Class (TV series)

Class
Publisher:	BBC Three
Type:	TV series
Release date:	22 October 2016
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Class is an eight-episode spin-off series of Doctor Who, co-produced by BBC Wales and BBC America for digital television station BBC Three and BBC America. This new programme, and its first series, was announced on 1 October 2015. Unlike the parent show and more in line with Torchwood before it (which also debuted on BBC3), Class is aimed specifically at a young adult audience and contains sexual content, violence and language above the level allowed on the parent series. Class is the first BBC-produced Doctor Who spin-off series since The Sarah Jane Adventures ended in 2011.

Created by Patrick Ness, who, by his own account, is writing all 8 episodes of the first series, this new programme takes place in Coal Hill School, which first appeared in Doctor Who's very first episode as the school Susan attended in 1963. The school was also a recurring location during series 8 and series 9, as the school where Clara Oswald and Danny Pink both worked as teachers and the Twelfth Doctor briefly worked as a caretaker whilst under "deep cover".

Class was first released on BBC Three's streaming service on 22 October 2016, with a BBC One broadcast following in January 2017. In Canada, the spin-off airs on the Space channel. Australia airs it on ABC2.

Class is in many aspects similar to its sister spin-off series Torchwood as well as series 5 of its mother series Doctor Who, in which "the boundaries of space-time have been stretched to breaking point, allowing all manner of creatures through." However, Ness pointed out that "We're not telling stories of the 'chosen ones'." and that "It's happenstance that puts these people [at the centre of things]. What if your timing is just weird and things happen to you? How do you deal with it? I'm interested in real consequences. The Doctor is always exciting, but he never [stays]. He goes off on the next adventure. What happens to real people?"

Synopsis

What if your planet was massacred and you and your worst enemy were the sole survivors? What if a legendary figure out of space and time found you a place to hide? But what if the things that want to kill you have tracked you down? And worst of all, what if you haven't studied for your A-levels...? Because Coal Hill School has been a part of Doctor Who since the beginning. But that's come at a price... Like all sixth formers, our heroes navigate a life of friends, parents, school, sex, sorrow – and possibly the end of existence. Something waits for us there, just on the other side of sight, for its chance to kill everything, to bring us all into Shadow...

Cast

Main cast

• Charlie Smith - Greg Austin
• April MacLean - Sophie Hopkins
• Ram Singh - Fady Elsayed
• Tanya Adeola - Vivian Oparah
• Matteusz Andrzejewski - Jordan Renzo
• Miss Quill - Katherine Kelly

Secondary cast

• Corakinus - Paul Marc Davies
• The Twelfth Doctor - Peter Capaldi
• Vivian Adeola - Natasha Gordon
• Varun Singh - Aaron Neil
• Jackie MacLean - Shannon Murray
• Dorothea Ames - Pooky Quesnel
• Chair of the Governors - Cyril Nri

On 13 June 2016, a bit earlier than scheduled, Ness revealed the lead would be a gay character who has a boyfriend, whom he kisses, sleeps with and loves. Ness told that given the recent Orlando shootings, riots caused by homophobia, over the weekend, it seemed less important to keep that a secret.

Television stories

Series 1 - 2016

Main article: Series 1 (Class)

Genesis

In an interview for Doctor Who Magazine #502, Steven Moffat told: "My boys are both teenagers, of course, so I'm quite excited to see what they'll make of Class, which has a lot of great stuff for that age group. Well, for every age group, but thanks to Patrick Ness, it captures that teenage world with great poignancy and wit."

Patrick Ness revealed to Radio Times, on 29 July 2016, that the idea for Class started up with the rejection of a Doctor Who episode; "At first they asked me to write an episode of Doctor Who, and I said it's a brilliant show, but I've just spent so much time doing work for other people, and I really want to do something of my own. And they said, well we have this idea for setting a spin-off in a school. And it was like, 'ding'! It's been fantastic, I've got six weeks of filming to go. The cast are great, and it's been a fantastic experience. I can't wait for you to see it. Fingers crossed! It's going well."

Rumours

On Twitter, Ness jokingly confirmed that Class would feature the return of Quatermass, an all-nude episode, OMD, Toyah, a dream episode, and otters.

It was rumoured that the 2016 Doctor Who Christmas special would be a Class crossover, but this rumour turned out to be false.

Future of the series

On 4 June 2017, Patrick Ness announced that the future of the series was uncertain, and that even if it were to be renewed he would not be taking part.

On 7 September 2017, Radio Times spoke to BBC3 controller Damian Kavanagh about a future return of Class, in which Kavanagh said: "No, no. There was nothing wrong with it," he added. "I thought Patrick [Ness] did a great job, he explored an amazing world. In honesty it didn’t really land for us on BBC3; some shows don’t and I have to make decisions about what we’re going to do from a drama point of view, and what we did after Class was Clique which worked really well for us."

Novels

Three books set during series 1 were released on 27 October 2016:

• Joyride by Guy Adams
• The Stone House by A.K. Benedict
• What She Does Next Will Astound You by James Goss