My introduction to Doctor Who was 1988’s Remembrance of the Daleks. For a while there, the only version of Doctor Who I knew was all about The Professor and Ace. And to this day, it remains my favourite period of the show. I’ve been lucky enough to meet several of the core creatives of the era, and one such talent is the phenomenal Sophie Aldred, who played Ace.
In the summer of 2025, Aldred released Ace Jacket: The Inside Story. This A4 hardback deluxe book includes 250+ pages of original short stories, behind the scenes insights, memories and fan opinion on Ace, the Seventh Doctor, and that iconic battle jacket.
Featuring a foreword by David Tennant, an afterword from Chris Chibnall, and with contributions from Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Peter Capaldi and Jodie Whittaker amongst many, many others. Companions, past showrunners, writers, producers, villains, and monster makers all got together to pay tribute to an icon of the show’s history.
To my enormous surprise, Sophie personally asked to include my bright ‘Happiness Patrol’ pink, Ace-inspired punk rock battle jacket in the book, as well as a note about why I wear it and what the character means to me. I won’t spoil my contribution here – you’ll have to buy the book to find out what I said! But I will forever be honored this glorious human being invited me to be involved in her book. As Ace herself might say… it’s wicked!
