Doctor Who: What Have Tegan and Ace Been Up to Since They Left the TARDIS?

In the first two volumes The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield, (the borderline alcoholic archaeologist who takes over from Ace in Love & War,and has a long and storied history of her own), we learn that somehow Ace does eventually end up at the Time Lord Academy, graduating and becoming an agent of the CIA (Celestial Intervention Agency).

She continues working with the CIA in Big Finish’s High Space Politics series, Gallifrey, in the stories “Intervention Earth” and “Enemy Lines,” alongside other TARDIS alumni, including Romana and Leela. Now we know what you’re thinking, and the answer is yes. Ace was there for the Last Great Time War, although her war ends when Irving Braxtiel (the Doctor’s brother, don’t ask) wipes her memory and returns her to Earth (Time Lords love doing that).

Now, let’s be honest. The odds are none of these spinoff stories are going to be mentioned in the next Doctor Who special. If the episode doesn’t directly contradict any of those stories (aside from the ones that contradict each other), it will be pretty astounding.

But as we’ve said, Tegan and Ace are far from the only companions who’ve enjoyed a life-after-TARDIS, with Sarah Jane being the most prominent. And once a door opens, it remains open, so by series four of The Sarah Jane Adventures, the show was also bringing back the likes of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and Jo Grant, as well as having the 10th and 11th Doctors pop their heads in occasionally to say hi.

In fact, when Jo Grant returned in the story “Death of the Doctor,” we also got an exciting glimpse of what happened to the Doctor’s other companions. Sarah Jane reveals she’s done some googling, turning up rumours that, among other things, Ian and Barbara Chesterton not only married, but never aged, while Ben and Polly are running an orphanage.

Tegan gets namedropped in this list, and has apparently become an activist for aboriginal rights in Australia. Meanwhile, a “Dorothy-something” has raised millions of pounds through her company “A Charitable Earth.” “Dorothy-something” is a clear nod to Dorothy McShane – Ace’s real name, although one that has never, to this day, been uttered on screen, despite being used in a wealth of spin-off media. A Charitable Earth is an acronym we’ll let you figure out yourself.