Ace (Doctor Who)
Ace | |
---|---|
Doctor Who character | |
First appearance | Dragonfire (1987) |
Last appearance | Tales of the Tardis: The Curse of Fenric (2023) |
Portrayed by | Sophie Aldred |
Non-canonical appearances | Dimensions in Time (1993) |
Duration | 1987–1989, 1993, 2022, 2023 |
In-universe information | |
Species | Human |
Affiliation | Seventh Doctor Thirteenth Doctor UNIT |
Family | Audrey Dudman (mother) |
Relatives | Frank Dudman (grandfather) Kathleen Dudman (grandmother) |
Home | Earth |
Home era | 20th and 21st centuries (born c. 1970,[1] leaves Earth c. 1987[2]) |
Ace is a fictional character played by Sophie Aldred in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.[3] A 20th-century Earth teenager from the London suburb of Perivale, she is a companion of the Seventh Doctor and was a regular in the series from 1987 to 1989 and returned in 2022. [4] She is considered one of the Doctor's most popular companions.[5]
Ace appeared in ten stories (32 episodes), and was the final companion in the original run of the classic series.[6]
Doctor Who script editor Andrew Cartmel said that the character was written to be a "fighter and not a screamer".[7] In the television series Ace reveals that her real given name is Dorothy. Her family name is never explicitly stated in the series but spin-off media refer to her as both Dorothy Gale and Dorothy McShane.
Character history
Ace is a 16-year-old human who first appears in the 1987 serial Dragonfire, where she is working as a waitress in the frozen food retail complex of Iceworld on the planet Svartos.[8] She had been a troubled teen on Earth, having been expelled from school for blowing up the art room as a "creative statement". Gifted in chemistry (despite failing the subject at O-level), she was in her room experimenting with the extraction of nitroglycerin from gelignite when an explosion (later revealed to be a time-storm created by Fenric) swept her up and transported her to Iceworld, many years in the future.[6] There, she meets the Doctor and his companion Mel. When Mel leaves the Doctor at the conclusion of the serial, he offers to take Ace with him in the TARDIS, and she happily accepts.
Ace suffered traumatic events in her childhood, including a bad relationship with her mother Audrey (the daughter of
Affectionately giving the Doctor the nickname of "Professor",[8] Ace is convinced that he needs her to watch his back, and protects him with a fierce loyalty. In turn, the Doctor seems to take a special interest in Ace's education, taking her across the universe and often prompting her to figure out explanations for herself rather than giving her all the answers. However, the Seventh Doctor's increasing tendency to manipulate events and people (including her), even with what appears to be the best of intentions, results in several difficult moments in their relationship.
Under the Doctor's tutelage, Ace fights the
What the Doctor is aware of, but Ace is not, is that her arrival on Iceworld was no accident but part of a larger scheme stretching across the centuries and conceived by
The circumstances of Ace's parting of ways with the Doctor are not known, as the series went on hiatus in 1989 with the end of the very next serial, Survival, in which Ace is returned by the Doctor to Perivale but ultimately chooses to leave again with him. A painting seen in the extended version of Silver Nemesis suggests that at some point in her personal future Ace will end up in 18th or 19th century France.[5] This idea is further explored in the novelisation of The Curse of Fenric and the Virgin New Adventures.[5] The novelisation contains an epilogue not included in the televised serial, in which the Doctor visits an older Ace in 1887 Paris.
If the series had continued, the production team's intent was to have Ace eventually enter the Prydonian Academy on the Doctor's home planet of
However, in The Sarah Jane Adventures story Death of the Doctor, Sarah Jane reveals to her companions that she has done research on some of the Doctor's companions. She mentions "that Dorothy something — she runs that charity, 'A Charitable Earth' ("ACE"). She's raised billions."[8] In the same episode, the Eleventh Doctor reveals that his Tenth incarnation looked in on each of his former companions as he prepared for regeneration at the end of "The End of Time".
A promotional video made to advertise the
She appeared in "The Power of the Doctor" celebrating the BBC Centenary, alongside the returning former companion Tegan Jovanka, the two of them now having been hired by Kate Stewart to work as UNIT freelancers.[12] Ace is reunited with the Doctor - now in "her" thirteenth incarnation - and helps to defeat the Master, the Cybermen and the Daleks, briefly working alongside the Thirteenth Doctor's former companion Graham O'Brien to blow up the Daleks' volcano base. During the adventure, an AI hologram of the Doctor briefly takes on the form of the Seventh Doctor who reconciles with Ace for their falling out. After the adventure, Ace joins Graham's companion support group.
In
Other appearances
Ace and the Seventh Doctor appeared twice more on television after Doctor Who was cancelled. The first occasion was in 1990, in a special episode of the
Ace was also featured in the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip sporadically, one of the few television companions to appear in it.
