as a radio presenter in the West Country and is not only a very funny and clever Dame but also a delightful man.  We shared a very similar view of life and saw humour in the same things which is always a bit of luck.  Sarah Thomas, the fairy was similarly jolly and talented.

It was a delight to meet Mike Fischetti whose energy was phenomenal from day one to the last performance.  A really splendid young fellow who built on his TV artistic talent and evolved into a fantastically energised and creative Simple Simon.  And it was only his second panto.  Watch out for him.  And Amy Thompson and Lucia Matisse, respectively Jack and the Princess were two lovely girls, as well as being great singers, the latter becoming my No 5 daughter by the end of the run.  As always at the end of panto one finds oneself glad that the hard work is over - and the twice daily schedule is quite tough even on the young ones they say, so you can imagine how this old codger must fare.  But at the same time you have worked with some really fabulous people and experience of this business makes you aware that it may well be that you never work with most of them ever again.

I am now in a position to survey the next few weeks quite calmly as at the moment there is little to make me dash about, aside from family and local activities at the school of which I am a governor or the local authority panel with which I am involved.  I am also rehearing a perofmance of Peter and the Wolf which I will be doing with the Wycombe Sinfonia Orchestra (of which I am president) next Sunday afternoon at 3-30 in the High Wycombe Church of England Parish Church in the town centre next Sunday.  I don't like to let the grass grow too much.

It's good to have the chance to  spend some time at home and catch up, before deciding what my next writing venture will be too. I've got the bug now and am contemplating a novel.  But as ever something may come along to distract me - like watching myself tonight on Hustle? And hiding behind the sofa.