Sophie Aldred is an English actress, television presenter, and author. She has worked extensively in children's television as a presenter and voice artist. She played the Seventh Doctor's companion, Ace, in the television series Doctor Who during the late 1980s, becoming the final companion in the series' first run.
Early life Aldred was born in Greenwich, London, but grew up in nearby Blackheath. She sang in the church choir of St James', Kidbrooke, and attended Blackheath High School from 1973 until 1980. She then enrolled as a drama student at the University of Manchester. She graduated in 1983 and embarked on a career in children's theatre. She also sang in working men's clubs around Manchester.
Career In 1987, Aldred was cast as Ace in Doctor Who, initially for Dragonfire, the final story of the twenty-fourth season. Her tenure on the show spanned the last nine stories of the programme's original run, which ended in 1989.
In January 1992, she guest-starred in More than a Messiah, one of the videos in the series The Stranger, starring Colin Baker, also formerly of Doctor Who.
Both 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 under the name "Sophie Socket" such as Corners, Melvin and Maureen's Music-a-grams (which ran from 1992 to '96), Tiny and Crew (which she presented, 1995–96), the BBC series Words and Pictures (1992, 1996–2001), and also the CITV paranormal show It's a Mystery in 1996. She also played the character Minnie The Mini Magician from series 8 onwards in CITV's ZZZap! between 1999 and 2001.
Aldred has presented and sung in several BBC Schools Radio series, including Singing Together, Music Workshop, Time and Tune and Music Box. She has also performed on radio and in the theatre. She has also reprised her role as Ace in the 1993 thirtieth-anniversary charity special Dimensions in Time and, since 2000, the Doctor Who audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions. Following the start of rumours in 1994 and 1995, avid Doctor Who fans expressed hope that Aldred would reprise her role in the project that would become the 1996 Doctor Who television movie, but she did not appear, and her character's fate was not mentioned.
Throughout the 2000s she has worked extensively as a voice-over artist for television advertisements, and has also provided voices for animated series such as Bob the Builder, Sergeant Stripes, the UK dubbed version of the CGI animated version of the Australian TV series Bananas in Pyjamas, El Nombre, Peter Rabbit, Noddy in Toyland, The Magic Key and Dennis & Gnasher.
She co-wrote with Mike Tucker the hardcover nonfiction book Ace, The Inside Story of the End of An Era, published by Virgin Publishing in 1996. ().
Aldred provided voices for the 2009 series Dennis and Gnasher, including that of title character Dennis the Menace.Dennis is a menace to 2012 equestrian plans London Evening Standard, 7 October 2009
She was also a former presenter of the 1996 CITV Saturday morning magazine programme WOW!.
Since 2012 Aldred has provided the voice of Tom in Tree Fu Tom, a CBeebies series. The series' other main voice actor, David Tennant (who voices Twigs), previously played the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who. In November 2013 she appeared in the one-off fiftieth-anniversary comedy homage The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot."The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot", BBC programmes, retrieved 26 November 2013 In 2018, Aldred reprised the role of Ace in an audio drama set during the first season of Class.
In 2019, Aldred reprised the role of Ace in a special announcement trailer for the Doctor Who Season 26 Blu-ray box set. That same year, she also appeared as Mistress Na in the direct-to-DVD film Sil and the Devil Seeds of Arodor; a role for which she won Best Supporting Actress at the Accolade Competition in 2020.
In 2020, Aldred released the novel Doctor Who: At Childhood's End, where an older Ace (now a philanthropist) meets the Thirteenth Doctor and her companions while investigating an alien satellite.Doctor Who: At Childhood's End Penguin Books, 6 February 2020
Aldred reprised the role of Ace in the October 2022 Doctor Who BBC Centenary special "The Power of the Doctor" alongside Janet Fielding as Tegan Jovankawho was also a companion of the Doctor during the series' original run and in the episode she reunites with Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor.
In a 2023 interview at Supanova Gold Coast, Aldred expressed her enthusiasm for returning to Doctor Who alongside Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor, saying, "Yeah, where’s the contract? I'll sign it!"
She also reprised the role in the series Tales of the TARDIS.
In 2024 she read several stories on the indie channel Divas, Dinosaurs and Demons, which also features fellow Big Finish actor Sadie Miller.
Personal life Aldred was in a relationship with fellow Manchester University student Tim Booth of the band James in the mid-1980s. She also had a relationship with comedian Les Dennis during his first marriage, which Dennis documented in his autobiography. She married television presenter and actor Vince Henderson on 12 July 1997. They have two sons. Aldred is allergic to cats and is a vegan.
Filmography
Year Title Role Notes1992 More Than A Messiah The Girl 1994 Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans Mari 1994 The Zero Imperative P.R. Officer 1998 Mindgame Human 1998 Lust in Space Sophie Aldred 1999 Mindgame Trilogy Space Pilot 6927896 2011 Thriller Theater! Lynn Whitlam 2013 The Search for Simon Angela Spooner 2018 A Wizard's Tale Voice 2019 Sil and the Devil Seeds of Arodor Mistress Na
Television Year Title Role Notes1987–1989, 2022 Doctor Who Dorothy "Ace" McShane 32 episodes1990 Rainbow Birthday Guest Voice; Episode: "Wrong Day"1991 Melvin and Maureen's Music-a-grams Maureen 9 episodes1993 EastEnders Suzie 2 episodes1993 El Nombre Consuela Chiquitita Voice; all 26 episodes1993 Dimensions in Time Ace TV film1995 Tiny and Crew Sophie Socket Series 11995 Wimzie's House Wimzie Voice; 20 episodes1996It's a MysterySeries 11996WOW!1999–2001 ZZZap! Minnie the Magic Magician 41 episodes2000–2001The Magic KeyBiffRegular role2001–2002 Death Comes to Time Ace All 5 episodes2002–2004 Sergeant Stripes Stripes Voice; 7 episodes2004 Shadow Play Ros 4 episodes2009 Noddy in Toyland Lindy Voice; 5 episodes2009–2010 Dennis & Gnasher Dennis Voice; 25 episodes2010–2011 Bob the Builder Muck (US) Voice2011–2013 Bananas in Pyjamas Morgan (UK) Voice2012 Tree Fu Tom Tom (UK version), Racquette, Puffy Voice; 30 episodes2013 The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot Sophie Aldred TV film2016 Peter Rabbit Mrs Rabbit Voice; 7 episodes2016 Cops and Monsters Lady Audrey MacDiarmid Episode: "Revolution in a Teacup"2020 Gentrification Tabitha All 9 episodes2023 Tales of the TARDIS Dorothy "Ace" McShane Episode: "The Curse of Fenric"
Video games Year Title Voice Role 2003 Pure Pinball Excessive Speed Announcer2011 Inazuma Irebun GO: Shine 2011 Inazuma Irebun GO: Dark 2014 Dragon Age: Inquisition Additional voices2018 Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom
Audio Year Title Author 2008 Candyfloss Jacqueline Wilson 2018 Skyward Brandon Sanderson 2019 Starsight 2021 Cytonic Defiant 2020 The Doors of Eden Adrian Tchaikovsky 2021 Shards of Earth 2022 Eyes of the Void 2023 Lords of Uncreation 2025 Shroud
References
External links
BBC Norfolk interview: Sophie Aldred – Feb '08