Sophie Aldred, who played ’80s companion Ace in Doctor Who, stars alongside Carol Cleveland (Monty Python), Tom Price (Torchwood) and Chase Masterson (Star Trek: Deep Space 9) in new sci-fi comedy, The Search for Simon.

CultBox caught up with Sophie for a chat about The Search for Simon, Doctor Who, The Sarah Jane Adventures and more…

 

When you were working at the BBC, it seemed to be a time of great change, both in the way programmes were made and in challenging the culture of what was acceptable. How much of that were you aware of at the time – of an institution that was trying to turn itself around?

“Yeah, I think that was on the cards. Certainly Producer Choice had just come in, and everybody was having a good old moan about this and that and the other. I look back now and I just consider myself so fortunate that I was working there when the BBC was the BBC and all the different departments were working together.

“If a costume didn’t work, you could just nip upstairs and get a new one… And the most amazingly skilled people behind the cameras with the most incredible training. So yeah, I do look back on it with great fondness and I was gutted when TV Centre closed down because it was just such an amazing place to work.”

 

 

I wondered if you could reflect on what your friendship with Sylvester McCoy has meant in your life…

“Oh my goodness. Well, he will always be somebody incredibly special in my life. We share the same birthday and we often celebrate it together, even now. I don’t know, I think we just really get each other, and whenever we’re together, we just enjoy each other’s company. He taught me so much about working. He taught me to really question what was going on around me, both in terms of acting and TV, and also in terms of the world.

“He’s very politically-minded. He’s deliberately doing a play up in Glasgow at the moment because he wanted to be in Scotland when the Referendum was taking place. He’s constantly questioning the world, a bit like a curious child. He’s constantly finding out about stuff and that’s really rubbed off on me, I think.”

 

Lastly, if you could say why people should go out and pick up The Search for Simon DVD, what would the sales pitch be?

“First and foremost, it’s a really cracking story. It’s a moving story which you won’t expect. You’ll be surprised by some of the people who pop up in it. You’ll be surprised by the quality of it considering it is made on such a tiny budget. And above all, it will be just a really good rip-roaring watch. It’s beautifully acted and pretty well produced for the budget.”

 

> Buy The Search for Simon on DVD on Amazon.

Watch the trailer…