Until last week, we knew next to nothing about the BBC Three’s upcoming Doctor Who spin-off series Class, other than the cast and the general premise; the show is set at Coal Hill School and centering on a group of students fighting alien evil. Then we found out character names, episode titles, a premiere date (October 22 in the UK, Spring of 2017 in North America), and that Peter Capaldi will guest star in the first episode. Now, creator-writer Patrick Ness discusses what we can expect from the series in a new video interview (above).
Ness was approached to write an episode of Doctor Who (he doesn’t say, but I’m guessing it was for either series eight or nine, given how many established novelists and fiction authors were brought in for them) and was all for it, but was later told about the prospect of writing this new show in the universe. Being a writer of young adult fiction, Ness jumped at the chance to craft a story using the tenets of Doctor Who but from a different angle. He promises it will be funny, scary, sexy, and “for everyone” despite the young adult tag.
This bodes extremely well, as far as I’m concerned. Of the two modern spin-offs of Doctor Who so far, the one aimed at younger children, The Sarah Jane Adventures, worked far better than the one aimed at the post-watershed crowd, Torchwood. The universe just works better from a younger person perspective, even if the Doctor himself is thousands of years old. The notion of centering not on an immortal alien-hunting agent or a former companion-turned-hero in her own right and instead on four teenagers with real-world problems who just happen to also have to save the planet from aliens feels at once familiar and fresh. Can’t wait to see what happens with it.
What are your preliminary thoughts on Class? Let us know in the comments below!
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Image: BBC
