Ace is At Childhood’s End in Sophie Aldred’s Debut Doctor Who Novel

Sophie Aldred – who played Ace at the tail-end of the classic series – has penned her first Doctor Who novel. At Childhood’s End will be out in February and sees an older Ace come face to face with the Thirteenth Doctor.

Aldred played Ace from 1987’s Dragonfire all the way to the end of the series two years later. A teenage runaway at the start of her adventures, the character would be a mainstay of the Virgin New Adventures developing into a time travelling hero in her own right. Reuniting with Sylvester McCoy, who played the Seventh Doctor opposite her on television, the pair are prolific contributors to Big Finish audios.

Once, a girl called Ace travelled the universe with the Doctor – until, in the wake of a terrible tragedy they parted company. Decades later, she is known as Dorothy McShane, the reclusive millionaire philanthropist who heads global organisation A Charitable Earth.

And Dorothy is haunted by terrible nightmares, vivid dreams that begin just as scores of young runaways are vanishing from the dark alleyways of London. Could the disappearances be linked to sightings of sinister creatures lurking in the city shadows? Why has an alien satellite entered a secret orbit around the Moon?

Investigating the satellite with Ryan, Graham and Yaz, the Doctor is thrown together with Ace once more. Together they must unravel a malevolent plot that will cost thousands of lives. But can the Doctor atone for her past incarnation’s behaviour – and how much must Ace sacrifice to win victory not only for herself, but for the Earth?

At Childhood’s End – Synopsis

Doctor Who: At Childhood’s End is available to pre-order here.

While the ultimate fate of Ace has been the subject of speculation and contradiction, Aldred reprised the role onscreen in 2019. Now running a charity on Earth, an older Ace (real name Dorothy McShane) is contemplating her time with the Time Lord when a familiar noise rings out.

We’ll bring you a full review closer to the time, but let us know in the comments what you’re hoping to see when Ace meets the new Doctor.

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