October and November 1997 are good months if you are a Doctor Who fan, but less so if you don't have a bottomless budget. There are so many new items on sale that one could be forgiven for thinking that the subject matter is in some way popular.

First, there are the books. Of course you have all rushed out and bought a copy of my own modest offering, Doctor Who: A Book of Monsters, and if not, then why not? So far things have been fairly quiet on that front. I did an interview today (6th Oct) with Loaded magazine, one of the popular Men's style and lifestyle mags that weigh the shelves down. It was a great chat, and I'm told they're planning a four-page feature on the book. Fab or what! The chap I spoke to told me that the book had caused more interest in the office than anything else they'd receieved lately and that everyone was coveting it to see which monsters they remembered and which were the most crap.

I hope the piece turns out okay. Don't be surprised to find stuff like 'which Doctor Who monsters look like parts of the anatomy' and other such material. But still, the show's meant to be fun ... right?

I also did a signing on Saturday, but due to a certain Tom Baker also signing about half a mile away at the same time, and due to sign at the same place as myself about an hour after I vacated the premises, there was a suspicious lack of people buying my book, and vast queues waiting to buy Tom's. Such is life.

My ordeal was enlivened somewhat by the kindly trio of Random, Suki and Jason who cheered me on and gave me someone to talk to. Thanks guys. Signings can be soul-destroying affairs and sometimes you need friends just to keep you sane.

Speaking of the great Mr Baker, of course his is another book you can buy at the moment. You could, if you prefer, buy the audio of him reading the book, but as that is abridged, perhaps the actual paper version is a better bet. I haven't yet managed to get round to reading my copy as yet so I can't comment. What I have been reading, however, is John Peel's War of the Daleks novel and I've enjoyed it so far (I'm about half way through). Unlike many reviewers, I like the touches to previous stories and the continuity aspect doesn't bother me at all. But that's another thing to spend your money on ... the two new novels. The other is Mike Tucker's and Robert Perry's Illegal Alien which features the Cybermen.

If all these monstrous titles were not enough, the BBC bring us a boxed set of the 'E-Space trilogy' next month. That's a nice selection of Full Circle, State of Decay and Warrior's Gate. Apparently the BBC were told that they could not put the Full Circle title on the packaging as Michael Palin's current travel series on the Beeb has the same name and is also available on video. So what are the BBC worried about ... that someone will pick up a tape with a great Doctor Who logo on and with Marshmen and swirls and confuse it with a tape with a photo of Michael Palin on. Perhaps in the BBC's eyes, Palin looks like a Marshman ...

If these videos are not enough for you, there is something more that can be tried. This is Auton the new drama from BBV. Now, I've not been a fan of Bill Baggs' material in the past, finding it often badly scripted and lacking any drive, but Auton is really rather good. It came from an original idea by Keith Barnfather of Reeltime Pictures, and was written and directed by Nicholas Briggs. The original version of the screenplay (on which I was consultant) featured the Brigadier and his daughter Kate (from the Downtime drama) up against a new Nestene threat, but when Nicholas Courtney had to pull out, the script was re-worked without this aspect (and this resulted in the dropping of Kate as well).

What has been produced is a moody and well acted drama featuring the return of the Nestene consciousness to Earth. It's all set in the claustrophobic environment of a forgotten UNIT storehouse, and the cast are simply superb. Of particular merit is a character called Lockwood, who is part of the UNIT isolation team. It is his interplay with the scientist who accidentally reactivated the energy unit that makes this drama so gripping.

With an overall budget of around £11,000, this is the cheapest of these tapes to be made, and, in my opinion, the best. The effects and production values do not show the sparcity of the budget, and only an Auton attack in the middle lets the piece down slightly by being overly slow and stagey. The rest is brilliant.

Auton is the first in a proposed trilogy of tales and I really hope that the team can keep up the good work and match the overall quality and enjoyability of this first segment.