The character is extensively developed in the
Ace's relationship with the Doctor remains strained for some time, boiling over in Blood Heat when the Doctor destroys an unstable parallel Earth (where Manisha is still alive) and under the influence of an alien creature she stabs him through one of his hearts in
Other spin-off media give contradictory versions of Ace's eventual fate. The comic strip in Doctor Who Magazine has Ace killed off just prior to the events of the 1996 television movie (Ground Zero, DWM #238-#242). In the webcast audio play Death Comes to Time, Ace inherits the mantle of the Time Lords when they become extinct.
Ace's first name is Dorothy, and production notes suggested a possible last name of Gale if desired, an allusion to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.[13] In another contradiction, the novels (and, following their lead, Big Finish audio plays) have given Ace the last name of McShane. A sequence of BBC Books' Past Doctor Adventures set after Survival and written by Mike Tucker and Robert Perry used the "Dorothy Gale" name, as the authors were unaware of the name used in the New Adventures. This was eventually resolved to some extent when the novel Loving the Alien by Tucker and Perry saw the original Ace (Dorothy Gale) shot and killed, but replaced by an Ace from another universe whose real name is "Dorothy McShane". Loving the Alien also makes it clear that all the television episodes and Tucker/Perry novels occur before the New Adventures, thus reconciling the different ranges.
Sophie Aldred has voiced Ace for several audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions, alongside
In 1996, Virgin's Doctor Who Books imprint published a hardback by Sophie Aldred and Mike Tucker entitled Ace!: The Inside Story of the End of an Era (
The
In 2018, Ace was confirmed to appear in Big Finish Production's audio drama based on Doctor Who spin-off Class, with Aldred reprising her role alongside the show's main cast.[14] The story released that August.
In 2020, BBC Books published At Childhood's End (
Legacy
The character of Ace has been cited as the first "modern" companion for the Doctor.[7][15] One of the reasons is that her character was written to be more realistic, three-dimensional and to grow as a person throughout her run on the show.[7]
List of appearances
Television
- Season 24
- Season 25
- Season 26
- 30th anniversary special
- 2022 specials
- 2023 specials
- Tales of the TARDIS: The Curse of Fenric
Audio dramas
- 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
- 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
- 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
- A Life of Crime
- Fiesta of the Damned
- Maker of Demons
- 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 Frenchmen / Displaced
- The Grey Man of the Mountain
- The Veiled Leopard
- Destiny of the Doctor: Shockwave
- The Light at the End
- The Eighth of March: The Big Blue Book
- The Legacy of Time: The Split Infinitive
- Thin Ice
- Crime of the Century
- Animal
- Earth Aid
- UNIT: Dominion (cameo)
- The Last Day 1
- The Last Day 2
- Love and War
- Theatre of War
- All-Consuming Fire
- Nightshade
- Volume 1
- Good Night, Sweet Ladies
- Random Ghosts
- The Lights of Skaro
- Volume 2: The Triumph of Sutekh
- The Pyramid of Sutekh
- The Vaults of Osiris
- The Eye of Horus
- The Tears of Isis
- Tenth Doctor, Classic Companions
- Quantum of Axos
- Intervention Earth
- Enemy Lines
- Time War 1
- Celestial Intervention
- Soldier Obscura
- In Remembrance
- The Red List
- Death in Venice
- Sabotage
- Police and Shreeves
- Critical Mass
- Seven to One
- The Riparian Ripper
- The Shadow Trader
- Crystal Ball
- Dark Convoy
- Washington Burns
- The Shrine of Sorrows
- Forever Fallen
- Doctors and Dragons
- Dead Woman Walking
Novels
- Timewyrm: Genesys by John Peel
- Timewyrm: Exodus by Terrance Dicks
- Timewyrm: Apocalypse by Nigel Robinson
- Timewyrm: Revelation by Paul Cornell
- Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible by Marc Platt
- Cat's Cradle: Warhead by Andrew Cartmel
- Cat's Cradle: Witch Mark by Andrew Hunt
- Nightshade by Mark Gatiss
- Love and Warby Paul Cornell
- Deceit by Peter Darvill-Evans
- Lucifer Rising by Jim Mortimore and Andy Lane
- White Darkness by David A. McIntee
- Shadowmind by Christopher Bulis
- Birthright by Nigel Robinson
- Blood Heat by Jim Mortimore
- The Dimension Riders by Daniel Blythe
- The Left-Handed Hummingbird by Kate Orman
- Conundrum by Steve Lyons
- No Future by Paul Cornell
- Tragedy Day by Gareth Roberts
- Legacy by Gary Russell
- Theatre of War by Justin Richards
- All-Consuming Fireby Andy Lane
- Blood Harvest by Terrance Dicks
- Strange England by Simon Messingham
- First Frontier by David A. McIntee
- St Anthony's Fire by Mark Gatiss
- Falls the Shadow by Daniel O'Mahony
- Parasite by Jim Mortimore
