The Doctor Who Centenary Special blasts onto our screen on Sunday, October 23 with Jodie Whittaker facing her final battle as the Doctor before regenerating into David Tennant… or possibly Ncuti Gatwa... or possibly someone else entirely!
With the next era of Doctor Who — under the stewardship of returning showrunner Russell T Davies — shrouded in mystery, what happens next is anyone's guess.
But what we do know is that Jodie’s finale will be an action-packed movie-length special, featuring the return of alien foes the Daleks and the Cybermen, as well as The Doc's archenemy, The Master, played once again with maniacal relish by Sacha Dhawan.
With the special a centerpiece of the BBC’s centenary celebrations, there are a couple of bonus blasts from the show’s 59-year past in the episode. Chief among them is the return of two companions from the ‘classic’ 1963-1989 run of the series, one-time teen tearaway Ace, and gobby Aussie Tegan.
But who are these 1980s companions and what will they be getting up to in the 2022 Doctor Who Centenary Special?
Who is Ace in Doctor Who?
Who is she?
The last of the classic series companions, Ace is a feisty teenager from Perivale West London, who traveled with the seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy). Her real name is Dorothy, but a troubled relationship with her mum led her to coin the new name for herself. She had an unhealthy interest in explosives, which soon got her into trouble…
How did she meet the Doctor?
Despite being born and bred in London, Ace first encountered the Doctor on Iceworld, an intergalactic trading post (and also a freezer center — think a sparkly branch of Iceland in outer space) during the 1987 story Dragonfire. Ace arrived there after an unsupervised chemistry experiment led to a time storm, transporting Ace from the school lab right across the galaxy (although unbeknown to her, this was all manipulated by Fenric, one of the Doctor’s most powerful enemies, but that's another story!).
Once on Iceworld, she got herself a job as a waitress, but a short temper soon got her the sack.
What adventures did Ace have?
After their initial meeting on Iceworld, fighting a gang of frozen zombies to locate treasure hidden in a cyborg dragon, the Doctor and Ace sped off to new adventures. Ace fought the Daleks, Cybermen, killer robot clowns, Cheeta people and even confronted her own tortured past as she met her own mum as a baby and visited a spooky house that she once burnt down as a youngster.
What was Ace famous for?
Ace loved explosives — her cans of ‘Nitro 9’ blasted Ace out of more than one sticky situation. She nicknamed the Doctor ‘Professor’, wore a black bomber jacket adorned with pin badges and even had her own (BBC friendly) swearwords such as “bilge-bag”.
Why did she leave the Doctor?
Ace and the Doc walked off into the sunset in the show’s final classic adventure, Survival, in 1989 after two series together. By the time the show returned in 1996 for a once-off special with Paul McGann, Ace was long gone.
What’s happened to her since?
With Ace’s fate left open-ended, various versions of what happened next were offered in spin-off books, comic strips and audio dramas. Everything from enrolling in the Time Lord academy on the Doctor’s home planet to going out in a blaze of glory with a hero’s death.
However, a mention in Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures established that Ace ended up running a charity back on Earth. Meanwhile a specially-filmed short advert for the Blu-ray release of the 1989 series of Doctor Who featured Sophie back in the role of Ace, and confirmed the character ran an organization called A Charitable Earth (A…C…E — get it?).
What will Ace be up to in The Power of the Doctor?
Well, she may be older, but it seemed Ace hasn’t mellowed. Clips in the trailer see dropping to the ground in a parachute as well as blasting a squadron of Cybermen. “It’s bonkers!” Sophie told Doctor Who Magazine of the special.
Meanwhile, we’ll also see the return of Ace’s jacket, which Sophie herself has kept safe for three decades. But that may be the only reunion. On her first adventures with the Doc, Ace encountered the Daleks and The Master. She famously smashed a Dalek up with a super-charged baseball bat and one teaser picture for the new episode sees her carrying a bat in her backpack. Is she about to go in for round two?
Who plays Ace and what else has she been in?
