Doctor Who: Bitter vs sweet – Comparing two reunions for Ace and the Doctor

Earlier this year, two stories were told of the Doctor reuniting with their old companion Ace. How did Dark Universe and At Childhood’s End handle these stories?frome

Image Courtesy BBC Studios, BritBox

Dark Universe and At Childhood’s End. Two Doctor Who stories. Two Doctors. One companion. How does each story handle the reunion between the Doctor and Ace?

The expanded universe has given us many different stories with Ace. Across books, comics and audios, the former companion has had quite an interesting life. Particularly as many of these different sources have had some conflict over her fate. For example, there are different reasons as to why she eventually leaves the Doctor. In fact, in the comics, she had even been killed off!

We won’t be looking at all of Ace’s fates today – like I said, there are a lot of endings to her story. But we will be comparing two key stories, both released this year. In fact, they were released within a month of each other: the audio story Dark Universe featuring the Seventh Doctor, and the novel At Childhood’s End featuring the Thirteenth. Both adventures explore a key idea: what happens when the Doctor and Ace are suddenly reunited after years of not seeing each other?

Both of these stories take very different approaches to this concept. One reason is because of who’s focused on in each one. For example, At Childhood’s End is very much Ace’s story. We learn a great deal about what happened after she left the Doctor and where she is in life right now. It’s not surprising that the novel is so personal to the companion, as it’s written by Sophie Aldred herself.

In fact, for a good portion of the novel, the Thirteenth Doctor and her friends don’t feature at all. The story carefully builds up to their appearance, as we follow Ace and her investigations into what’s going on. So when she finally sees the Doctor again, the moment has as much impact for us as it does for her.

The Doctor’s story

By comparison, the focus on Dark Universe by Guy Adams is considerably broader. Ace has a key role, but we don’t learn quite as much about her personal life as we do in At Childhood’s End.

Instead, the story of Dark Universe is more focused on expanding on a key plot point from the Eighth Doctor audio series Doom Coalition. At the start of that series, we’re given a flashback scene of the Seventh Doctor seeing the imprisonment of Time Lord criminal the Eleven. We knew that the Doctor was responsible for capturing him. But what we didn’t know was how.

Dark Universe is essentially that story. If it’s anyone’s story, it’s the Doctor’s. Not that the story explores his character in as much depth as At Childhood’s End explored Ace. But then again, an air of mystery was usually a key part of Seven’s character, anyway. That, and not treating his companions well. Which brings me to my next point.

Trust issues

One element that really stands out about these stories is how each reunion is handled. At the start of both stories, it’s clear that Ace has developed a lot of trust issues when it comes to the Doctor, and understandably so. The Seventh Doctor would often focus on making huge grand schemes to fight great evil in the universe, no matter what the cost. And he was never above using his companions to achieve his goals.

When the Doctor sees Ace again in Dark Universe, it’s a deliberate choice. He wants to use her in his plan to imprison the Eleven. One more adventure together to fight evil, no matter what the cost.

At Childhood’s End takes a rather different approach. Neither Ace nor the Doctor planned on seeing each other. Their meeting is completely accidental. It’s also quite an emotional moment, too.

While Dark Universe highlighted the Doctor’s darker nature, At Childhood’s End showed how much she had changed.

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/BBC. Image courtesy: BBC Press.)

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Bitterness versus forgiveness

What this highlights is how different both Doctors are. Seven always like to plan as much as possible in advance, although he definitely has to do some improvisation along the way. Thirteen doesn’t obsess with the big plans. Like many other Doctors, she’s more reactive – she sees evil, she deals with it, usually trusting her friends to help her when she needs it.

Unsurprisingly, the reunions end in extremely different ways because of each Doctor’s character. In Dark Universe, Ace learns that her old friend hasn’t improved – in fact, he’s even worse than ever. Not only is he still obsessed with his grand plans, but he seems to care little about the collateral damage he’s caused as a result. It’s a very bitter ending to their friendship.

At Childhood’s End, on the other hand, is more hopeful. In this story, Ace gets to see that her friend has changed, at least. That the Doctor’s current incarnation isn’t the same grand schemer that she once was. That she cares more about the individual, and about the consequences of her actions. In the end, Ace learns to forgive her old friend.

Neither of these approaches is necessarily better than the other. One is certainly more personal to Ace, but in some ways, they’re best enjoyed together. Each story helps to highlight different elements of the other and provides an interesting contrast in how much both the Doctor and Doctor Who itself has changed over the years. Two very different stories with extremely different endings, but both equally enjoyable.

Which approach do you prefer? The darker reunion between Seven and Ace depicted in Dark Universe? Or the more personal approach described in At Childhood’s End? Let us know in the comments below.