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Sophie Aldred

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Sophie Aldred
Aldred at (Re)Generation 2 in March 2016
Born (1962-08-20) 20 August 1962 (age 62)
Greenwich, London, England
Alma materUniversity of Manchester
Occupation(s)Actress, TV presenter
Years active1987–present
Spouse
​
(m. 1997)​
Children2
Websitesophiealdred.com Edit this at Wikidata

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'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.[1] She graduated in 1983 and decided to embark on a career in children's theatre. She also sang in working men's clubs around Manchester.[2]

Career

In 1987, Aldred was cast as Ace in Doctor Who, initially for Dragonfire, the final story of the twenty-fourth season.[3] Her tenure on the show spanned the last nine stories of the programme's original run, which ended in 1989.[4]

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[2] (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.

With Sylvester McCoy during filming of Remembrance of the Daleks (1988)

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,[4] 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.[5]

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. (ISBN 1-85227-574-X).

Aldred provided voices for the 2009 series Dennis and Gnasher, including that of title character Dennis the Menace.[6]

She was also a former presenter of the 1996 CITV Saturday morning magazine programme WOW!.

Aldred, Louise Jameson and Katy Manning at a Doctor Who 50th-anniversary event

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.[7] 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.[8] 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.[9]

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 Jovanka – who was also a companion of The Doctor during the series' original run.[10]

Personal life

Aldred had an affair with comedian Les Dennis during his first marriage.[11] She married actor Vince Henderson on 12 July 1997. They have two sons.[12] Aldred is a vegan.[13][14]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1992 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 Notes
1987–1989, 2022 Doctor Who Dorothy "Ace" McShane 31 episodes
1990 Rainbow Birthday Guest Voice; Episode: "Wrong Day"
1991 Melvin and Maureen's Music-a-grams Maureen
1993 EastEnders Suzie 2 episodes
1993 El Nombre Consuela Chiquitita Voice; all 26 episodes
1993 Dimensions in Time Ace TV film
1995 Tiny and Crew Sophie Socket Series 1
1995 Wimzie's House Wimzie Voice; 20 episodes
1999–2001 ZZZap! Minnie the Magic Magician 41 episodes
2001–2002 Death Comes to Time Ace All 5 episodes
2002–2004 Sergeant Stripes Stripes Voice; 7 episodes
2004 Shadow Play Ros 4 episodes
2009 Noddy in Toyland Lindy Voice; 5 episodes
2009–2010 Dennis & Gnasher Dennis Voice; 25 episodes
2010–2011 Bob the Builder Muck (US) Voice; 11 episodes
2011–2013 Bananas in Pyjamas Morgan Voice; 4 episodes
2012 Tree Fu Tom Tom Voice; 30 episodes
2013 The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot Sophie Aldred TV film
2016 Peter Rabbit Mrs Rabbit Voice; 7 episodes
2016 Cops and Monsters Lady Audrey MacDiarmid Episode: "Revolution in a Teacup"
2020 Gentrification Tabitha All 9 episodes

Video games

Year Title Voice Role
2003 Pure Pinball Excessive Speed Announcer
2011 Inazuma Irebun GO: Shine
2011 Inazuma Irebun GO: Dark
2014 Dragon Age: Inquisition Additional voices
2018 Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom

References

  1. ^ David J. Howe; Mark Stammers; Stephen Walker (1996). Doctor Who: The Eighties. Virgin Publishing. p. 112. ISBN 978-1852276805.
  2. ^ a b "The Den of Geek interview: Sophie Aldred". Den of Geek. 14 February 2008. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  3. ^ "Interview with 'Doctor Who' star Sophie Aldred". independent.co.uk. Archived from the original on 10 February 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  4. ^ a b "Doctor Who: Ace visitor in Norwich". BBC. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  5. ^ "SueTerryVoices : Sophie Aldred female voiceover artist". sueterryvoices.com. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  6. ^ Dennis is a menace to 2012 equestrian plans London Evening Standard, 7 October 2009
  7. ^ "The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot", BBC programmes, retrieved 26 November 2013
  8. ^ Jeffery, Morgan (25 November 2019). "Sophie Aldred says she "burst into tears" after reading script for her Doctor Who comeback". Radio Times.
  9. ^ Doctor Who: At Childhood's End Penguin Books, 6 February 2020
  10. ^ Mzimba, Lizo (17 April 2022). "Doctor Who: Former companions to join Jodie Whittaker's farewell". BBC News.
  11. ^ Barkham, Patrick (1 April 2008). "Beyond a Joke". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  12. ^ "Exclusive interview with 'Doctor Who' star Sophie Aldred – CultBox". CultBox. 15 October 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  13. ^ "23 May 2020". Pointless Celebrities. BBC1.
  14. ^ "What I eat in a week...Sophie Aldred". Vegan Life Magazine. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
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Preceded by Doctor Who Magazine Editor
1997 		Succeeded by

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