I remember watching this not knowing that it was a spin-off of Doctor Who and got a really big shock when the TARDIS turned up and the Doctor poked his head out
Class suffered from being put on the newly online only BBC Three. If BBC three had still be a broadcast channel I think it would have done a LOT better.
Definitely! BBC Three going online has never been a decision I've agreed with. It basically ruins any chances of shows succeeding on there because the viewership is so low. Who goes to iPlayer to watch exclusive stuff? It's always been seen and promoted as a catch-up service. You'll never get good numbers on iPlayer exclusive content compared to broadcast. Torchwood would have almost certainly failed too if it was on BBC Three online
It just shows that if the BBC has something new they want to experiment with they will always use the Doctor Who brand, as Doctor Who fans are loyal, be it a new streaming platform or VR, if they put a TARDIS somewhere they are bound to get their money back. Which is a shame as Class had potential but if the BBC just cared about it more and not relying on Doctor Who fans to spread the news, maybe it could have been the next Sarah Jane Adventures.
@@Henry-oj1oo What I kinda loved about Class is that it was somewhere between SJA and Torchwood. These were young characters but they were all dealing with some seriously messed up stuff. That's an interesting space that the show hasn't really explored before AFAIK.
"You probably haven't seen class" Jokes on you i was one of the 3 people that religiously watched it when it came out Jokes aside, i honestly think the show could have been incredible if quill was somehow involved on the main show, as she was practicality universally praised for her amazing performance and being arguably the strongest character on the show, and had she had some time to resonate with the fanbase at large, i think the show could have done well Edit: also, i adore patrick ness's writing and hope he gets a shot at a full doctor who episode
Unfortunately, I’m not sure if the Doctor would take her on. She already has a duty, and she’s basically the equivalent of a war-criminal. I’d love it to, though 😂
I actually felt like Class actually overlapped with Torchwood a fair bit. Both series are about how terrifying the Whoniverse is when the Doctor isn't around, and both go into the personal toll of dealing with all that when you're not the Doctor.
I think one of Class' biggest strengths is how, as you said, it's a character driven show and that it's interested in deconstructing the stereotypes the characters appear at first to be. April is the 'nice' one, but this leads to a discussion of what it actually means to be "nice" and an exploration of how this is actually deeply rooted in her trauma. Tanya is "the smart girl" but this leads to her being incredibly lonely, having never had any real friendships before the first episode and still feeling like the "baby sister" and like she doesn't belong (which is directly linked to her intelligence as it's the reason she skipped three years in the first place). Yes, Charlie is "weird", but it's because he is literally an alien and also carrying the weight of his dead race-much of his happiness and optimism seems to be a wall. And like you said, Ram is such a refreshing male protagonist and it's so good to see the "jock" character struggling with this kind of PTSD. All the characters appear to be stereotypes at first glance, but what makes them interesting is how Ness plays with these tropes. With regard to the social issues, I think Ness strikes a good balance between addressing racism and homophobia and not making it the be all and end all. Yes, they show Matteusz being kicked out for being gay, they show Ram explaining Sikhism to April (which includes the brilliant line "there's 300 million of us, try to learn something"), they show Tanya talking about her experiences, but that's not all the characters are. Charlie and Matteusz's relationship is allowed to have issues beyond "oh we're gay and ppl don't accept that", Tanya and Ram are both complex characters beyond their race. The female characters are all written brilliantly without being Strong Female Characters TM to show off how feminist and progressive the writers are. And that's depressingly rare in a TV landscape where social issues are mostly ham-fistedly shoved in for Woke Points (usually by people who clearly didn't bother to do any research)
Upvoting this for the first 95% of it which is well-written and makes great points. Disappointed that it ended with that tired old canard of assuming poorly-executed diversity must be "for woke points" and "to show off how progressive the writers are". Given how much sub-par television there is of all types, why suddenly go assuming it's political when it's sub-par *diverse* television? Isn't it much more reasonable to acknowledge that writing interesting, well-rounded characters and stories is hard and many shows fail to pull it off whether or not diversity is involved?
nightowl it was clear from the outset what audience it was targeting and it was told to us beforehand repeatedly. The problem with class was purely the BBC’s fault. They gave it next to no promotion, dumped it on iPlayer with no warning, then repeated it at a terrible time slot in the evening. If they’d have promoted it properly and gave it a 9.30 or 10pm time slot every evening it would have done soooo much better.
