Details about the upcoming Doctor Who spin-off are creeping out, and frankly, it’s about time!
The BBC has released the synopses for the first two episodes of Class, and they’re certainly intriguing:
1. For Tonight We Might Die
It’s a new term at Coal Hill Academy, and students are preparing for their Autumn Prom. But when the school comes under attack from the monstrous Shadow Kin, four alienated students must form an unlikely alliance to defeat them.
Charlie, April, Ram and Tanya, assisted by their physics teacher Miss Quill, are now charged with a great responsibility by the mysterious alien known as ‘The Doctor’: to guard against the creatures of nightmare, who want nothing more than to find a way through to Earth and take it for their own.
And this incursion is only the beginning…
2. The Coach With The Dragon Tattoo
Following the tragic events at the Prom, a devastated Ram isolates himself from the other three as he struggles with his new reality. Desperate to hold himself together on the football pitch, when he thinks he witnesses someone getting skinned alive, he’s convinced he’s cracking up.
But when Tanya, Charlie and April are all confronted with the same thing: a horrific, monstrous, skin-peeling dragon, they know that they’re under attack. The gang must pull together to fight against the monster, and try to keep Coal Hill safe.
You may recall that the first episode was provisionally titled The Prom, but it’s now much more ominous, as is the comment about ‘tragic events’. As Charlie, April, Tanya, and Ram are all mentioned for the second episode, we could presume something bad happens to someone close to Ram, played by Fady Elsayed.
Talk of the “Shadow Kin” is interesting too. Newer viewers might be reminded of the Shadow Proclamation, but any fans of The Armageddon Factor will recall a hooded Shadow in the employ of the Black Guardian. Is Class likely to refer to an enemy not seen since 1979? Probably not, let’s face it.
And what do we make of a skin-peeling dragon? It does sound less family-family than The Sarah Jane Adventures, but it’s too early to judge, really. Class is said to be aimed at Young Adults, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it excludes other age groups… and Doctor Who fans, whatever their vintage, are going to tune in regardless!
UPDATE: Check out this great teaser trailer, released today to coincide with the New York Comic Con, which puts the Doctor centre stage!
Okay, so you’re excited now, right?
All 8 episodes of Class are written by Patrick Ness (The Rest of Us Just Live Here), with For Tonight We Might Die and The Coach with the Dragon Tattoo broadcast as a double-bill on BBC Three on Saturday 22nd October 2016.
