Ace the NuSeries Companion Template

Our favourite blog Den of Geek did a feature on Ace this week, check out the article here:

http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/doctor-who/33496/doctor-who-how-ace-set-the-template-for-modern-companions

Sophie Aldred's Ace was a Doctor Who companion ahead of her time. We look back at the girl from Perivale's time in the TARDIS...

In 1987, Doctor Who broke the companion mould with Dorothy Gale McShane - better known of course as Ace - the streetwise, working class kid who blew up the school art room, and became the only cautioned arsonist to ever board the TARDIS.....

by louisamellor

Sophie's World

I promised it, and here it is, a quick write up about our visit to Orbital Comics to meet Sophie and Steve Cook for their "Sophie's World" event.

After a much haphazard morning, a speed repair of the car, we jetted off to Mill Hill Broadway train station to get the train to St Pancreas and then the underground to Leicester Square. [Thats our usual route, we don't like to take the train all the way from Bedford to London for some reason - I think its cheaper.]

I called the comic book shop to check what time everything finished, 3pm! EEK, we were already late! But we managed to get there, 3pm on the dot but after all that rushing around, Sophie and Steve were still lingering around till 4pm anyway! Result.

Sophie was sitting at her little autograph table in the "Orbital Gallery" a little cubby hole length of room. She was still signing away and fortunately, despite the customers, it was a very quiet affair - just the way we like it. A short welcome and reveal of The Wife's Ace jacket lit up Sophie's face, as did the Wife's - she was loving every second of Sophie adoring her jacket. And then there's the money shot:



Sophie even signed the inside of the jacket! :)

Here's a few snaps of Steve's photo gallery of Sophie, all prints were purchasable.








And here's yours truly with Sophie and Steve:

Collectormania 21 A bunch of Aces!

Monday morning after a full weekend of the Collectormania event in MK has come, phew! What a weekend! This year we attended both days, and our poor feet are suffering because of it!

We had a stupendous time at Collectormania this year, finally increasing that list of Classic Doctor Who actors we've met and autographed (them signing for us, not us signing them!) and also making new friends in the cosplay/costume props community. We even got to play with a replica of the TV Movie TARDIS console - what a stunning piece of work!

Here's The Wife in her costume, along side some familiar faces:



With McCoy:



With Maybe Mrs Jones:



Cosplayer friends, Cat Woman and the Penguin:



Friend, Sixth Doctor:



Friend, Third Doctor:



Aces up my sleeve! We had the pleasure of bumping into a male Ace, and a young Ace! Thats 3 Aces!



Superb day, with some superb people, looking forward to the next one!

Ace Action Figure Review

We attended the Sophie's World even, the wife and I, more about that in our next post. In the meantime, we've just discovered this little review video by Doctor Who Action Figure Review on Youtube, reviewing the new Ace McShane action figure - awesome!



Tidbit given to us from the mouth of Sophie Aldred herself, those "mysterious/unknown badge pictures" she kept promising to post on Facebook, well she took them - but they were sent off to the guys who made this awesome figure!

She promises to post them soon though - glad we reminded her! lol

It's been all quiet on the Western Front in Sophie's World

... it has unfortunately, been very quiet. For this blog especially.

Apologies to regular readers expecting new updates on our jacket/costume, the real life world has reared its ugly head and one doesn't quite get to spend as much time 'playing' anymore.

Anyway, those who do drop by will be pleased with this update, photographer Steven Cook has discovered reels of photos he took with actress Sophie Aldred and has created an event for their reveal.

Entitled "Sophie's World" Cook celebrates 50 years of Doctor Who by opening up a gallery of the photographs and also a signing with Sophie. This happens on 5 September 2013 at Orbital Gallery in London. You can find more details at the facebook event here.

Further to this Steven Cook has released an image that all us Ace-obsessives will recognise:

This picture taken at Crystal Palace park in June 1990 and commissioned by John Freeman (then editor of Doctor Who Magazine) is THE picture that you will find when googling for Ace and Sophie Aldred. The online one being a bad scan from DWM all those years ago, but Steven has kindly released it on Facebook for those of us to replace it in our digital collections - thanks Steven! Reproduced here (without permission) simply because its Sophie in her Ace costume :)

If you do attend the Sophie's World event then we'd love to hear from you, hell we might even see you there! If not, we hope to include a report about it here. And release some pics of our own of any Ace-related imagery that we see.

Well!

Wow it's a new year and lots of real life stuff keeps happening. Not much progress on the jacket.

Sophie still hasn't posted some revealing badge shots yet. Unless I missed it. Lets hope it's soon. Eagerly awaiting confirmation which my friend Kurt may well be happy knowing!

