Sophie Aldred (born 20 August 1962) is an English actress and television presenter. She has worked extensively in children's television as a presenter and voice artist. She played the

Seventh Doctor The Seventh Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Scottish actor Sylvester McCoy. Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-o ...

's companion, Ace, in the television series ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' during the late 1980s, becoming the final companion in the series' first run.

Early life

Aldred was born on 20 August 1962 in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, but grew up in nearby Blackheath. She sang in the church choir of St James',

Kidbrooke Kidbrooke is an area of south-east London, England, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich south-east of Charing Cross and north west of Eltham. The district takes its name from the Kyd Brook, a watercourse which runs from Orpington to Lewisha ...

, and attended

Blackheath High School Blackheath High School is a private day school for girls in Blackheath Village in southeast London, England. It was founded in 1880 as part of the Girls' Day School Trust; the Senior School occupied a purpose-built site in Wemyss Road for ov ...

from 1973 until 1980. She then enrolled as a drama student at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

. She graduated in 1983 and embarked on a career in children's theatre. She also sang in

working men's club Working men's clubs are British private social clubs first created in the 19th century in industrial areas, particularly the North of England, Midlands, Scotland, Northern Ireland and South Wales Valleys, to provide recreation and education ...

s around

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

Career

In 1987, Aldred was cast as Ace in ''

'', 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 Colin Charles Baker (born 8 June 1943) is an English actor. He played Paul Merroney in the BBC television drama series ''The Brothers (1972 TV series), The Brothers'' from 1974 to 1976 and the Sixth Doctor, sixth incarnation of The Doctor (Do ...

, also formerly of ''Doctor Who''. Both before and since ''Doctor Who'', Aldred has had a varied and busy

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

career, particularly in

children's programming Children's television series (or children's television shows) are Television show, television programs designed specifically for Child, children. They are typically characterised by easy-going content devoid of sensitive or adult themes and are ...

, 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 The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

series '' Words and Pictures'' (1992, 1996-2001), and also the

CITV CITV is a British children's morning programming block on ITV2 and formerly a free-to-air channel owned by ITV plc. CITV, then Children's ITV, launched on 3 January 1983 as a late afternoon programming block on the ITV network for children aged ...

paranormal show ''

It's a Mystery ''It's a Mystery'' is the fifteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Seger, released in 1995 (see 1995 in music). As with his prior album, it is credited to the Silver Bullet Band, though many of the tracks feature a wide array ...

'' 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 ''Dimensions in Time'' is a charity special crossover between the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and the soap opera ''EastEnders.'' The special was broadcast in two parts on 26 and 27 November 1993 and was filmed on lo ...

'' and, since 2000, the ''Doctor Who'' audio plays produced by

Big Finish Productions Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and radio drama, audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on science fiction properties. These include ''Doctor Who'' ...

. 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 Voice acting is the art of performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animated, off-stage, off-sc ...

for

television advertisement A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

s, and has also provided voices for animated series such as ''

Bob the Builder ''Bob the Builder'' is a British animated children's television series created by Keith Chapman for HIT Entertainment which ran from to in the United Kingdom through the CBBC strand and later CBeebies. The series centres on the adventures ...

'', '' Sergeant Stripes'', the UK dubbed version of the CGI animated version of the Australian TV series ''

Bananas in Pyjamas ''Bananas in Pyjamas'' is an Australian children's television series that first aired on 20 July 1992 on ABC. It has since been syndicated in many countries and dubbed into other languages. In the United States, the " Pyjamas" in the title w ...

'', '' El Nombre'', ''

Peter Rabbit Peter Rabbit is a fictional animal character in various children's stories by English author Beatrix Potter. A mischievous, adventurous young rabbit who wears a blue jacket, he first appeared in ''The Tale of Peter Rabbit'' in 1902, and subseq ...

'', '' 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 Virgin Books is a British book publisher 90% owned by the publishing group Random House, and 10% owned by Virgin Group, the company originally set up by Richard Branson as a record company. History Virgin established its book publishing arm ...

in 1996. (). Aldred provided voices for the 2009 series '' Dennis and Gnasher'', including that of title character Dennis the Menace. She was also a former presenter of the 1996

Saturday morning magazine programme '' WOW!''. Since 2012 Aldred has provided the voice of Tom in '' Tree Fu Tom'', a

CBeebies CBeebies is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content targeted for children aged six year ...

series. The series' other main voice actor,

David Tennant David John Tennant (; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He is best known for portraying the Tenth Doctor, tenth and Fourteenth Doctor, fourteenth incarnations of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction series ''Docto ...

(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'' is a 2013 comedy spoof and homage to the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. It appeared on the BBC Red Button service after the broadcast of "The Day of the Doctor", the official 50th ann ...

''. In 2018, Aldred reprised the role of Ace in an audio drama set during the first season of ''

Class Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...

''. In 2019, Aldred reprised the role of Ace in a special announcement trailer for the ''Doctor Who'' Season 26

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

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 The Thirteenth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. She is played by Jodie Whittaker, the first woman to portray the character, in three series, five specials and a ...

and her companions while investigating an alien satellite. Aldred reprised the role of Ace in the October 2022 ''Doctor Who'' BBC Centenary special "

The Power of the Doctor "The Power of the Doctor" is the third and final story of Doctor Who specials (2022), three special episodes that follow the Doctor Who series 13, thirteenth series of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. The episode ...

" alongside Janet Fielding as Tegan Jovankawho was also a companion of

the Doctor The Doctor, sometimes known as Doctor Who, is the protagonist of the long-running BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. An extraterrestrial Time Lord, the Doctor travels the universe in a time travelling spaceship called th ...

during the series' original run and in the episode she reunites with

Sylvester McCoy Percy James Patrick Kent-Smith (born 20 August 1943), known professionally as Sylvester McCoy, is a Scottish actor. Gaining prominence as a physical comedian, he became best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor in the long ...

as the

. In a 2023 interview at Supanova Gold Coast, Aldred expressed her enthusiasm for returning to ''

'' alongside Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor, stating, ''"Yeah, where’s the contract? I'll sign it!"'' She also reprised the role in the series '' Tales of the TARDIS''.

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 Leslie Dennis Heseltine (born 12 October 1953) is an English television presenter, actor and comedian. He presented '' Family Fortunes'' from 1987 to 2002. Early life Dennis was born as Leslie Dennis Heseltine on 12 October 1953 in the Liv ...

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

cat The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

s and is a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

Filmography

Television

Video games

Audio

References

External links

* * * *
BBC Norfolk interview: Sophie Aldred – Feb '08
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aldred, Sophie 1962 births 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses Living people Actresses from London People from Greenwich Alumni of the University of Manchester Alumni of the Victoria University of Manchester BBC television presenters English children's television presenters English radio actresses English stage actresses English television actresses English voice actresses English women television presenters People educated at Blackheath High School Writers of Doctor Who novels Actors from the Royal Borough of Greenwich