I love Class! Everyone always goes on about it not having a target audience but honestly, when it came out, just as I was entering the year of my GCSEs, it felt perfectly pitched towards me (who had, in years past, been obsessed with both DW and Patrick Ness' books). The characters in the show are all so mature and relatable and the way Patrick Ness has total creative control enables the show to use its specific point of view to tackle classic Doctor Who formats in a new way (alien world story, invasion two parter, base under siege/ low budget episode, Doctor-lite episode etc). While I loved a fair amount of the Capaldi era, I felt that its week-to-week episodes did often lack a sense of character cohesion. It felt like Clara and Bill just weren't consistent when they weren't written by Moffat himself. Class, coming out particularly at the time it did, was great antidote to this as it put Character as the central focus of the show and it was so refreshing to watch. My favourite episodes were 1, 2 and particularly 4, 5 and 6. The finale perplexed me somewhat but I really wish we could have seen more the these characters and given Patrick ness the chance to do something truly unique and epic. The man really had it in him. I think it's a shame this wasn't a Netflix original (the BBC could have co-produced it with Netflix?). Had it been, I think it would have gained a much larger following and certainly been recommissioned a few times. Young people don't tend to browse iPlayer regularly and I don't see how it ever could have been a success being basically hidden like it was. I like that it is connected to Doctor Who but I think it should have been marketed more outside of the Doctor Who fanbase. It's basically an entirely new self-contained show that just happens to be in the same universe as the Doctor. It was obviously going to be picked apart by Whovian neckbeards (pretty much everything is) and in making it so only fans of Doctor Who knew about it and held forth on their negative opinions therein pretty much prevented new people (who might actually have enjoyed it) from being persuaded to try it out. Personally, I think it's the most consistently enjoyable (no absolute horrific clanger episodes!!) any Doctor Who-related show has been since the early Moffat era.
I would've been 17 when Class came out, so I would've loved it, but it completely passed me by, I'm not sure why. I was drifting away from Doctor Who after Series 9 (despite it being the best series of the 2010s) so that's probably why I didn't watch it. I'm glad I got round to it eventually though! I agree about it being marketed as an almost unrelated show, because outside of the setting and Capaldi's cameo, it has absolutely nothing to do with Doctor Who (which isn't a bad thing at all!) A Netflix involvement would definitely have done wonders for it
I actually like Class, I watched it when it aired, because there weren't any new DW episodes at that time... Although it's not without its flaws, it didn't deserve cancellation and should have continued for at least another season to firmly grasp its narrative and style. Episode 7 is actually one of the best stories in Whoniverse of all time, including Big Finish (or what I've listened from it). It's just amazing and creative and I love it.
For me, half the issue was a complete lack of advertising! I didn't know it had even happened until long after it had been cancelled - and, as you said, releasing it on BBC3 killed it before it even had a chance to live. I was so excited at the series finale and was so ready to see where Ness was taking the programme, but I suppose we'll never see it on TV again :(
Personally I really liked the series but the ending cliffhanger of the season had me going "Siriously? -_-" I'm not so sure I want to know where it went after that.
@@irrevenant8724 Im not sure, but i think they maaay have been planning a second season, that got cancelled after the 1st season did so badly. I mean quill was pregnant, not sure what her name is is a shadowkin, charlie just commited genocide...it feels like they were gonna go somewhere with it, imo.
@@mrlagoonslawyer Not to mention the massive reveal that #spoilers# were the secret power behind the school. (That's the cliffhanger I was referring to above). That struck me as a dumb reveal that made very little sense so I'm kinda glad they didn't continue it. I would've loved to have gotten more Class in general though.
Spoiler alert : According to the wiki, this is what series 2 was gonna be like : "According to Ness, the series' main theme would be "deals with the devil", including a resolution to April's storyline, exploring how she was going to get her own body back after her consciousness had been transferred to Corakinus's body, and an exploration of Charlie's future. A future version of Charlie, who had "lost his soul" to save Matteusz, was planned to appear. The series was also going to explore the Weeping Angels' home planet as well as see a Weeping Angel civil war unfold." That being said, I would have LOVED to see it happen 😍
It launched on BBC Three right after that channel became online only. It was legitimately hard to find even for those interested. It’s like they wanted it to fail.
