Doctor Who star donates props to Museum of Classic Sci-Fi in Allendale

Owner of The Museum of Classic Sci-Fi, Neil Cole, was thrilled to receive a donation from actress Sophie Aldred who starred as Dorothy 'Ace' Gale in Dr Who.

Sophie's first appearance was with the seventh Dr Who, Sylvester McCoys in 1987, and has recently in "The Power of the Doctor" with Jodie Whittaker last year.

With the donation, the science-fiction history museum in Allendale, Hexham now boasts more than 300 original props, costumes, and production pieces in its 300-year-old stone cellar surroundings.

After Sophie donated the props, Neil claimed one item was his favourite piece of the wardrobe collection - Ace’s boots.

Neil said: "The boots are particularly distinctive and what is truly exciting about them is the number of stories that Sophie wore them in. 

"These little boots travel through Sophie’s journey as Ace appearing in stories such as ‘The Greatest Show in the Galaxy’ (1988), ‘Battlefield’, ‘Ghostlight’ and ‘Survival’ (1989). They are a small part of classic Doctor Who history!

"l feels very lucky to have got to know the actress following the filming of two Reeltime Pictures’ documentaries – ‘Lockdown: The Doctor Who Fans’ Survival Guide’ and ‘Doctor on Display Vol 1: The Museum of Classic Sci-Fi’.  

"Reeltime Pictures founder and owner Keith Barnfather saw the potential of the museum as an appropriate backdrop for the first of the DVD documentaries and asked long-time colleague Sophie to act as the presenter. 

"We all got along so well; it was decided very quickly to produce a second DVD about the museum itself. 

"I think Sophie really appreciated the historic nature of what I was trying to achieve with the museum and presented me with her surviving costume pieces – I was of course both flattered and so excited to be able to share the pieces with visitors to the museum."

The museum has also had its moment of fame as it featured on NETFLIX’s ‘Amazing Interiors’ in 2018 and will be on another show in the future.