Ace McShane

**"Ace" McShane** was a companion of the Seventh Doctor.

Initially a brash and reckless teenager (TV: *Dragonfire*), Ace matured significantly into a strong, independent adult over her many years of TARDIS travel and other experiences, who was capable of surviving on her own. (TV: *Survival*)

Born on Earth, Ace eventually attended the Academy on Gallifrey, becoming a Time Lord. (TV: *Thin Ice*)

## Biography

### Before traveling with the Doctor

Dorothy was born to Audrey Dudman (TV: *The Curse of Fenric*)

Naturally aggressive but also clever, Ace was skilled at using her knowledge of chemistrydespite failing it for her O-levels, making bombs filled with an explosive of her own devising called Nitro-9. (TV: *Dragonfire*)

She suffered several traumatic events in her childhood in Perivale, London. These included a bad relationship with her mother and in 1983 the firebombing of her friend Manisha Purkayastha's flat by Neo-Nazis. Manisha died, prompting an angry Ace to set fire to Gabriel Chase, an abandoned mansion said to be haunted by an ancient evil. (TV: *Ghost Light)*

Ace was a troubled teen on Earth, ultimately being expelled for blowing up the art room as a "creative statement." (TV: *Battlefield*)

while she was in her room experimenting with the extraction of nitroglycerin from gelignite, a time storm swept her up and transported her to the deck of Sabalom Glitz' spacecraft, the *Nosferatu*, which was docked at Iceworld in the far future. Trapped on Svartos, she got a job as a waitress and formed a friendship with Glitz, (TV: *Dragonfire*)

Sometime later, whilst working for Anderson in Iceworld's ice cream parlour, she met the Seventh Doctor, whom she referred to as "Professor", and his companion Melanie Bush, whom Ace nicknamed "Doughnut".

Ace's career as a waitress ended when Stellar's mother complained to Ace about lumps in her milkshake, resulting in Ace pouring the drink over her head and Ace getting fired by Anderson.

When Mel left the Doctor at the conclusion of their battle with Kane, he offered to take Ace with him in the TARDIS, and she enthusiastically accepted. (TV: *Dragonfire*)

### Early travels

Under the Doctor's tutelage, Ace fought the Daleks and faced Davros in November 1963, destroying one Dalek with an anti-tank rocketand damaging another with a baseball batupgraded by the Hand of Omega so it delivered blasts of energy strong enough to smash Dalek eyestalks off and damage transmats. During this adventure, her portable stereo was destroyed by a Dalek, something that pleased the Doctor as it was a dangerous anachronism. The Doctor explained to her if someone technically minded found the stereo and discovered how it worked, the microchip revolution could take place 20 years too early, causing damage to the timeline. She also met and came to like Mike Smith. However, she quickly hated him when she found out he was working for the Daleks. (TV: *Remembrance of the Daleks*)

She opposed Helen A and her sadistic government, which required people to be happy on pain of death, and worked with Susan Q to undermine her rule over the colony. (TV: *The Happiness Patrol*) Visiting the Psychic Circus on Segonax, she helped defeat the Gods of Ragnarok (TV: *The Greatest Show in the Galaxy*) and stopped the Cybermen from getting hold of the Nemesisstatue in 1988. During this encounter, she killed multiple Cybermen with goldcoins fired from her catapult and destroyed a Cyber-shuttle using Nitro-9. She admitted to the Doctor she didn't like Cybermen. At the same time, Ace learnt several of the most chaotic events in Earth's history - the First World War and Hitler's invasion of Poland, for example - were down to the statue. (TV: *Silver Nemesis*)

At this stage, the relationship between the Doctor and Ace took a darker turn. At least initially, he had been trying to educate her, not merely have adventures with her. His style of teaching, however, was occasionally unorthodox. At times he lied to her or at least withheld certain truths, so she would face the demons of her past and emerge as a stronger person. (TV: *Ghost Light*, *The Curse of Fenric*)

While visiting Maiden's Point in 1943, Ace learned that her arrival on Iceworld was not an accident, but part of a larger scheme conceived by one of the Doctor's greatest enemies, a cosmic evil known as Fenric. Ace was a Wolf of Fenric, one of many descendants of a Viking tainted with Fenric's genetic instructions to free it from its ancient prison. Fenric had transported her to Iceworld by time storm and had made her a pawn in the complex game between it and the Doctor. The Doctor appeared to have been aware of this from their first meeting, although Ace was not. After Fenric was defeated, Ace continued to journey with the Doctor. (TV: *The Curse of Fenric*)

She later met Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, helping UNIT defeat the Destroyer and Morgaine in Carbury in 1997. (TV: *Battlefield*)

Ace returned to Perivale where she found that most of her old friends had gone missing. She thought they had moved on, but they had been taken to the Cheetah Planet as prey for the Cheetah People. The Master, an old enemy of the Doctor, was using them to get off the planet. Ace, after managing to get the mental influence of the Cheetah virus under control (though the Doctor noted that a part of the Cheetah Planet would "always live on inside her"), she returned with two of her friends and went off to travel with the Doctor again. They made their way back to the TARDIS, which she now called "home", (TV: *Survival*)