Thanks you for this review! I really enjoyed class, although i didn’t watch it until 2018. For me, it wasn’t the doctor who tie in that kept me watching it, it was the story and characters. It’s very adult and is not for everyone. I think it’s problem definitely was that, in a year with no doctor who. people wanted doctor who, and the shows lack of whoness was not what people needed.
Yeah, I really expected Class to suck, but I was surprised at how much it pulled me in. The characters are really well-rounded and you want to see what happens to them, it's written very well
Because it allows you to branch off and widen the universe without worrying about set timelines etc. It's the Knights of the Old Republic approach. It expands on the world by creating completely new characters to work with. Unfortunately that makes it a nigh impossible sell, because without any pre-established characters, there's no incentive to watch it
@@HarboWholmes I always thought KOTOR was a good story but an awful concept for a spinoff because it establishes that technology in that universe hasn't changed in thousands of years and just made the setting as a whole come off as creatively bankrupt.
@@vishaansingh1019 There are a few entirely sensible counter-arguments to that line of thought. For one, when an applied technology reaches a level that is essentially equivalent to magic, it may no longer necessitate innovation. It may also be the case that superseding "lightspeed" is practically impossible, or that no group possesses a pool of resources large enough to make a significant iteration upon the process. Beyond that, from a thematic standpoint, it's hardly a _star war_ if takes hundreds or thousands of years to travel from one star to the other :p
@@ColtA13 I mean in the sense that you go out of your way to set it an absurdly long time before the main series, but the universe and the things happened are nearly identical to the main series anyways. There's so much more you can do with the concept of a Sith Empire and an ancient war between orders, but instead it came off as a budget version of the Original Trilogy.
I remember I saw a handful of adverts when this was due to come out and remember being so hyped and watching the entire series as it aired purely because I missed SJA and still hadn't watched Torchwood yet and I honestly really enjoyed this series, it's a shame it was cancelled but I barely saw anyone even mention its existence and I totally agree it should've had some kind of anchor, or if Moffat wanted to make it stand on its own he should've had something more central surrounding Coal Hill that made it much more obviously focussed around there so people might recognise it and called it "Coal Hill" or something people are more likely to recognise as Who related (similar to how Torchwood was the arc of series 2 and became a series in of itself that people would both recognise the name of and recognise one key main character).
As a TV show, I think Class is really strong and well written. As a Doctor Who spin-off, awful (strong word but let me explain). It was so badly timed in my opinion. After the darker tone of series 8, children were beginning to find the show too scary from what I read. So, theoretically, it makes no sense to release an even darker spin-off. After SJA's success and how much everyone loved it, I was really annoyed that there was no spin-off for kids released. Torchwood was also a success but the problem I have with Class is the fact it's set in Coal Hill. I find it so entitled for a completely new writer to make this beloved location a place of death and horror. Not only that, they actually killed off a character who had appeared in Doctor Who in a horribly brutal way. I just feel for the first series, they went too far. Like I say, my main issue is the show feels like it didn't need to be a Doctor Who spin-off to be good. I almost feel like it could have been any school and the writer used Doctor Who as a platform because apart from it being set in Coal Hill and the doctor being in episode 1, is it really connected to Doctor Who? SJA and Torchwood linked back throughout. Class not so much. I don't like to be negative but Class is one of the reasons I nearly dropped the show as I felt it was vandalizing the history of Doctor Who and honestly, it was heartbreaking. I don't think I'll ever forget how disappointed I was when I heard.
Wow, I didn't know you felt so strongly about the show! I personally don't think there was anything wrong with setting it in Coal Hill, because it's a recognisable location. It could be argued that the location had already been made into a place of death and horror in Remembrance of the Daleks because the Daleks use the school as a base! Also, The Caretaker arguably eased us into the setting being dangerous, because it put a monster there without killing any students, but it was there. I get what you mean about bad timing though, because the Capaldi era saw a decline in viewership, so a niche spinoff for a smaller demographic is a strange choice for that time period.
