Sophie Aldred

File:Sophie Aldred.jpg

Sophie Aldred (publicity photo from 1992)

Sophie Aldred (born 20th August 1962) portrayed Ace in the original television series from "Dragonfire" to "Survival," and reprised the role for "Dimensions in Time" and for audio dramas produced by Big Finish. Aldred also had a part in the 1998 Doctor Who spin-off Mindgame. She was born in Greenwich, and raised in Blackheath, London.

Biography

Having attended Blackheath High School, she studied drama at the University of Manchester, before embarking on a career in children's theatre. In 1987 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 been.

Aldred spent two full seasons opposite Sylvester McCoy's Seventh Doctor; since then no actress has played opposite a single Doctor for more than one season, although it has recently been announced by the BBC that Karen Gillan (Amy Pond) is expected to return for a second season opposite Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor, replicating Aldred's feat of more than 20 years earlier.

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Sophie Aldred in 2008.

Both 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 also 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 of Ace 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).

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

Selected credits

Television

Doctor Who

• 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

• Search Out Space
• Dimensions in Time

Doctor Who Confidential

• I Get a Side-Kick Out of You

Specials

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

Audio Dramas

Big Finish Doctor Who audio stories

• The Fearmonger
• The Genocide Machine
• The Shadow of the Scourge
• Dust Breeding
• Excelis Decays
• Colditz
• The Rapture
• The Dark Flame
• Project: Lazarus
• Flip-Flop
• The Harvest
• Dreamtime
• Unregenerate!
• LIVE 34
• Night Thoughts
• The Settling
• Red
• No Man's Land
• Nocturne
• The Dark Husband
• Forty-Five
• The Magic Mousetrap
• Enemy of the Daleks
• The Angel of Scutari

Big Finish Bernice Summerfield Series

• Beyond the Sun

Webcasts

• Death Comes to Time

Prose

Short works

• Timewyrm: Genesys (introduction)
• Set Piece (introduction)

Books

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

Direct-to-Video

Drama

• More Than a Messiah
• Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans as Mari
• The Zero Imperative as P.R.O.
• Mindgame as 'Human'
• Mindgame Trilogy as 'Human'

Documentary

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

External links

• Sophie Aldred at the Internet Movie Database