Also waiting to hear from my embroiderer from afar to discuss the Ace Roofing patch. AND the Mrs is eager to replicate the back ACE patch herself - all very exciting.

More next time I hope :)

Unknowns Soon to be Revealed

Sophie recently teased on Facebook that she will be taking close up pictures of her original screen used jacket's badges and patches, including the "Unknown" ones.

Lets hope our continuous investigations are correct!

Ace Back Patch

Fascinating things always arrive when you least expect and are found in the most bizarre ways.

A few good years ago, Ace-actress Sophie Aldred featured in ReelTime's pictorial interview videos. Sophie appears in the trailers for those videos, which can be seen before the feature of the Making of Shakedown, I have included it here for your reference:



As you can see from the first few seconds we see Sophie in (I presume) her Ace jacket and we get a nice clear shot of the back Ace patch.

I realise this patch isn't new to some people, as someone cleverly produced this digitally recently which has been very useful, plus the same artwork (or someone else's) appeared on the front of a Doctor Who Magazine, either way, this is an excellent short glimpse at the jacket post-TV show.

Roofing Patch - Part 1

Its that time again, for another long overdue update, but not quite as I intended...

You may remember in a post from last year about my attempts to produce a replica of the Ace Roofing Co. Lee patch that adorns the right hand side of the jacket. Well my favourite embroidery company in the Ukraine got back to me today after having the graphic I produced for a week and made this beauty:



Splendid! With no access to an original (I hope that changes one day) to decipher general shape (you wouldn't believe how difficult that is, even with the warmcanofcoke reproductions to work from) or size, I think this is rather spiffy.

I am currently waiting for this to arrive. For the cosplay readers of this blog who do intend to make the Ace jacket, I have asked the embroider if they are happy to produce more and if so, I could purchase a bunch to send to those interested.

In the meantime however I did produce a felt version that would have been a placeholder for an event we were due to attend, unfortunately complications arose so we couldn't in the end, but at least that gives us more time to get this sexy thing on the jacket before the next one.

More details about the poor reproduction in the next post...

Breakdown Update

Its been awhile since warmcanofcoke's breakdown graphic was updated, we've all come leaps and bounds since its arrival online and honestly, if it didn't exist, this blog wouldn't exist either, so thanks Nate mate!

My friend Kurt, whom is a fellow Ace badge adventurererer and discovererer has put a new graphic together, so here it is for your reference:



Right-click and Save as to see the full thing.

More updates soon, some may even be coming from Great Aldred herself, if her twitter account is to be believed!

Ace on Facebook!

No she isn't poking others with Nitro 9 but actress Sophie Aldred is breaking that audience/celebrity barrier with her very own official facebook page.

Click image below to go straight there and Like! her!!

Collectormania 18 (June 2012)

Very belated now, but back in June this year... and this post has been copied from my main blog here.

Collectormania 18, held again at the Milton Keynes Dons Stadium - very close to where I live! Which is always a bonus. I never like driving too far to an event that I will be cursing because its made me circle the stadium until my feet ache.

Unfortunately, this was exactly it. We spent roughly 6 hours there and must have lapped the stadium at least 15 times and clocked up just as many foot miles, lol.

This year was the first year that the Mrs and I stepped out in our glad rags, or cosplay costumes as most others call them. We attended (with uncostumed friend) as the Seventh Doctor Who and Ace, played on the telly by Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred respectively.

This really was the Mrs' costume first public appearance. It was a personal shame that it couldn't be 100% completed, but this kind of thing happens. But I did try and get it finished at the last minute the night before, ultimately failing, but nevermind.

Wife and I as Ace and 7 respectively, with our friend and fellow cosplayer George Chase on the far left there.



The wife was pleased however to bump into another Ace cosplayer, one which fortunately for her, had managed to complete her jacket. I was quite pleased to know that this Ace had used my blog as reference, which is good, thats why the blog is here!



We were attending this year to meet our favourite TV or Movie stars, as this is what these events are for. The wife has always wanted to meet Karen Gillan, aka, Amy Pond of the latest televisual series, opposite Matt Smith as Doctor Who.

Chuffed was her when Karen complimented her costume. Here's a quick snap of the moment:



Also at these events is the increasing awareness of cosplaying, hence our dress that day, but this fetish (to use this word loosely) is getting that common, that we are all finding that moment in the day to gather and take pictures as a group. This time came around 5pm, far past what I would have preferred but hey, we wanted to give it ago. You'll see below my miserable mug with others, below:





Thanks to Tori Clarkson for letting me use the images above.

Anyway, while the group shoot was interesting, it didn't interest the wife. And I have to agree with her. While we knew a few people, we felt that their personalities and outward-ness are exactly what cosplaying needs, but this isn't an attribute we possess. So this may have been the first and or last time that we will be seen amongst other cosplayers in this way in our costumes, which is a shame.