@@HarboWholmes Yeah both me and Lewis were so upset by the decision. I feel even if Remembrance of the Daleks used it as a base and it was attacked in the Caretaker, it still was not permanent. This spin-off makes Coal Hill look like a place of constant terror and the Doctor pretty much insinuates this at the end of ep 1. Not to mention, it wasn't even the showrunner who was choosing to do this. Like I say, I find it really entitled and insulting for an entirely new writer to use an iconic Doctor Who setting for a dark teen drama. Especially because Doctor Who at the very start, was a family/kids show. I really don't like being mean and I do try to see the best in things. Class came at a time where I was already slightly disappointed the tone of the series was darkening and becoming less accessible. So, pretty much, it kicked me when I was down. I had never came so close to leaving Doctor Who behind and in my opinion, it was this decision to release this that made me feel like that. But on the other hand, if I view it as separate from the show and not canon, I think it's some of the best television in terms of teen drama. I just hate the fact its connected to Doctor Who
I'll respect your difference of opinion but worth saying - Most instances in which Coal Hill has come up, it's not been in a nice way. Heck, Class points that out by having a big board that features numerous names from TV and expanded media from the school that have met horrible ends either on premises or off.
I think it’s for the best that they released a darker spin-off, because if the parent show got flack for being too dark, it had to lighten up but a lot of doctor who’s strongest stories are the darkest, so a spin-off allows fans to get the best of both worlds. Also a lot of the kids who were first brought in to the show with the 2005 revival would be growing up and with the RTD era being the show at the peak popularity it makes sense to give them fans something darker as they become more mature, or they could lose interest if it caters too heavily to children. I was 13 when class came out and was worried it would be too light because it was set at a school, and with doctor who introducing a super hero story that same year I worried I’d grow out of it. Doctor who is the earliest show I loved, so I will always watch it, can’t say the same for most people my age.
Doctor Who Adventures at the very start, doctor who was educational and was planning to focus on pure historicals, and it changed for the better. I’m glad not every whoniverse show is aimed at the same audience of families and kids because it has such a large age span in its audience thanks to running for so long, it’s nice to have something to appeal to everyone. It’s a shame it doesn’t still have multiple ongoing spin-offs aimed at different audiences like torchwood and SJA at the same time.
Class was far stronger then the first season of Torchwood which really only hit its stride with children of earth. I quite liked the moral drama of destroying a whole race in the finale but the main issue was tone. A tad uneven but nothing a second season couldn't have ironed out
I'd say the main issue was the 8 episodes. If it had even had an extra one, then the pacing would've been so much better for that middle section. Episode 3 in particular suffers in that it has to do way too much in the small time it has.
Though one of the weaker spin-offs, "Class" was released at a time when we had no Doctor Who and Moffat's was coming off the heals of "Hell Bent", so it was a nice change of pace. The show itself was a bit of a mess at points and got a bit too goofy, with some characters being underused, but it was unique, and after that AWESOME cliffhanger, it does suck Series 2 never happened.
Miss Quill was such a great character, i really wish that they cast the actress for be an future Doctor. The effects was really great and the conflicts the action, also really great too (and a very great opening). I'm really sad, that season 2 would have Weeping Angels, we could dive so much on them and they origins maybe.
"[Class] is kind of like power rangers for doctor who" honestly if they would have marketed like that (while simultaneously establishing its darker tone) I think it would a have garnered a good following but they didnt even market it. Like the tagline could be "what happens after the doctor leaves...?" And the show follows these teens left behind in the doctor's wake forced to team up against various alien threats and deal with the consequences with no magic spaceman that can just up and fly away.
I for one really enjoyed this series, it is just a pity that it was so disconnected. This so could have become the series that showcased Susan the Doctor's Granddaughter.
I was genuinely heartbroken when I found out last wasn't going to have a second season the reason being the exact same thing happened with Torchwood Miracle Day: the last episode of the series having a brilliant cliffhanger but then just suddenly being cancelled
I had to watch the fourth episode for my media class and it was quite interesting So I decided to watch it all after my exam and I honestly loved it! I really wish they did a second series
I always assumed class failed because of the way it was advertised. When I saw the first trailer I thought it was going to be for a younger audience like the Sarah Jane adventures and I wasn’t going to watch it since I was 19. But my friend wanted to watch it so I joined her for something to do and you can imagine my surprise when aliens started skinning people and chopping off limbs. I think if the trailers leaned more into these darker elements and it was aired on BBC 1 or 2 it would have done much better.
