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Class is a Doctor Who spinoff, taking place at Coal Hill Academy, which has been the school at the centre of the show since it began with The Unearthly Child back in 1963, where in this first episode – For Tonight We Might Die, this establishment doesn’t solely have a summer prom, like all the others, but one in the autumn. That’s what’s about to happen, here, but baddies are on their way in the form of the the Shadow Kin, which look like something from a role-playing videogames, with fire for a face, and actually looking pretty good for something that’s been commissioned for online-only.
Battling them are four students – Charlie, April, Ram and Tanya, plus a very engaging and amusing turn from Corrie‘s Katherine Kelly as physics teacher Miss Quill, and they’ve been given this responsibility by The Doctor, but does that mean the man in the TARDIS will appear? Well, you’ll have to watch it to find out…
Since it’s premiering on BBC3, it really deserves a terrestrial BBC1 ‘repeat’ and, in fact, the first episode’s pacing felt better than most Doctor Who episodes from the last series!
With some students mysteriously disappearing, a lot of weird spooky shadows, a neat line: “Maths and alcoholic beverages – the best way to spend a morning”, and a scene in a bedroom reminded me of Time Bandits, it’s too strong for a teatime slot, so after 9pm on a Saturday would be good. Despite so far being very “monster of the week”, with each episode running 40-50 minutes, I suspect, like Torchwood‘s early years, it’ll get slotted in on BBC2.
Episode 2 – The Coach With The Dragon Tattoo, also featured a character by the name of Paul Smith, who was a member of Ofsted, inspecting the school, and reference was made to the clothes designer of the same name. In The Thick Of It, there was a scene towards the end of one episode where someone grabbed at Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi) and he retorted, “Don’t you DARE touch that! That’s Paul Smith!!” 😉
Class is available to pre-order on Blu-ray and DVD, ahead of its release on January 2nd 2017. The first two episodes is available to watch on BBC iPlayer. Also, click on the top image for the full-size version.
Episode 1 Score: 6/10
Director: Edward Bazalgette
Producer: Derek Ritchie
Writer: Patrick Ness
Music: Blair Mowat
Cast
Charlie: Greg Austin
Ram: Fady Elsayed
April: Sophie Hopkins
Tanya: Vivian Oparah
Ms. Quill: Katherine Kelly
The Doctor: Peter Capaldi
Matteusz: Jordan Renzo
Mr. Armitage: Nigel Betts
Varun: Aaron Neil
Rachel: Anna Shaffer
Coach Dawson: Ben Peel
Jackie: Shannon Murray
Miss Shah: Pooja Shah
Kevin Williams: Alex Leak
Mrs. Linderhof: Laura June Hudson
Counter Clerk: Satnam Bhogal
Student 1: Ellie James
Student 2: Moses Adejimi
Student 3: Assay Hagos
Student 4: Shalisha James-Davis
Mousey Girl: Imogen Andrews
Mother: Janie Booth
Corakinus: Paul Marc Davis
The Man: Andrew Frame
Chair: Cyril Nri
The Doctor: Peter Capaldi (or am I leading you on?)
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.