Doctor Who: 10 "Loose End" Characters We Want Tied Up

7. Ace (aka Dorothy McShane)

Why?She's the prototype for Rose, and her story never got an ending.Why Not? Oh wait, now it kinda did. Doctor Who ceased airing in 1989 and something unique happened - There really wasn't a grand finale or plan to its wrap up - So the Doctor and his then-companion - the brash, pyrotechnic Ace - walked off to the TARDIS as a voice-over confirmed there was "work to do." McCoy showed up as the seventh Doctor sans Ace in the TV movie. Spin-off media had its way with the poor girl in ways that make some fan-fiction seem conservative - Some had her have some (pretty mature) sexual relationships, others saw her leave and grow up. Some had her as some kind of intergalactic adventurer, and others just had her stay with the Doctor and, er, keep on bombin'. She had SEVERAL endings drawn out for her, none of which seemed like something the TV series may have done. (The TV series' intention - that she join the Time Lords, and wear a bunch of 80's pins and buttons on her robes - is perhaps a bullet we dodged for the best.) So.....what happened? She's one of the few companions that never got a definitive end. And she really deserved it - Rose' development and character owes a LOT to Ace. Ace was one of the first companions who regularly TALKED about her family, hang-ups - her life. And the Doctor took a pretty firm interest in it too. He clearly was grooming her for something bigger, or just let her have the opportunity to become much more than she'd ever been. Sound familiar? The thing is.... at this stage we'd be catching up with Ace after the event. (And, not to put too fine a point on it, but Sophie Aldred was about 30 years old playing a 17-18 year old - The character who should be in her thirties has an actress in her fifties as her originator.) The best Ace stories may have been with the 7th Doctor after we last saw her. And unlike Susan, recasting would be trickier. Russell T Davies implied in "The Death of the Doctor" that Ace was now running an organization called "A Charitable Earth" (A.C.E - Get it!??!). So all the spin-off and fan media that put her in latex with lasergun sidearms suddenly seemed invalidated....

Ace deserved way more than she got. It'd be great to catch up with her. But the best stories she may have had might only be something that could be related in passing in the current show - Still, it's better than just hearing she's behind a desk adminstrating now... Used to be, when Ace got behind something it was to trigger a detonator. More of that, please, or at least what became of that girl'd be great. Likelihood we'll see her again:2/10