Sophie Aldred

Sophie Aldred is an English actress and television presenter, best known for her portrayal of Ace alongside Seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy.

Aldred was born in Greenwich, London, but grew up in nearby Blackheath. She 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.

In 1987, she was cast as Ace in Doctor Who. Her tenure on the show spanned the last nine stories of the programme's original run, which ended in 1989.

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, long-running BBC series Words and Pictures 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. 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 charity special Dimensions in Time and the Doctor Who audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions. Throughout the 2000s she has worked extensively as a voice-over artist for television advertisements, and has also provided voices for animated series such as Bob the Builder and Dennis & Gnasher.

Sophie Aldred married Vince Henderson on 12 July 1997. They have two sons, Adam and William.