The Doctor forced Ace to face demons from her past, taking her to Gabriel Chase, arriving a century before she had burnt it down. There, she discovered that the presence in the house of the entity known as Light was what she had felt when compelled to burn the house down. (TV: *Ghost Light*)

### Joining the Time Lord Academy

As it turned out, the Doctor had been trying to shape her mind to the point that she would be able to attend the Time Lord Academy. His manipulation of her was ultimately for the benefit of Time Lord observers who were assessing her potential. Ace was unknowingly put on this test in Moscow in 1967. This test involved the Ice Lord Hhesh and his quest to resurrect the legendary Martian Warlord Sezhyr. During this, she befriended Markus Creevy and Raina, Who were aiding Hhessh in his quest. Raina was also pregnant with Markus's child. After telling Markus this and being taken on board the Ice Warrior's ship and helping to deliver Raina's baby as she was being possessed by Sezhyr, Ace was left behind by the Doctor and Markus.

Ace later escaped and found herself in London where she found out about the test from a Time Lord named  Vitali, this broke her trust in the Doctor and after watching Hhesh die, she engaged in a swordfight with Seyzhr and won, while also freeing Raina in the process.

Ace passed the test, and the Doctor was taken to Gallifrey where the Doctor later arrived to make his goodbyes, he also apologised for not telling Ace about the test, and the two parted on good terms. (TV: *Thin Ice*)

### As a CIA Agent

At some point, Ace joined the Celestial Intervention Agency. (TV: *The Time Trap*)

Romana sent Ace, Andred, Leela and K-9 on a mission to locate Hildron, a renegade Time Lord who had recently broken out of a Time Lord prison. The group tracked him down to a futuristic, Earth-like planet, but were soon captured by Hildron and frozen in a time trap. They were eventually rescued by the Eighth Doctor, Bernice Summerfield and Hector, who took them back to Gallifrey. (TV: *The Time Trap*)

## Personality

Ace covered her fears and insecurities with a tough, streetwise exterior. Her weapon of choice, disapproved of by the Doctor (who nonetheless found it useful on occasion), was a powerful explosive she called "Nitro-9", which she mixed up in canisters and carried in her backpack. She also wielded a baseball bat for a brief time before it was destroyed. (TV: *Remembrance of the Daleks*)

She was convinced the Doctor needed her to watch his back and was fiercely loyal to him. (TV: *The Curse of Fenric*) In turn, the Doctor took a special interest in Ace's education, taking her across the universe and prompting her to come to her own conclusions rather than giving her all the answers. (TV: *Ghost Light*)

Even though Ace matured greatly over her time with the Doctor, she always remained headstrong and on many occasions tended to charge into situations without completely thinking. As a result of this, in times of severe emotional pain, she was always likely to act rashly and occasionally blamed the Doctor for his regularly manipulative ways and means. (TV: *Survival)*

Ace gave Mel the nickname "Donut". (TV: *Dragonfire)*

During her early travels with the Doctor, Ace would often set out to do something and when she was successful at it she would jump up and yell "Ace!". (TV: *Dragonfire*)

## Physical Appearance

Ace appeared as a short, sixteen year old girl. (TV: *Dragonfire*)

### Hair and grooming

Ace had long light-brown hair that she tied back into a ponytail. (TV: *Dragonfire*)

### Clothing

Ace typically wore a white shirt with black stripes underneath a black buttoned-up bomber jacket decorated with various pins and badges with the word ACE printed on the back in bright red letters, she also wore black jeans and black shoes. (TV: *Dragonfire*)

During her time at Maiden's Point, Ace wore a light-grey, short sleeved dress with a white cravat and black heels. She also wore a red hairnet. (TV: *The Curse of Fenric*)

While at Gabrial's Chase, Ace initially wore a white buttoned-up shirt with a white cravat underneath a black waistcoat and black jacket, along with matching coloured trousers and shoes. She later wore a white Victorian dress with a blue pattern at the V-neck. (TV: *Ghost Light*)

After being accepted into the Time Lord Academy Ace wore traditional Time Lord robes and placed a few of her badges on the headwear. (TV: *Thin Ice*)

## Behind the Scenes

### Ace's Name

Ace's full name was never revealed during her time as a regular companion, in which she was usually referred to by her nickname. Her first name, Dorothy, was referred to on screen in the television story *Dragonfire*.

Production notes suggest that it was intended that her last name would be Gale, given the fact that she was transported to Iceworld via a time storm, much like Dorothy Gale, transported to Oz by a tornado in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

### Miscellany

* According to Rona Munro, the writer of Survival, there was to be a lesbian subtext to the relationship between Ace and Karra. This raises the possibility of Ace being the first LGBT companion on screen. (DOC: Cat-Flap)

## List of Appearances

### Doctor Who

#### Season 25

* *Remembrance of the Daleks*
* *The Happiness Patrol*
* *Silver Nemesis*
* *The Greatest Show in the Galaxy*

#### Season 26

* *The Curse of Fenric*
* *Battlefield*
* *Survival*
* *Ghost Light*

#### *Season 27*

* *Thin Ice*
* *War World* (cameo)