Sophie Aldred

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Sophie Aldred (born 20 August 1962[1]) 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, and played Alice, a close analogue of the TV Ace, in BBV Productions' The Time Travellers audios.

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

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.

Sophie Aldred in 2008.

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).

Sophie Aldred and Karen Gillan meet. (VOR 17)

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 voice-over 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 Henderson.

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 and was interviewed for Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the Women Who Love It.

Acting Credits

As Ace

Television

Doctor Who

Mini-episodes

Webcasts

Doctor Who

Tales of the TARDIS

The Collection Blu-Ray Trailers

Audio

Doctor Who Main Range

Special Releases

The Lost Stories

The Seventh Doctor Adventures

Novel Adaptations

Tenth Doctor Classic Companions

The Companion Chronicles

Destiny of the Doctor

Short Trips

Bernice Summerfield

Gallifrey

Gallifrey: Time War

The Eighth of March

UNIT

Class: The Audio Adventures

Torchwood

Other Roles

Television

Other

Direct-to-DVD

Audio

Doctor Who Main Range

Bernice Summerfield

Iris Wildthyme

Vienna

AUK Studios

The Time Travellers

Audiobook readings

Target Novelisations

BBC Past Doctor Novels

BBC New Series Adventures

BBC Children's Books

Interludes

Puffin eshort

Time Lord Fairy Tales

Twelve Doctors of Christmas

Tales of Terror

Thirteen Doctors, 13 Stories

The Wintertime Paradox

Origin Stories

Writing credits

Novels

BBC New Series Adventures

Short Stories

Origin Stories

Other

Reference Books

Documentaries

External links

Footnotes