September 18, 2017
The actress behind the classic companion Ace, Sophie Aldred, has been celebrating 30 years of the Seventh Doctor in the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine, out this week.
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Aldred played Ace opposite Sylvester McCoy’s Time Lord for two full seasons in the late 80s, read more about her . She comments on her iconic role:
“People say, ‘Oh, Ace was real kick-ass!’ She beat up a Dalek with a baseball bat! She took out Cybermen with a catapult! But she also wasn’t afraid to show her vulnerability. She has this realistic combination of being ‘male’ and ‘female’.”
Sophie also compared the authenticity of her character with that of the most recent companion Bill Potts, as played by Pearl Mackie:
“There’s no stereotyping with Ace. It’s the same with Bill. It’s a very authentic role, a very real performance. If we could bring anything that was important to us – racism, class, sexuality – any important stuff like that, then that was all the better as far as we were concerned.”
The actress discusses the influence of the Seventh Doctor on his successors with a mention of their last story together, and the last broadcast in the ‘classic’ era:
“If you look at Survival, it’s incredibly dark. His Doctor is a real precursor, I think, of the modern Doctors.”
Finally, DWM asks Sophie what Ace would make of the Thirteenth Doctor:
“Wouldn’t it be great to have Ace come across the female Doctor and have no idea who it is? And then it gradually begins to dawn on her that this is the Doctor. I think she’d be confused and then probably pretty delighted! I can’t wait to see how Jodie Whittaker’s character of the Doctor is going to pan out.”
