Sophie Aldred and Janet Fielding (aka Ace and Tegan)<\/a> are living proof of that inescapable connection, with both actors continuing to play their Who roles in audio dramas and rocking up to conventions over three decades after their last onscreen appearances.<\/p>\nAnd now, they\u2019ve become just the latest classic companions to return to Doctor Who proper for Jodie Whittaker\u2019s final episode (and BBC centenary special) The Power of the Doctor.<\/p>\n
We caught up with them both to find out how Who has changed since they last stepped onto the TARDIS, what their characters have been up to in the intervening years and \u2013 most importantly of all \u2013 the advice they gave Jodie Whittaker as fellow ex-Who stars.<\/p>
Your characters Ace and Tegan are back \u2014 how did it feel to get the call?<\/strong><\/p>\nSophie Aldred:<\/strong> When I got the call, I burst into tears. I wasn\u2019t conscious of it, but it\u2019s the call I\u2019ve always been hoping for, you know? There aren\u2019t many jobs where you can say that you\u2019ve been playing the same part for 33 years. Maybe in The Archers. It\u2019s extraordinary.<\/p>\nJanet Fielding:<\/strong> What can I say? How many shows give you that opportunity? It\u2019s been 35 years since I acted on camera, so it was an adjustment. I did the series in my 20s but now I\u2019m in my 60s. So it\u2019s not as easy as it once was.<\/p>\nBut at least, these days, I don\u2019t have [former series boss] John Nathan-Turner telling me what I\u2019m going to wear. When I had my meeting for the costume, it was like, \u201cWhere are the sneakers? And will there be jeans?\u201d I\u2019m not fighting monsters in a short skirt again, and that\u2019s it.<\/p>\n
SA:<\/strong> I remember, I wrote a book about the making of Doctor Who called Ace: The Inside Story of the End of an Era. I put in the epilogue: \u201cAnd here I am, five years after I finished making the programme.\u201d<\/p>\nI mean, who\u2019d have thought that 33 years after I started on Doctor Who, here I am playing the same role. And I\u2019m so happy to do so. I just love the part of Ace.<\/p>\n
What have Tegan and Ace been up to since we saw them last in the 1980s? Is Ace still a massive tomboy?<\/strong><\/p>\nJF:<\/strong> Let\u2019s start at the top: Tegan has not mellowed. Those of you who are thinking that she\u2019s become soft and gentle in her old age \u2013 dream on! She\u2019s in her 60s and she\u2019s taking no s**t from anybody. And that includes the Doctor, as it always has.<\/p>\nSA:<\/strong> Ace is the CEO of this charity, and wears a suit, but actually is never that far away from a baseball bat \u2013 and she still wears the Doc Martens.<\/p>\nWhen your return was announced earlier this year it became big news \u2013 did you get a lot of attention?<\/strong><\/p>\nSA:<\/strong> Twitter exploded. I was just getting message after message after message, going, \u201cI\u2019m screaming, I\u2019m crying, I\u2019ve hit my head because I\u2019ve jumped off of the sofa!\u201d<\/p>\nJF<\/strong>: I do Twitter. I don\u2019t do Insta. I\u2019m a reluctant social media person. But the reaction has just been extraordinary. It\u2019s so enthusiastic.<\/p>\nSA<\/strong>: Somebody said that the BBC News website the next day went: \u201cWar in Ukraine. Partygate. Janet Fielding and Sophie Aldred back in Doctor Who.\u201d It really was that huge. It took us all by surprise.<\/p>\n Janet Fielding as Tegan Jovanka, Jodie Whittaker as the Doctor, and Sophie Aldred as Ace in The Power of the Doctor.<\/span><\/figcaption> James Pardon\/BBC Studios<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n What about your former Doctor Who co-stars, Peter Davison and Sylvester McCoy? How did they react? <\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nSA<\/strong>: Sylvester was delighted \u2013 he was one of the first people to text me. He\u2019s an emoji king, so there were loads of little symbols and \u201cCongratulations, I can\u2019t wait to see it\u201d.<\/p>\nJF:<\/strong> I\u2019ve seen Peter, and I don\u2019t think gloating is a very attractive thing to do, but there are times when you just have to\u2026 We are great mates. But we do spend a lot of time trying to take the mickey out of each other.<\/p>\nHow has the production of the show changed since your time on it?<\/strong><\/p>\nJF:<\/strong> From my point of view, there was a lot more time<\/em> when I did Doctor Who. If you had filming and location work, you\u2019d do a read-through and then five days of filming, 10 days of rehearsal, two days of studio, 10 days of rehearsal, three days of studio \u2013 and that would be four 23-minutes. Now, you go in and you do it. So what you don\u2019t do is that whole process where you look if something works, and you discuss this, that, and the other.<\/p>\nSA:<\/strong> Apart from that rehearsal period, I was surprised at how similar it was, really. The other thing is the size of the equipment. The cameras are now tiny \u2013 although they\u2019re pretty heavy still.<\/p>\nThe trailer teases some action for Ace and Tegan in the new episode \u2013 what can we expect?<\/strong><\/p>\nSA:<\/strong> Chris [Chibnall] said, \u201cWhat do you want to do?\u201d And I said to him, \u201cWell, I never got to ride a motorbike, which is what I was cast originally for.\u201d They wanted somebody who looked a bit younger than they really were, and who could ride a motorbike.<\/p>\nBut that wouldn\u2019t cut it with health and safety these days. When I got the script, yeah, it\u2019s not the motorbike, but I wasn\u2019t disappointed \u2013 let\u2019s put it that way.<\/p>\n
JF:<\/strong> Yeah, that\u2019s all very exciting.<\/p>\n
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