I really really like Class. When I first watched it it was only because it has something to do with DW. But then it really drew me in. And god, I just absolutely LOVE Miss Quill. I'm just really sad there was never another season:(
One of the best spin offs! I watched all the episodes when it came out I loved it! One of the only things by Moffat that felt original and I enjoyed how different it was to Doctor Who, wasn’t just trying to be the original show.
I object K9 is a great series, and has pretty good story arc. It's goofy in parts but it is just a bit of fun. It setting and world is intriguing I thought you are supposed to defend the despised not despise it yourself.
They should do a Agents of SHIELD style spinoff starring Martha as the Coulson, and Mickey. It would be perfect because then you could develop her character, in the way you mention in another video.
I was one of the few who watched the series and who loved it and I'm so sad that they cancelled it so early. I absolutely loved the dynamics of the characters and as a young adult I was and still am the key audience. But even in Germany where I'm from the show was treated as if people were embarrassed that it existed. It aired on One, a side channel of our main public channel, but only late at night, after the new Doctor Who episodes and after a repeated Doctor Who episode from one or two seasons earlier. And so I rarely got to watch it when it aired, because I had school and I wouldn't stay up until midnight on a Wednesday.
It needed a second season to finish things properly, I would've loved to have seen "The Arrival" (and the music is so creepy) and how they got April back in her own body. Matteusz and Charlie fixing their broken relationship, Tanya and Ram dealing with watching their loved ones die in front of them, Quill with her baby that will eventually kill her... Like damn. There was so much to unpack. I'm hoping now that Big Finish has the rights to the show, they'll make a series 2!! They've already done like 12 episodes, plus in the latest one that came out this past January gave us a very brief look past the series 1 finale... Uhhhh I'm not really sure where I'm going with this essay but yeaaaahhh I've been doing a rewatch and it's a decent series so support Big Finish so we can mayhaps see the aftermath of these broken characters👉👈
I would have loved to see a second series of Class, because I’d love to see how all of the cliffhangers of the finale resolve themselves. Plus, you know, I like it
The only reason it got cancelled was due to the marketing being terrible. I'm a huge doctor who fan and had no idea it was a thing and that's the sake for a lot so no one knew it was a thing and it didn't get the viewing figures it needed
I love Class and still want it come back. Even for just a crossover episode Im okay with there being no characters of the main cast being a connection to the main series. If anything it's creative and allows for the series to stand more on it's own.
I was seeing a comment about how some people didn’t like the fact it was too dark and non family friendly for doctor who. But i thought it was ok. I didn’t even remember it was part of doctor who, I just liked it cause it was an interesting show. Episode 6 was definitely my favourite
Harbor wholmes they should've featured these characters in a Doctor Who episode, and that episode would've been a back door plot. And you were also right they should made Clara the lead in this serise.
I was like "Yeah, I'm not gonna watch this spin off." Then you said one of the main characters was nihilistic and apathetic; now that's a character I can relate to!
id say there are 2 main issues with class 1) no body really knew it existed and 2) it doesn't look like a doctor who show sarah jane adventures was obvious given she was a companion and torchwood was the series 2 mystery box, class is a generic name with no parallel in the show
I had wanted to watch Class, but with no cable box at the time, my main source was iTunes, and unlike Doctor Who, there was no season pass available. Access to BBC America Online became available for me less than a month before the show was to be removed from the website. Between my schedule and not really binge watching television at the time, I was only able to watch the first two or three episodes.
Great review, very well executed and I’m glad you enjoyed the show. I had similar thoughts and enjoyed it originally because of its deviants from the parent show. Overall I felt Patrick Ness should’ve got a second season, but the Big Finish Production audios are good quality - I’ll be reviewing them myself on my channel. One question, what software did you use to get the scenes without an unwanted trademark?
