Sophie Aldred

Sophie Aldred (born 20 August 1962Famous Birthdays) 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.
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 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 ====
* Dragonfire
* Remembrance of the Daleks
* The Happiness Patrol
* Silver Nemesis
* The Greatest Show in the Galaxy
* Battlefield
* Ghost Light
* The Curse of Fenric
* Survival
* The Power of the Doctor
==== Mini-episodes ====
* Search Out Space
* Dimensions in Time
* Untitled
=== Webcasts ===
==== Doctor Who ====
* Death Comes to Time
==== Tales of the TARDIS ====
* The Curse of Fenric
==== The Collection Blu-Ray Trailers ====
* Ace Returns!
=== Audio ===
==== Doctor Who Main Range ====
* The Fearmonger
* The Genocide Machine
* The Shadow of the Scourge
* Dust Breeding
* Colditz
* The Rapture
* The Dark Flame
* 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
* Dark Universe
* The Flying Dutchman / Displaced
* The Grey Man of the Mountain
==== Special Releases ====
* The Veiled Leopard
* The Light at the End
* The Legacy of Time
** The Split Infinitive
==== The Lost Stories ====
* Thin Ice
* Crime of the Century
* Animal
* Earth Aid
==== The Seventh Doctor Adventures ====
* The Last Day 1
==== Novel Adaptations ====
* Love and War
* Theatre of War
* All-Consuming Fire
* Nightshade
==== Tenth Doctor Classic Companions ====
* Quantum of Axos
==== The Companion Chronicles ====
* The Prisoner's Dilemma
==== Destiny of the Doctor ====
* Shockwave
==== Short Trips ====
* Police and Shreeves
* Critical Mass
* The Riparian Ripper
* The Shadow Trader
* Dark Convoy
* Washington Burns
* Doctors and Dragons
* Dead Woman Walking
* Inside Story
==== Bernice Summerfield ====
* Random Ghosts
* The Lights of Skaro
* The Pyramid of Sutekh
* The Vault of Osiris
* The Eye of Horus
* The Tears of Isis
==== Gallifrey ====
* Intervention Earth
* Enemy Lines
==== Gallifrey: Time War ====
* Celestial Intervention
* Soldier Obscura
==== The Eighth of March ====
* The Big Blue Book
==== UNIT ====
* Dominion
==== Class: The Audio Adventures ====
* In Remembrance
==== Torchwood ====
* The Red List
* Death in Venice
* Sabotage
Other Roles
=== Television ===
==== Other ====
* The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot
==== Direct-to-DVD ====
* The Zero Imperative - P.R.O.
* Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans - Mari
* Mindgame - "Human"
* Mindgame Trilogy - "Human"
* White Witch of Devil's End (grateful thanks)
* Sil and the Devil Seeds of Arodor - Mistress Na
=== Audio ===
==== Doctor Who Main Range ====
* Zagreus - Captain Duck
* Muse of Fire - Concierge
==== Bernice Summerfield ====
* Beyond the Sun - Miranda
* Many Happy Returns - Dave Stone
==== Iris Wildthyme ====
* Iris at the Oche - Lady Bow'n
==== Vienna ====
* Impossibly Galmorous - Kensington Fox
==== AUK Studios ====
* Children of the Circus - Captain Gren / AJ
==== The Time Travellers ====
* Republica - "Ace"
* Island of Lost Souls - "Ace"
* Prosperity Island - "Ace"
* The Left Hand of Darkness - "Ace"
* The Other Side - "Ace"
* Guest for the Night - "Ace"
* Ghosts - Alice
* Only Human - Alice
* Blood Sports - Alice
=== Audiobook readings ===
==== Target Novelisations ====
* The Greatest Show in the Galaxy
* The Witchfinders
==== BBC Past Doctor Novels ====
* Illegal Alien
==== BBC New Series Adventures ====
* At Childhood's End
==== BBC Children's Books ====
* The Secret in Vault 13
* The Maze of Doom
==== Interludes ====
* The Haunting of Bryck Place
* Frozen Worlds