All in all the costume got some nice comments from both at the event and online afterwards, so I am quite happy with it. Unfortunately its now all boxed though, waiting for its next wear.

Anyway, the day was good, we bought a few bits and pieces, bumped into a few celebrities when they weren't behind their autograph desks (Jeff Rawle I'm looking at you!) and met some new and old friends.

Splendid day! Here's looking for the next one!

Updated Pages

With a quiet moment over this bank holiday, I have added additional info in the Pages About Sophie and Ace, check them out. Not *that* informative right now, but hopefully enough to get you all going and make the site seem more complete!

Next time... images of the wife in her almost-complete jacket at Collectormania 18 (2012)!

Unseen! Unknown! 25th Anniversary Braclet

Something a friend brought to my attention recently, in 1988 during the filming of "Silver Nemesis" Sophie Aldred and Sylvester McCoy filmed a short link that would be used in a season trailer, as seen below.



As you'll see from the beginning of the trailer, Ace pulls on her arm a "25" bracelet!! - another thing to get for the wife's costume!!

Ace on Twitter!

And don't forget, THE Sophie Aldred is also on Twitter!



Tweet nice things at her by tweeting @sophie_aldred

I might try and tweet her and see if we can get a cheeky little costume related interview, wishful thinking I know!

Doctor Who Magazine - ACE!

Yes, I'm sure the mag is great in general, but no, the latest issue #445 has Ace (aka Sophie Aldred) on the back! A few nice pictures inside, including one that revealed the Union Jack shield badge as mentioned a few posts previously.



Buy it at any good retailer - but be quick the next one is due soon!

New Badge, New Update Photo

With the arrival of a few minor badges, I thought it best to post another picture to show you all how its looking, and its looking rather splendid - even if its missing some major patches.

Here it is hanging today, with the new arrivals;



Fortunately, thanks to the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine we have identified the mysterious Union Jack shield badge on the right chest. Here is a quick mock up of the DWM image with the badge as was bought from eBay.



Having said that, a friend who owns one of the original screen-used Ace jackets confirmed that warmcanofcoke's original 'Carnaby Street' assumption is indeed correct still, both were used across the jackets. I assume when the stunt jackets were made they had to find something! and maybe the England ones were as close as possible.

Next major jacket update... the impossible patch vector artwork

Jacket Update - New Badges and a mock up

Here's a set of pictures taken last year, around November time, of the jacket as it more or less stands now.



We were due to visit an event (on possible one of the most hottest weekends of the year - unfortunately too hot to wear the jacket but we made some friends who noticed it) so I cobbled together a mock up of the "ACE" on the back, made of red, white and yellow felt. I had photoshopped its approximate size in relation to screengrabs and images from the programme, it doesn't look too bad in fact. Obviously not the correct material, the correct material was more like the makings of the jacket itself. I'll see what I can find.



After this we still had some nice weather so I took some time and did some photos in the garden with my other favourite prop right now, the Seventh Doctor's umbrella.

New Year and no post? Sheesh

Wow just as long long time no post, this is madness. Do people even visit this place anymore with the lack of updates? Sheesh. I should really change that.

Not a great deal has happened over the new year with the jacket to be honest, I say that, its looking ten times better than the previous update. I guess my facebook is updated more!

As per the previous post, lots of new additions have been added to the jacket. This includes;

Say No to Nuclear Power
The mysterious Football badge
United Stages flag
Watchmen

and a few others that I had mentioned over the past few posts. Next post I'll post pictures of the jacket with the new badges.

Long time no post!

Well it has been a long time hasn't it!

And what a better time to post again, since my last post (wow, was it really May?!) the jacket has come in leaps and bounds. Bounds mainly. No actually, things beginning with 'b'.

That's right!

Badges!

Lots of badges are slowly being identified after many long chats with new found co-cosplayer Kurt* whom has an eagle-eye and is a hot eBayer!

Without Kurt, many of the new badges identified (two of them, the mysterious badges mentioned previously) will not have been found! More about these when my copies arrive.

Its good to finally be talking to someone who not only knows what they are talking about, plus is making the thing themselves but especially given that they are more keen than I to trail through hundreds of pages of eBay searches! Haha.

Anyway, you may also have noticed that the website has had a redesign! Gone are my crude photoshopped graphics and welcomed a more stylised wallpaper that really sets this blog aside from the others. Though, its still black, but Ace wears black (mostly) so maybe I'm stuck with that...

Next Time... Badge updates

*Kurt has also crossed into my own field of fan audios, impersonating The Seventh Doctor Who in Darker Projects' "The Infinity Doctors" which also, ironically, features my own fan Doctor's companion actress, Tegan Harris, as Ace!]