- Warlock by Andrew Cartmel
- Set Pieceby Kate Orman
- Head Games by Steve Lyons
- Happy Endings by Paul Cornell
- The Death of Art by Simon Bucher-Jones
- Lungbarrow by Marc Platt
- Illegal Alien by Mike Tucker and Robert Perry
- The Hollow Men by Martin Day and Keith Topping
- Matrix by Mike Tucker and Robert Perry
- Storm Harvest by Mike Tucker and Robert Perry
- Prime Time by Mike Tucker
- Independence Day by Peter Darvill-Evans
- Relative Dementias by Mark Michalowski
- Heritage by Dale Smith
- Loving the Alien by Mike Tucker and Robert Perry
- The Algebra of Ice by Lloyd Rose
- Atom Bomb Blues by Andrew Cartmel
- The Colony of Lies by Colin Brake
- Penguin Fiftieth Anniversary eBook novellas
- The Ripple Effect by Malorie Blackman
- BBC Books
Short stories
- "Question Mark Pyjamas", by Decalog 2: Lost Property)
- "Stop the Pigeon", by Mike Tucker and Robert Perry (Short Trips)
- "uPVC", by Paul Farnsworth (More Short Trips)
- "Monsters", by Tara Samms (Short Trips and Sidesteps)
- "Storm in a Tikka", by Mike Tucker and Robert Perry (Short Trips and Sidesteps)
- "Virgin Lands", by Short Trips: Zodiac)
- "Hymn of the City", by Sarah Groenewegen (Short Trips: The Muses)
- "Cold War", by Short Trips: Steel Skies)
- "Ante Bellum", by Short Trips: Past Tense)
- "Echo", by Short Trips: Life Science)
- "A Rose By Any Other Name", by Short Trips: Life Science)
- "The Ghost's Story", by Short Trips: Repercussions)
- "Last Rites", by Marc Platt (Short Trips: Monsters)
- "These Things Take Time", by Samantha Baker(Short Trips: Monsters)
- "Categorical Imperative", by Simon Guerrier (Short Trips: Monsters)
- "A Yuletide Tail: Part One", by Short Trips: A Christmas Treasury)
- "A Yuletide Tail: Part Two", by Dave Stone (Short Trips: A Christmas Treasury)
- "Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast", by Short Trips: A Day in the Life)
- "The Heroine, The Hero and the Meglomaniac", by Ian Mond, (Short Trips: A Day in the Life)
- "Presence", by Peter Anghelides (Short Trips: The History of Christmas)
- "The Anchorite's Echo", by Scott Andrews(Short Trips: The History of Christmas)
- "Natalie's Diary", by Short Trips: Dalek Empire)
- "The Report", by Short Trips: Snapshots)
- "But Once a Year", by Short Trips: The Ghosts of Christmas)
- "The Tide and Time", by Short Trips: Defining Patterns)
- "One Card For The Curious", by Xanna Eve Chown (Short Trips: Defining Patterns)
- "Seance", by John Davies (Short Trips: Defining Patterns)
- "The Devil Like a Bear", by Brian Willis (Short Trips: Defining Patterns)
- "Pierrot le Who?", by Andrew K Lawston (Shelf Life)
Misc
- Ace Returns! I The Collection: Season 26 Announcement Trailer I Doctor Who
Notes
- ^ Ghost Light claims she was 13 in unseen events in 1983.
- ^ Ace states in Dragonfire that a time storm sends her to Svartos after she failed her O levels; she states in the same serial that she is 16 years old.
- ^ "Doctor Who: Ace visitor in Norwich". BBC. Archived from the original on 11 November 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
- ^ "The Den of Geek interview: Sophie Aldred". The Den of Geek. Archived from the original on 4 January 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
- ^ a b c d "What Ever Happened to...Ace?". Doctor Who TV. 20 August 2013. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
- ^ ISBN 9781849906197.
- ^ a b c d e Younger, Andrew (5 January 2015). "Doctor Who: How Ace Set the Template for Modern Companions". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on 2 October 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
- ^ ISBN 9781937994709.
- ^ Revealed in The Curse of Fenric.
- ^ "27-Up". Doctor Who Magazine. No. 255.
- ^ Ace Returns! | The Collection: Season 26 Announcement Trailer | Doctor Who Archived 31 March 2022 at the Wayback Machine on YouTube. Accessed from 31 March 2022.
- ^ Collis, Clark (17 April 2022). "The trailer for Jodie Whittaker's final episode of 'Doctor Who' reveals returning cast members". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 30 October 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
- ISBN 185227574X.
I didn't specify a surname; it can be either the surname of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, or something that works in the context of the story it appears in....
- ^ Warner, Sam (31 May 2018). "Doctor Who spin-off Class returning at Big Finish". Digitalspy.com. Archived from the original on 1 June 2018. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
- ^ McAlpine, Fraser (29 July 2011). "A Companion to the Doctor's Companions". Anglophenia. BBC America. Archived from the original on 17 May 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
References
- ISBN 1-85227-582-0
- Haining, Peter Doctor Who: 25 Glorious Years (1988) ISBN 1-85227-021-7
External links
- Ace on Tardis Wiki, the Doctor Who Wiki
- Ace at bbc.co.uk