I’ve always enjoyed this show. It’s different to the show and I like the characters realistic portrayal, all performed extremely well. Gutted series 2 never got made and wish that the last episode were edited to leave the angels scene as still we are all here wishing and knowing it will never happen
My sister and I loved class. I think the villains are cool and threatening, and the characters were interesting. The cliff hanger seemed to have potential for a good story, it’s a shame it was canceled. And yeah, definite Power Ranger vibes
My ultimate problem with Class is they failed to make the moral question of "should we kill all the Shadow People" work. The argument should have been "do I seek revenge? does committing a genocide make me as bad as the people who I'm committing genocide against? if I do kill them all I will save billions of people?" But actually comes across like "do i let thousands of worlds die or do I maintain this sacred object?" They don't even show a good Shadow person or if they can be good, they're all just fanatics who want to kill everything in the universe. Take the Dark Eldar for example, they are a faction who come out of nowhere from their city and inflict pain and torment onto others, but they need to to do this because their souls are constantly being eaten by the dark god Slaanesh. So you know if Slaanesh is gone then they can be redeemed.
I'd say the question for Charlie wasn't exactly along those lines. For April, sure. Episode 5 highlights that the Shadowkin are the way they are because they've lived forever with a belief system that perpetuated the idea that their existence is a mistake and that the worlds around them will end their "mistaken" existence if they don't end them first. For April, that does raise the question of wiping out a whole species without knowing them beyond Corakinus and his soldiers. For Matteusz, he's seen people try to excuse retaliation as righteous and for him, that's a big issue - because he's seen it make things much worse. He's seen it used to paint people as all one thing and seen those "righteous" people turn into horrible people with no end to their actions. So the question for him is "what will Charlie become if he does this?". For Charlie, however, it's rather different - as hinted at in Episode 1 and then outlined in Episode 6... with the fact that Rhodians are brought up believing that doing it or not doesn't matter - and that wishing so does - Charlie is already fucked as he sees it. Because a part of him wishes them dead, due to his belief system, he's already seeing himself as a monster. So, the question for him is not about whether he should be killing the Shadowkin or not but rather it's about weighing up one species vs. another. He knows that using the Cabinet will likely destroy all the souls of his people... And thinking on that point - though the Shadowkin effectively murdered his people, their souls are preserved. So he's left to weigh up - "do I entirely end my people who I've always sworn to protect so I can be sure the Shadowkin can harm no others?". Essentially, Charlie's moral question is a variation on the War Doctor's - keeping fighting the fight and hoping for an alternative solution vs. sacrificing your people to ensure the future of others... but unlike the War Doctor, there isn't going to be any nice spacetime trickery to save his people.
The problem with your War Doctor comparison is that they bothered to show that only a few Time Lords wanted to destroy all of time. The other regenerations hated him as he felt no remorse at the death innocents. While with Charlie, it just comes off as him overthinking. Sure people say a minority group are the reason for society's problems and then all the bad stuff happens, but that reason is either false or not true for all members of that group. The Shadow are never shown being kind, are never given a moment or backstory moment to make the audience say "maybe we shouldn't kill them" and maybe then the 'when would it stop?' moral dilemma could work if Charlie was thinking about removing a group of aliens who have a different ideology to him. It works for the Dark Eldar as for as much as they violate their victims, the Craftworld Eldar and their history shows their race can be redeemed if Slaanesh's curse was to disappear. And when a race of child molesters and rapists seem more redeemable than the main subject of a moral question, you know it's not written well.
To me, Class felt a bit Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Torchwood (they literally referenced the BTVS similarity in the show). All the shenanigans in the high school was very BTVS, but it was aliens instead of supernatural stuff, and the team was more rag-tag than having one 'chosen one', more like Torchwod. And the aliens are threats felt more Torchwood than Doctor Who. Alien related but very STRANGE and sometimes led to darker outcomes and injury than doctor who. Add a tiny hint of SJA and Skins (two very different shows lol) and I think that sort of sums it up.
Not gonna lie, the way you describe the premise of kids being thrust into a high-concept conflict and dealing with trauma and moral ambiguity… it reminds me a LOT of Animorphs. Anyone remember that book series?
I had absolutely no idea what Class was until I spotted it on Netflix a year or so bad even after following Doctor Who since New-Who started, but I thought it was absolutely brilliant! Such a shame it was short before it even made it out of the gate with no advertising and an awful platform, it'd make a brilliant Netflix original or something of the like if BBC weren't so attached to their own graveyard of a service.
