{"id":24358,"date":"2022-10-23T21:35:36","date_gmt":"2022-10-23T19:35:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1726020"},"modified":"2022-10-23T22:00:10","modified_gmt":"2022-10-23T20:00:10","slug":"doctor-who-finally-reveals-what-happened-to-ace-after-33-years","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/doctor-who-finally-reveals-what-happened-to-ace-after-33-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctor Who finally reveals what happened to Ace after 33 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Morgan Jeffery\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Sunday, 23 October 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

Amidst multiple regenerations, a flurry of returning friends and foes and many, many plot twists, Doctor Who<\/a>\u2018s centenary special found the time to resolve one of the show\u2019s greatest mysteries.<\/p>\n

The question of what happened to the Seventh Doctor\u2019s companion Ace (Sophie Aldred) has never been answered \u2013 and yet conversely has been resolved many, many times, and in different ways. Allow us to explain\u2026<\/p>\n

Joining the BBC sci-fi series in 1987, the character of Ace \u2013 real name Dorothy \u2013 was still at the Doctor\u2019s side when Doctor Who was cancelled in 1989 \u2013 but when the show was revived for a TV movie in 1996, she was nowhere to be seen, with the Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) travelling in the TARDIS alone.<\/p>\n

With no on-screen explanation provided for Ace\u2019s fate, it lay to spin-off media \u2013 novels, comic strips and audio dramas \u2013 to explain away her departure from the TARDIS. Variously, she\u2019s been killed off, taken up residence on the Time Lords\u2019 home planet of Gallifrey and returned to Earth to start up a charitable foundation.<\/p>\n

The only clue to Ace\u2019s whereabouts on television, though, came in a 2010 episode of Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures<\/a>, which suggested she was running a non-profit business called A Charitable Earth (A.C.E. \u2013 geddit?) to help underprivileged children.<\/p>

The Power of the Doctor, though, finally has Sophie Aldred reprise the role of Ace on TV \u2013 and provides a concrete(-ish) explanation for why she and the Doctor parted ways and hadn\u2019t spoken for three decades.<\/p>\n

Though the episode is light on detail as to exactly what Ace has been up to since leaving the Doctor, her sharp business suit attire in the episode\u2019s early scenes could certainly imply that she\u2019s now a CEO \u2013 though it\u2019s not long before she\u2019s donning her familiar bomber jacket<\/a> and taking a baseball bat to some Daleks like the Ace of old\u2026<\/p>\n

The special also hints at a falling out between the Doctor and Ace which ultimately saw them end their travels together \u2013 though the exact nature of the argument isn\u2019t detailed, it\u2019s easy to imagine the sort of thing that might\u2019ve sparked tension between the pair, with Ace frequently calling the Doctor out for his secretive and manipulative ways during her 1980s TV era.<\/p>\n

\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Ace and the Seventh Doctor in Doctor Who.<\/span><\/figcaption> BBC<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Infiltrating an underground Dalek mine to put a stop to the monsters\u2019 plans to disrupt the Earth\u2019s tectonic plates, Ace encounters a hologram of the Doctor \u2013 generated by the TARDIS to help the Time Lord\u2019s friends in an emergency situation.<\/p>\n

As she converses with the hologram, Ace is surprised to see the interface switch from the Thirteenth to her more familiar Seventh Doctor, with Sylvester McCoy reprising his role for a touching on-screen reunion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was only ever trying to teach you good habits, Ace,\u201d laments the Doctor. \u201cObviously I failed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou never failed me, Professor,\u201d she replied. \u201cYou made me the person I am today. I\u2019m sorry we fell out. I\u2019m sorry I judged you. I didn\u2019t understand the burden you carried.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAll children leave home sooner or later,\u201d says the Doctor. \u201cThe joy is to watch them fly.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With the pair having reconciled, Ace asks the Doctor if they\u2019re now \u201cgood\u201d. \u201cOh, we\u2019re more than good,\u201d he tells her. \u201cWe\u2019re ace!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Aldred, who returned to Doctor Who alongside fellow 1980s companion Janet Fielding (playing Tegan Jovanka), previously told Radio Times<\/strong> that she \u201cburst into tears\u201d when she got the call asking her to reprise her role<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t conscious of it, but it\u2019s the call I\u2019ve always been hoping for, you know?\u201d she said. \u201cThere 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more about Doctor Who:<\/strong><\/p>\n