Ace

A fighter, not a screamer; armed with Nitro-9 and a baseball bat.

Ace, played by Sophie Aldred, is a fictional character from Doctor Who originating from Perivale, a London suburb. A streetwise teenager from the late 1980s, she became the final companion of the original classic series run, appearing in ten stories (32 episodes) between 1987 and 1989. Script editor Andrew Cartmel designed her specifically to be a "fighter and not a screamer," distinguishing her from previous companions. While the television series reveals her real name is Dorothy, her family surname remains unconfirmed on screen, though spin-off media has referenced variations including McShane and Gale. She returned in 2022 for The Power of the Doctor, reuniting with the Thirteenth Doctor after a long-standing "fallout".

Quick Facts

Series: Doctor Who
First: Dragonfire (1987)
Last: Tales of the TARDIS (2023)
Portrayed by: Sophie Aldred
Creator: John Nathan-Turner; Andrew Cartmel
Species: Human
Gender: Female
Full name: Dorothy

Lore & Background

Ace first appeared in the 1987 serial Dragonfire as a waitress on Iceworld, having been swept there from her bedroom by a time-storm while experimenting with nitroglycerin. Her backstory includes being expelled for blowing up an art room as a "creative statement" and surviving the racially motivated firebombing of her friend Manisha's flat at age 13. Traumatized by these events, she adopted a tough exterior, using Nitro-9 explosives and a baseball bat to mask her insecurities.

Her journey involved confronting ghosts from her past in Ghost Light and The Curse of Fenric, where it was revealed she was unknowingly a "Wolf of Fenric," part of a genetic scheme to evolve humans into Haemovores. Although the series ended with her choosing to leave again after being returned to Perivale, spin-off novels depict her leaving the TARDIS due to the Doctor's manipulations, joining Spacefleet, and eventually becoming Time's Vigilante.

Reader's Guide

Ace is defined by her evolution from a troubled teen to a confident leader. Her signature weapons are Nitro-9 explosives (which she invented) and a baseball bat, tools often disapproved of by the Seventh Doctor yet found useful in crises. She affectionately calls the Doctor "Professor" and fiercely protects him, though their relationship is complicated by his tendency to manipulate events for what he believes are good reasons. In spin-off media, such as the Virgin New Adventures, her character deepens significantly: she leaves the TARDIS after the Doctor sacrifices her lover Jan, fights Daleks in Spacefleet for three years, and eventually returns older and harder. The story Blood Heat reveals that Manisha died in the firebombing, a fact Ace only learns later. Her narrative arc is one of facing trauma directly rather than running from it.

Did You Know?

The character was inspired by a female space engineer from the comic book Love and Rockets.
In 2022's The Power of the Doctor, Ace worked as a UNIT freelancer alongside former companion Tegan Jovanka.
Ace runs a charity called "A Charitable Earth" in the universe, a fact revealed by Sarah Jane Smith.