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Sophie Aldred 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 and raised in Blackheath, London. She shares her birthday with her co-star, Sylvester McCoy, who is 19 years her senior, and Anthony Ainley.
Biography
Sophie attended Blackheath High School and 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 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).
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
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
Doctor Who Confidential
Specials
Audio dramas
Big Finish Doctor Who audio stories
- 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 Veiled Leopard
- The Settling
- No Man's Land
- Nocturne
- The Dark Husband
- Forty-Five
- The Prisoner's Dilemma
- The Magic Mousetrap
- Enemy of the Daleks
- The Angel of Scutari
- Project: Destiny
- A Death in the Family
- Lurkers at Sunlight's Edge
- Police and Shreeves (read by)
- Critical Mass (read by)
- Thin Ice
- Crime of the Century
- The Riparian Ripper (read by)
- Animal
- Earth Aid
- The Shadow Trader (read by)
- Protect and Survive
- Black and White
- Gods and Monsters
- UNIT: Dominion
- Love and War
- Shockwave
- The Light at the End
- 1963: The Assassination Games
- Afterlife
- Random Ghosts
- The Lights of Skaro
- Revenge of the Swarm
- Mask of Tragedy
- Signs and Wonders
- Dark Convoy (read by)
- Theatre of War
- All-Consuming Fire
- You Are the Doctor and Other Stories
- Washington Burns
- Nightshade
- A Life of Crime
- Fiesta of the Damned
Big Finish Bernice Summerfield Series
Iris Wildthyme
Gallifrey
Webcasts
Prose
Short works
- Timewyrm: Genesys (foreword)
- Set Piece (afterword)
Books
Direct-to-video
Drama
- Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans as Mari
- The Zero Imperative as P.R.O.
- Mindgame as "Human"
- Mindgame Trilogy as "Human"