Actress Sophie Aldred from plucked from the chorus of musical Fiddler on the Roof in 1987 to star in Doctor Who, her arrival on set being the first time she’d been in a TV studio.
As well as acting, Sophie later became well known as a presenter on kids’ shows including Melvin and Maureen's Music-a-grams and Corners. Other screen roles included EastEnders — where her character tried to lure Sam Mitchell into a threesome! — but recent years have seen her specialize in voiceover work, including kids' cartoons Dennis & Gnasher and Bob the Builder as well as dozens of audiobooks, dramas and voiceovers for TV series.
Who is Tegan in Doctor Who?
Who is she?
Tegan Jovanka is a feisty Australian air hostess who stumbled across the fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) just before he transformed into the fifth (Peter Davison).
How did she meet the Doctor?
The 1981 story Logopolis opened with Tegan on her way to Heathrow Airport with her aunt Vanessa for her first day as an air hostess. When Vanessa’s car broke down, Tegan looked for help in a nearby police box. Big mistake.
Soon, Vanessa was dead — shrunk to the size of a doll by The Master — and Tegan was transported off to witness the universe disintegrating before the curly-haired Doctor saved the day. Sadly, he then turned into a fair-haired younger chap. Bad first day at work or what?
What adventures did Tegan have?
Her first crop of stories were all spent with the Doc trying to get Tegan back to Heathrow to start her job — and always ending up somewhere else in space in time. She found herself possessed by an evil entity called The Mara, fought the Cybermen and when she did get back to Heathrow, ended up time traveling on a kidnapped Concorde! Later, Tegan decided to keep traveling with the Doctor, and even met some of his other regenerations in 20th-anniversary multi-doctor story The Five Doctors.
What was Tegan famous for?
Tegan tended to speak before her brain engaged, often giving the Doctor an earful for his actions. Even Tegan once described herself as a “mouth on legs”. Her favourite swear word was the endearing “rabbits!”. Her costumes were a highlight. She spent her first batch of adventures in her lilac air hostess uniform (which must have smelled a bit after all that running up and down corridors) and later sported some of the worst 80s fashions you can imagine.
Why did she leave the Doctor?
Adventure after adventure can take their toll on a person, but it was the doctor’s biggest enemies — the dreaded Daleks — that finally saw her off. Resurrection of the Daleks in 1983 ended with everyone she’d met lying dead on the ground. Tegan realized she had had enough, and after a hurried goodbye, she headed off.
What’s happened to her since?
Viewers didn’t have to wait long to see Tegan again. Two adventures later she appeared along alongside other companions in a vision as the Doctor was regenerating into his sixth persona (Colin Baker). Since then, little is known about Tegan, although she too got a mention in The Sarah Adventures, which revealed she had become a campaigner for Aboriginal rights.
What will she be up to in The Power of the Doctor?
Tegan’s going to be back in the thick of the action. Actress Janet Fielding revealed to Doctor Who Magazine she initially thought she was only coming back for a small role. “It was a much bigger part than I’d been anticipating,” she said. “I was like OK… I haven’t acted in front of a camera in 35 years!” Janet also teased that she’ll be, “Running up and down corridors endlessly dodging Cybermen.”
Meanwhile, could we see an old grudge finally being settled? After all, The Master did kill her beloved Aunt Vanessa…
Who played Tegan and what else has she been in?
For actress Janet Fielding, Doctor Who was her big major role. Afterward, she went on to parts in series such as Minder and kids’ footie drama Murphy’s Mob. But partly because she felt she was typecast after Doctor Who, Janet moved careers, becoming a successful actors’ agent. She was tempted back into acting by reprising her role as Tegan in a series of Doctor Who audiobooks then made a return in an online trailer for the Blu-ray release of the 1982 series of Doctor Who, revisiting Tegan's air hostess persona.
Ace and Tegan will appear in The Power of the Doctor, which screens on Sunday, October 23 at 7.30pm on BBC One.
