Sophie Aldred

Sophie Aldred (born 20 August 1962) is an English actress and television presenter, best known for her portrayal of the Doctor's companion Ace in the television series Doctor Who during the late 1980s.

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, before enrolling as a drama student at University of Manchester. 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.

Career

In 1987, she was cast as Ace in Doctor Who, initially for "Dragonfire", the final story of the series' 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 guested in More than a Messiah, one of the Stranger original videos 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 such as Corners, Melvin and Maureen's Music-a-grams (which ran from 1992 to '96), Tiny and Crew (which she presented, 1995–99), the BBC series Words and Pictures (since 1992), and also CITV paranormal show It's a Mystery in 1996. She also played the character Minnie The Mini Magician from Series 8 onwards on CITV's ZZZap! between 1999 and 2001.