Ace actress Sophie Aldred spoke to the BBC at the Discover Bucks Museum in Aylesbury, where her Doctor Who co-star Dalek model is on display.
The actress, who lives in nearby Hertfordshire, has written two books about her character Ace’s jacket, with contributions from Doctor Who stars including David Tennant, Jodie Whittaker and Peter Capaldi.
In 1987, Aldred played Ace, who was a troubled but clever teen who became a companion of the Seventh Doctor played by Sylvester McCoy.
Aldred suggested the jacket to the show’s costume designer after seeing teenagers wearing similar jackets in clubs. The 50 badges are a mix of Aldred’s own keepsakes and additions from the costume team including her Blue Peter badges, her old lacrosse captain’s badge, and a Thunderbirds badge. Aldred wrote a university dissertation on Thunderbirds creator Gerry Anderson.
“I’ve got a Charlton Athletic badge there which is my team, however Ace came from Perivale in west London [so] she would have likely supported QPR or something like that,” Aldred explained.
The jacket was worn in the Doctor Who story Remembrance of the Daleks, where Ace famously beat a Dalek with a baseball bat before escaping out a window.
Posing with one of the Daleks used in that story, Aldred said: “It’s not aged terribly well, has it? Back in the day we didn’t have HD so we actually could get away with slightly battered Daleks with paint splashes and brush marks and things like that.”
In 2022, she reprised her role as Ace, once again swinging a baseball bat at a Dalek alongside Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor in The Power of the Doctor.
“I said to Chris Chibnall, who was the producer: ‘I’ve got the jacket, do you want me to bring it?’ and he said ‘Yes!’,” Aldred recalled. “Young people who didn’t know anything about Ace saw me in that as an older woman and they also loved the character of Ace. There’s something about Ace that I think appeals to people because she’s very realistic and she’s very authentic.”
The idea to write a book about Ace’s jacket came from Doctor Who fan Shawn Levy.
Split into two parts, the first instalment, Ace Jacket: The Inside Story, includes fictional tales about how each badge ended up on Ace’s coat. The second instalment, titled Ace Jacket: The Outside Story, takes fans behind the seams for the definitive origin story of the jacket’s design evolution.
“I went off to various Doctor Who alumni like David Tennant, Chris Chibnall… I said to them, could you write a story about one of the badges that takes your interest? I got in touch with a lot of the people I know, I collared people at parties and conventions. They’ve written little short stories or poems – we’ve had paintings, we’ve had cartoons, we’ve had all sorts.”
More than 50 people have from across the 63-year history of Doctor Who, including guest star Hugh Bonneville and writer Steven Moffat, have contributed to the two books.
Money raised from the books will go towards charities Autism All Stars and the National Autistic Society.
“It felt like something really great to do for charity as well,” She explained. “We wanted to choose charities which had some kind of association with Doctor Who and there’s a lot of Doctor Who fans who do have autism. I’ve met so many of them. They’re such incredible, amazing people. I just really felt that it would be good to raise some awareness and some money as well for for these charities.”
“It’s extraordinary. She’s such an amazing character and I’ve absolutely loved every minute of it,” Aldred said, still wearing the same jacket and standing in front of her Dalek co-star.
Both instalments, Ace Jacket: The Inside Story and Ace Jacket: The Outside Story, can be ordered at AUK Direct.