The Seventh Doctor
The Best Companion: Ace (aka Dorothy Gale McShane) Finally a companion that made an impression. Ace had attitude, eagerness and a whole crate of Nitro-9! Admittedly she did come across as immature in a number of scenarios-his first story
Dragonfire and I always got the sense that she was supposed to be younger then she looked. But she was also the proto-Rosethe first Companion to have a whole arc centred around her. Sophie Aldreds Ace had great chemistry with Sylvester McCoys Seventh Doctor, making him an instantly better character as a result, I loved her lovingly reference to the Doctor as Professor and his fondness of her in return. He seemed genuinely invested in her developmentthough there was a fair amount of manipulation to get her there. The trip to her past in
Ghostlight, the meeting with her mother in
Curse of Fenric and return to her home Perivale in
Survival was a trio of adventures that forced Ace to confront her fear and mature. Ace had many memorable moments, going crazy with a powered up baseball bat to take out a Dalek in
Remembrance Of The Daleks is always fun to watch. But its her moments in
Curse of Fenric that allowed Sophie Aldred to show a softer side to her character. The rumour was that Ace would move on in the following series to train as a Timelady on Gallifrey sounds like an amazing development for her character. But for now, well never know what happened to her between
Survival and the
TV Movie. Along with Romana II, Ace is the other companion I would most love to return the world of Doctor Who.
The Runner Up: Mel?
Her again? Eryep, she can scream alright (To be honest Ive only watched
Dragonfire from Sylvester McCoys first seriesand she was in thatsothats something).