On Sunday 26th August, hundreds of Doctor Who fans descended upon Manchester to break a world record for the largest number of Daleks (or people wearing Dalek costumes) in one place. Also in attendance was Dalek designer Ray Cusick. The attempt was organised by The Museum of Science and Industry, which also boasts the fantastic Doctor Who Up-Close Exhibition.

With a grand total of 68 Daleks in attendance, the previous record of 50 Daleks was broken.

SCI-FI WIRE has announced a list of the features to be included in the series 1 release of Torchwood. The boxed set is scheduled to hit the shelves on January 8, 2008.

The bonus features include: Welcome to Torchwood; Torchwood on the Scene; Torchwood Out of this World; Torchwood Sex, Violence, Blood and Gore; Torchwood on the Road; The Team and Their Troubles; Torchwood: Moments in the Making; The Captain's Log; Torchwood on Time; and Torchwood Declassified. The DVD will also feature deleted scenes, audio commentary on all 13 first-season episodes and outtakes.

The US premier of Torchwood is Saturday, September 8 at 8:00 pm CST on BBC AMERICA.

In the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine, series producer Phil Collinson has announced that Bernard Cribbinswill be making a guest appearance in the 2007 Doctor Who Christmas special, Voyage of the Damned.

It's the third time Cribbins has appeared in Doctor Who, but the first time he's appeared in the TV series! He's probably best known to fans through his appearance as a companion to Peter Cushing's Doctor, the bumbling policeman Tom Campbell, in the 1966 film Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD. He also appeared, earlier this year, as Arnold Lane alongside Paul McGann in the Big Finish/BBC7 eighth Doctor story Horror of Glam Rock.

"This is the icing on the cake, a wonderful addition to an already phenomenal cast," Phil Collinson told Doctor Who Magazine. "It's a wonderful cameo, which kept the entire cast and crew entertained."

Big Finish has released full information in the first installment of their upcoming series Dalek Empire: The Fearless.

Noel Clarke, who previously played Mickey Smith will be playing the lead role but Big Finish is keen to point out that this is not a return of Mickey Smith. Noel plays Kade, a tough, hard-bitten soldier. 'It's a completely different character for Noel,' explains writer and director, Nick Briggs, 'and it was a delight to watch him lap it up. I think people will see a side to Noel they never knew about. He has such incredible range as an actor, and breath-taking emotional power. You wait until you hear Kade angry. I'm surprised the Daleks didn't just pack up and go home!'

While Noel appeared in the very latest incarnation of Doctor Who on television, his Dalek Empire co-star was involved in the earliest days of the series. Maureen O'Brien was the First Doctor's companion, Vicki, but here she plays a very different sort of character. 'I knew I wanted Maureen to be in this the moment I saw her working on The Companion Chronicles last year,' says Nick. 'She plays General Agnes Landen, a really tough lady, single-minded, convinced she's right. And she and Kade clash!

There is a Windows Media preview for this title available here.

The song, Children of Tomorrow, as heard in the Eighth Doctor audio drama Horror of Glam Rock, is now available to download form iTunes. The song, sung by Stephen Gately with Clare Buckfield was written by Barnaby Edwards with music by Tim Sutton

Simon Guerrier, who has overseen the last two year's of Bernice Summerfield releases for Big Finish, is handing over the reigns as Producer to Eddie Robson. "I've had a brilliant time on Benny, working with some extremely talented, funny and helpful people," says Simon."But I was originally taken on by Gary Russell to get us to the end of Season 8, and now that's pretty much done I think it's time to let someone else have a go. I'll still be overseeing the books and audios up to the end of this year, but as of now I am answering to Eddie Robson. And his piranha fish." Guerrier's latest book, Bernice Summerfield - The Inside Story will be available in October. A preview is available on-line here.

Robson has already been hard at work and can now announce the 2008 releases for the Bernice Summerfield range. The ninth series of audio dramas will consist of four single-CD plays. These are: 9.1Beyond the Sea by Eddie Robson; 9.2 The Adolescence of Time by Lawrence Miles; 9.3 The Adventure of the Diogenes Damsel byJim Smith; and 9.4 The Diet of Worms by Matthew Sweet. There will be one Bernice Summerfield book for 2008 and this will be the novel Terra Incognita by Ben Aaronovitch.

While the output is smaller, John Ainsworth of Big Finish assures that this is not a plan to phase Benny out. "The main reason for the reduction in the amount of Benny CDs and books for 2008 was to give Eddie a more manageable workload. This was the recommendation of outgoing producer Simon Guerrier. Although Simon has done a magnificent job of looking after Benny for the last two years, he did find it to be quite demanding of his time. The books are particularly time consuming to prepare. As the Benny range sells considerably less than the equivalent items in the Doctor Who range, the budget is that much smaller. This means that Simon, and now Eddie, can't give up the day job in order to work on Benny, so returning to four CDs and one book release makes it easeier to keep on top of."

Billie Piper is currently working on a new drama series for ITV2 called The Secret Diary Of A Call Girl.

The woman known as Belle de Jour published her diaries in 2005 and, despite many attempts to discover her true identity, remains anonymous. Her no-holds-barred account of her experiences as a prostitute is frank, funny and highly compelling.

The Secret Diary Of A Call Girl is the story of a 21st-century Moll Flanders (played by Billie Piper), an illuminating glimpse behind the scenes of the high-class sex trade. It is an insight into the secret life of an extraordinary young woman whose conventional family have no idea that she is leading a double life.

Actress Billie Piper has been socialising with real-life prostitutes to help develop her character. An ITV spokeswoman said: “They do have a dominatrix on set to advise. It's about prostitution and they want to get it right."

The Secret Diary of a Call Girl will air on ITV2 at 10pm on Thursday, September 27.

Big Finish has announced a new cast member for the Bernice Summerfield audio range.Thomas Grant, whose credits include the films Vanity Fair and Dummy and roles in TV dramasMidsomer Murdersand Mayo, will be joining the cast playing Benny's son Peter. He will appear in the forthcoming The End of the World, and then in The Wake in December.

'We're delighted Thomas can join us in a regular role,' says producer Simon Guerrier. 'He comes highly recommended and is very much in demand. Which is just as well, as he's got a crucial role to play in the next few plays - one that'll change Benny's life forever.'

Due to his other commitments, Thomas recorded his scenes at the end of July. 'Which means I've decided to delay the release of The End of the World to early September,' says Guerrier.

With delaying The End of the World in his first appearance, Peter will be a strong character in the range for the upcoming season.

Big Finish has released a cover and full details on The Mind's Eye, the November release featuring the Fifth Doctor, Peri, and Erimem.