Class - Dr Who spin-off

[Dandontdare]

Anyone seen this yet on BBC3 online?? It's aimed at teens, so basically it's Sarah Jane Adventures crossed with Buffy. The set up is almost identical - a teacher plus a gang of precocious multiracial kids, including one who's an alien, protect Coal Hill School from beasties that come through an inconvenient hellmouth rift in space/time.

I've watched the first two and it's pretty gruesome - one poor lad has his girlfriend in ep1 and a dinnerlady in ep2 literally massacred in front of him, showering him in gore. People get burned to ashes or skinned alive - you've never get this on CBBC!

Best thing about it is the humour provided by Katherine Kelly as Miss Quill, who's a sarcastic and cynical alien teacher who the Doctor is forcing to protect the young alien prince - her encounter with an Ofsted robot in the 2nd epiodse is priceless.

One thing occurred to me - the Doctor tells them that repeated interference has created a time-rift at Coal Hill - so basically everybody who dies in this series is the Doctor's fault. He's the one that keeps coming back to that school!

[dweezil2]

Those Buffy comparisons are unmistakable aren't they?

Tonally, it's all over the place, time for improvement if it hits its groove, but those first two episodes were fairly mediocre, even if there were a few good ideas hidden in them.

[Hawkmumbler]

Just about to sit down with the first two episodes. Have neutral expectations but i'm missing Doctor Who a lot right now so i'll take it.

[Eric Plumrose]

The set up is almost identical - a teacher plus a gang of precocious multiracial kids

That's where the similarity ends, I presume. Coal Hillmouth aside.

[CrazyFoxMachine]

Those Buffy comparisons are unmistakable aren't they?

Tonally, it's all over the place, time for improvement if it hits its groove, but those first two episodes were fairly mediocre, even if there were a few good ideas hidden in them.

Yeah that hits the nail on the head. Ness even had the characters say "like the Hellmouth OR LIKE IN THAT OTHER SERIES ONCE APON A TIME" - making me speculate whether having nerdy self-aware characters reference or clumsily try to lampshade how their universe is like another better known one is a new low in writing.

Actually the main issue is that parts of this felt far toooo much like they were written by a forty-something American trying to imagine what life is like for a British teen in 2016. It's awkward. The series will suffer for being written by just Ness I think. Tonally we've got a Twisterlike balancing act for a potential audience here - halfway between Sarah Jane and Torchwood. Gritty but childish - simplistic but arc-y. Some of the characters have potential, the actors are charismatic and the effects are decent so I'll stick with it for that for the moment.

[Leigh S]

To be fair, "gritty but childish" makes it sound like its all Torchwood!