Actor Sophie Aldred first played a Companion in 1987 to Sylvester McCoy’s Doctor. She was in her early twenties at the time, and is arguably best known for beating up a Dalek with a baseball bat and sporting a jacket covered in different patches (also making so many explosives). Aldred and her jacket also reprised their roles in 2022 with Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor.
Since that return to the world of Doctor Who, one fan, whose name is Shawn Levy, suggested making a book about Ace’s jacket. (Is this the same Shawn Levy who directed Deadpool & Wolverine and is currently working on a new Star Wars movie? Probably not! But WOW, if yes!) A book was born, and soon evolved into two volumes: Ace Jacket: The Inside Story, which was just released, and Ace Jacket: The Outside Story, which will soon be open to pre-orders.
The books include fictional takes from more than fifty people connected to the world of Doctor Who about how those patches ended up on Ace’s jacket.
“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?” Aldred told the BBC. “They’ve written little short stories or poems—we’ve had paintings, we’ve had cartoons, we’ve had all sorts.”
Ace Jacket: The Inside Story features a foreword by David Tennant, an afterword from former showrunner Chris Chibnall, and includes contributions from most of the surviving Doctors, including Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Peter Capaldi, and Jodie Whittaker.
Some book sale proceeds will go toward Autism All Stars and the National Autistic Society. “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,” said Aldred. “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 these charities.”
You can order Ace Jacket: The Inside Story here, where it will ship worldwide from the UK.