==== Puffin eshort ====
* The Roots of Evil
* Something Borrowed
==== Time Lord Fairy Tales ====
* Snow White and the Seven Keys to Doomsday
==== Twelve Doctors of Christmas ====
* All I Want for Christmas
* The Grotto
* Loose Wire
==== Tales of Terror ====
* The Living Image
* Blood Will Out
* The Mist of Sorrow
==== Thirteen Doctors, 13 Stories ====
* Time Lapse
==== The Wintertime Paradox ====
* He's Behind You
* Father of the Daleks
* Inflicting Christmas
* For the Girl Who Has Everything
* Visiting Hours
* We Will Feed You to the Trees
* Christmas with the Plasmavores
* A Girl Called Doubt
* A Perfect Christmas
* Missing Habitas Frond
* A Day to Yourselves
* The Paradox Moon
==== Origin Stories ====
* Chemistry
* The Last of the Dals
* Murmuration
* Doctor Jones
* The Girl Who Tore Through the Universe
== Writing credits ==
=== Novels ===
==== BBC New Series Adventures ====
* At Childhood's End (with Mike Tucker and Steve Cole)
=== Short Stories ===
==== Origin Stories ====
* Chemistry
=== Other ===
* Timewyrm: Genesys (foreword)
* Set Piece (afterword)
=== Reference Books ===
* Ace! The Inside Story of the End of an Era (with Mike Tucker)
== Documentaries ==
* Thirty Years in the TARDIS
* The Doctors: 30 Years of Time Travel and Beyond
* I Was a Doctor Who Monster!
* Lust in Space
* The Story of Doctor Who
* Fire and Ice
* Back to School
* Remembrances
to be completed
=== Audio commentaries ===
* Dragonfire
* Remembrance of the Daleks
to be completed
== External links ==
* Sophie Aldred Interview
== Footnotes ==
Category:Articles that were originally Wikipedia forks
Category:Doctor Who regular cast
Category:BBV Productions actors
Category:Reeltime Pictures actors
Category:The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot cast
Category:Doctor Who webcast actors
Category:Big Finish Bernice Summerfield voice actors
Category:Big Finish Iris Wildthyme voice actors
Category:Big Finish Gallifrey voice actors
Category:The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield voice actors
Category:Pre-2005 Doctor Who cast reprising their roles at Big Finish
Category:Big Finish UNIT voice actors
Category:BBC Audio audiobook readers
Category:Reference writers
Category:DWM editors
Category:Performers of songs about the Doctor Who universe
Category:BBCi actors
Category:Doctor Who Pinball archive voice actors
Category:Actors who had speaking roles in adlibbed stories
Category:People interviewed on Doctor Who Live
Category:Actors interviewed on Doctor Who Confidential
Category:Destiny of the Doctor voice actors
Category:Novel Adaptations voice actors
Category:The Companion Chronicles voice actors
Category:The Lost Stories voice actors
Category:Main Range voice actors
Category:Short Trips voice actors
Category:Special Releases voice actors
Category:Big Finish regular cast
Category:People thanked by Reeltime Pictures
Category:Actors who portrayed companions of the Doctor
Category:Class: The Audio Adventures voice actors
Category:The Eighth of March voice actors
Category:Behind the Sofa contributors
Category:The Legacy of Time voice actors
Category:Doctor Who novelists
Category:BFP guests
Category:BFTW voice actors
Category:Tenth Doctor Adventures voice actors
Category:Doctor Who short story writers
Category:Actors who were credited in the Doctor Who opening titles
Category:1963 Doctor Who cast reprising their roles in 2005 Doctor Who
Category:Vienna voice actors
Category:Interludes voice actors
Category:BBV Productions voice actors
Category:The Seventh Doctor Adventures voice actors