Sophie Aldred

Sophie Aldred (born 20 August 1962^[1][2]) portrayed Ace in the original television series from Dragonfire to Survival, and reprised the role for Dimensions in Time and audio stories produced by Big Finish. Aldred also had a part in the 1998 Doctor Who spin-off Mindgame.

She was born in Greenwich, London and raised in Blackheath. She shares her birthday with her co-star, Sylvester McCoy, who is 19 years her senior, and Anthony Ainley.

Biography Edit

Sophie attended Blackheath High School and studied drama at the University of Manchester before embarking on a career in children's theatre. In 1987, while she was working back chorus on Fiddler on the Roof, she was cast as Ace. The Doctor found Ace serving milkshakes on Iceworld in the story Dragonfire, at the end of which she joined the Doctor on his travels. Several stories (Ghost Light, The Curse of Fenric, and Survival) explored her character to an extent that previous companion characters had not seen.

Before and since Doctor Who, Aldred has had a varied and busy television career, particularly in children's programming, where she has presented educational programmes such as Corners, Melvin and Maureen's Music-a-grams and the long-running BBC series Words and Pictures. She has performed on radio and in the theatre. She has also reprised her role as Ace in the charity special "Dimensions in Time" and continues to perform the role in Doctor Who audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions.

She co-wrote the hardback reference book, Ace! The Inside Story of the End of an Era with Mike Tucker, published by Virgin Publishing in 1996. (ISBN 1-85227-574-X). She also edited a special issue of Doctor Who Magazine (Issue 255).

While recording Short Trips - Volume I, Sophie Aldred met Karen Gillan, who was recording audio for an online interactive game. Sophie introducted herself to Karen as "one of the old girls", saying she played Ace. Karen then gasped, and asked Sophie to take a picture with her. Sophie asked Karen to sign her T-shirt, and joked she would never be able to wash it again. (VOR 17)

Beginning in 2012, Aldred provided the lead voiceover role in the animated series Tree Fu Tom; her co-star for the first series was David Tennant.

Sophie Aldred married Vince Henderson on 12 July 1997. They have two sons, Adam and William.

In 2013, Sophie and her co-star Sylvester McCoy partnered up for the Doctor Who edition of the game show Pointless Celebrities. She also contributed to the charity reference book Behind the Sofa: Celebrity Memories of Doctor Who.

Selected credits Edit

Television Edit

Doctor Who Edit

• Dragonfire
• Remembrance of the Daleks
• The Happiness Patrol
• Silver Nemesis
• The Greatest Show in the Galaxy
• Battlefield
• Ghost Light
• The Curse of Fenric
• Survival

Doctor Who mini-episodes Edit

• Search Out Space
• Dimensions in Time

Doctor Who Confidential Edit

• I Get a Side-Kick Out of You

Specials Edit

• Thirty Years in the TARDIS
• The Story of Doctor Who

Audio dramas Edit

Big Finish Monthly Range Edit

• The Fearmonger
• The Genocide Machine
• The Shadow of the Scourge
• Dust Breeding
• Colditz
• The Rapture
• The Dark Flame
• Zagreus (as Captain Duck)
• The Harvest
• Dreamtime
• LIVE 34
• Night Thoughts
• The Settling
• No Man's Land
• Nocturne
• The Dark Husband
• Forty-Five
  • False Gods
  • Order of Simplicity
  • Casualties of War
  • The Word Lord
• The Magic Mousetrap
• Enemy of the Daleks
• The Angel of Scutari
• Project: Destiny
• A Death in the Family
• Lurkers at Sunlight's Edge
• Protect and Survive
• Black and White
• Gods and Monsters
• 1963: The Assassination Games
• Afterlife
• Revenge of the Swarm
• Mask of Tragedy
• Signs and Wonders
• You Are the Doctor and Other Stories
  • You Are the Doctor
  • Come Die with Me
  • The Grand Betelgeuse Hotel
  • Dead to the World
• A Life of Crime
• Fiesta of the Damned
• Shadow Planet / World Apart
• The High Price of Parking
• The Blood Furnace
• The Silurian Candidate
• Red Planets
• The Dispossessed
• The Quantum Possibility Engine
• Muse of Fire
• An Alien Werewolf in London

Big Finish Special Releases Edit

• The Veiled Leopard
• The Light at the End
• The Eighth of March
  • The Big Blue Book
• The Legacy of Time
  • The Split Infinitive

The Lost Stories Edit

• Thin Ice
• Crime of the Century
• Animal
• Earth Aid

Novel Adaptations Edit

• Love and War
• Theatre of War
• All-Consuming Fire
• Nightshade

Companion Chronicles Edit

• The Prisoner's Dilemma

Destiny of the Doctor Edit

• Shockwave

Short Trips Edit

• Police and Shreeves
• Critical Mass
• The Riparian Ripper
• The Shadow Trader
• Dark Convoy
• Washington Burns
• Doctors and Dragons

Gallifrey Edit

• Intervention Earth
• Enemy Lines
• Celestial Intervention
• Soldier Obscura

Bernice Summerfield Edit

• Beyond the Sun as Miranda
• Many Happy Returns as Dave Stone
• Random Ghosts
• The Lights of Skaro
• The Pyramid of Sutekh
• The Vault of Osiris
• The Eye of Horus
• The Tears of Isis

UNIT Edit

• Dominion

Iris Wildthyme Edit

• Iris at the Oche as Lady Bow'n

Audiobook Readings Edit

• The Greatest Show in the Galaxy
• Illegal Alien
• The Secret in Vault 13

Webcasts Edit

• Death Comes to Time

Class: The Audio Adventures Edit

Volume Two Edit

• In Remembrance

Prose Edit

Short works Edit

• Timewyrm: Genesys (foreword)
• Set Piece (afterword)

Books Edit

• Ace! The Inside Story of the End of an Era (with Mike Tucker)

Direct-to-video Edit

Drama Edit

• Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans as Mari
• The Zero Imperative as P.R.O.
• Mindgame as "Human"
• Mindgame Trilogy as "Human"
• White Witch of Devil's End (grateful thanks)

Documentary Edit

• The Doctors: 30 Years of Time Travel and Beyond
• I Was a Doctor Who Monster!
• Lust in Space

External links Edit

• Sophie Aldred at the Internet Movie Database
• Official website
• Official Twitter account

Footnotes Edit