Ace

Dorothy Gale "Ace" McShane was a companion of the Seventh Doctor.

Initially a brash and reckless teenager, (TV: Dragonfire) Ace matured significantly into a strong, independent adult over her many years of TARDIS travel and other experiences, who was capable of surviving on her own. (TV: Survival, AUDIO: Signs and Wonders)

Dorothy Gale McShane was born on 20 August 1970 (PROSE: Timewyrm: Revelation, Falls the Shadow, Set Piece, Relative Dementias) to Audrey Dudman (TV: The Curse of Fenric) and Harry McShane. (AUDIO: The Rapture) She was named after the main character of The Wizard of Oz because her mother (AUDIO: The Settling) and maternal grandmother were fans of the film. Audrey claimed that Ace's grandmother found it took her away from all her miseries. (PROSE: Love and War)

Ace had a younger brother named Liam, who was born in 1974. However, she did not recall her brother's existence until later meeting him in Ibiza as he was taken by their father to live with him after her parents' separation. (AUDIO: The Rapture)

She was a member of the Church of England (AUDIO: Gods and Monsters) but was not very religious. (PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Witch Mark, AUDIO: Fiesta of the Damned)

In February 1971, she was visited as an infant by the Seventh Doctor, who apologised to her for his future manipulation of her at Gabriel Chase and in relation to Fenric. (PROSE: Ace of Hearts)

Ace was a Brownie, one of the lower tiers of Girl Guides. She was kicked out after she turned a summer camp's fairy marquee into a makeshift Molotov cocktail. (PROSE: Survival)

As a child, Ace holidayed in Spain on several occasions. (AUDIO: Fiesta of the Damned)

In the mid-1980s, while working in McDonald's, Ace briefly met the Fifth Doctor's companion Tegan Jovanka. (PROSE: The Crystal Bucephalus)

Naturally aggressive but also clever, Ace was skilled at using her knowledge of chemistry despite failing it for her O-levels, making bombs filled with an explosive of her own devising called Nitro-9. (TV: Dragonfire)

She suffered several traumatic events in her childhood in Perivale, London. These included a bad relationship with her mother and in 1983 the firebombing of her friend Manisha Purkayastha's flat by Neo-Nazis. Manisha died, prompting an angry Ace to set fire to Gabriel Chase, an abandoned mansion said to be haunted by an ancient evil. (TV: Ghost Light, PROSE: Blood Heat)

Ace was a troubled teen on Earth, setting off fire alarms at school to miss double French lessons (AUDIO: Revenge of the Swarm) and ultimately being expelled for blowing up the art room as a "creative statement." (TV: Battlefield) She studied The Tale of Beowulf, but only paid attention due to the fighting. (AUDIO: Black and White)

Ace was a fan of the pop singer Johnny Chess. She found a picture of him with his shirt-off which was published in Teen Beat to be very attractive. (AUDIO: Maker of Dreams) Chess was the son of the First Doctor's former companions Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright. (PROSE: Timewyrm: Revelation, Byzantium!)

Working in a fast food chain, Ace encountered the Ergon. Assuming it to be her friend Barry Groves wearing a chicken costume, she gave it a box of fries, which the Ergon took back to the anti-matter universe for his master Omega. Ace later recalled this encounter to the Doctor, who was privately amused but did not explain himself to her. (PROSE: Anti-Matter with Fries)

In 1987, at the age of 16, Ace and a friend named Julian Milton planned to run away together and packed supplies and clothes. (PROSE: Love and War) According to one source, Ace's father had a stroke while she was in Margate with Julian, and he died shortly after she returned. (PROSE: Lucifer Rising)

Later that year, while she was in her room experimenting with the extraction of nitroglycerin from gelignite, a time storm swept her up and transported her to the deck of Sabalom Glitz' spacecraft, the Nosferatu, which was docked at Iceworld in the far future. Trapped on Iceworld, she got a job as a waitress and formed a relationship with Glitz, (TV: Dragonfire) to whom she lost her virginity. (PROSE: Happy Endings)

Sometime later, whilst working for Anderson in Iceworld's ice cream parlour, she met the Seventh Doctor, whom she referred to as "Professor", and his companion Melanie Bush, whom Ace nicknamed "Doughnut".

Ace's career as a waitress ended when Stellar's mother complained to Ace about lumps in her milkshake, resulting in Ace pouring the drink over her head and Ace getting fired by Anderson.

When Mel left the Doctor at the conclusion of their battle with Kane, he offered to take Ace with him in the TARDIS, and she enthusiastically accepted. (TV: Dragonfire)