I watched the opener for Capaldi.... and not going to lie... he was the best bit about it.... I then gave up wanting to watch...... thankfully though i did get it on DVD cheap two years later and actually thought it was "pretty good" and Quill became a HUGE highlight for me.... similar to how Missy, River, Donna became huge sassy wins! She owned every scene.... then it made me think what if Katherine Kelly was the Doctor... what if she was cast in the title role instead of Whittaker honetly to me THAT would have been genius casting. And in some ways Class did what Series 11 failed to do... showcase a strong lead role character from the off, show chemistry between all lead cast no matter their background and by then end gave you an understanding of each of them.... such a shameit didn't know what it wanted to be and because of viewers like myself tuning out after being disappointed from episode 1 OR not checking it out at all.... it couldn't get a chance to have a couple more series to expand itself and (maybe) tied in.
I just really wanted to know what Quill's baby would look like XD a Quill disguised as a human and a shapeshifter disguised as a human having a baby together?
I watched the show. It was pretty decent. Although it might have fared better if it had not been a Doctor Who spin-off because it just didn't feel like Doctor Who. And that wasn't because it was darker than Doctor Who, Torchwood it certainly darker, but it feels like it's in the same universe. The newest iteration of Doctor Who could certainly benefit from seeing how a diverse cast is handled in Class, because that show did a lot better job than Doctor Who is currently doing.
I remember watching this not knowing that it was a spin-off of Doctor Who and got a really big shock when the TARDIS turned up and the Doctor poked his head out
Class suffered from being put on the newly online only BBC Three. If BBC three had still be a broadcast channel I think it would have done a LOT better.
Definitely! BBC Three going online has never been a decision I've agreed with. It basically ruins any chances of shows succeeding on there because the viewership is so low. Who goes to iPlayer to watch exclusive stuff? It's always been seen and promoted as a catch-up service. You'll never get good numbers on iPlayer exclusive content compared to broadcast. Torchwood would have almost certainly failed too if it was on BBC Three online
It just shows that if the BBC has something new they want to experiment with they will always use the Doctor Who brand, as Doctor Who fans are loyal, be it a new streaming platform or VR, if they put a TARDIS somewhere they are bound to get their money back.
Which is a shame as Class had potential but if the BBC just cared about it more and not relying on Doctor Who fans to spread the news, maybe it could have been the next Sarah Jane Adventures.
@@Henry-oj1oo What I kinda loved about Class is that it was somewhere between SJA and Torchwood. These were young characters but they were all dealing with some seriously messed up stuff. That's an interesting space that the show hasn't really explored before AFAIK.
"You probably haven't seen class"
Jokes on you i was one of the 3 people that religiously watched it when it came out
Jokes aside, i honestly think the show could have been incredible if quill was somehow involved on the main show, as she was practicality universally praised for her amazing performance and being arguably the strongest character on the show, and had she had some time to resonate with the fanbase at large, i think the show could have done well
Edit: also, i adore patrick ness's writing and hope he gets a shot at a full doctor who episode
C.J Hamblin i too watched it
Watched it as well.
Ms Quill was magnificent.
Same, I used to wait every week for the new episode to come out back in 2016
I loved Class when it came out!
I loved Class. I was so disappointed it didn't get a second series.
Ikr:(
I know this sounds strange but i would actually love to have Miss Quill as a companion of the Doctor,
Isn't the actor who played Miss Quill related to Caroline John (Liz Shaw)?
I loved Ms. Quill as a character. Moffat really had me hooked after one season.
Unfortunately, I’m not sure if the Doctor would take her on. She already has a duty, and she’s basically the equivalent of a war-criminal. I’d love it to, though 😂
@@tmr4342 no relations.
Quill is the only character that steals the show.
I actually felt like Class actually overlapped with Torchwood a fair bit. Both series are about how terrifying the Whoniverse is when the Doctor isn't around, and both go into the personal toll of dealing with all that when you're not the Doctor.
I think one of Class' biggest strengths is how, as you said, it's a character driven show and that it's interested in deconstructing the stereotypes the characters appear at first to be. April is the 'nice' one, but this leads to a discussion of what it actually means to be "nice" and an exploration of how this is actually deeply rooted in her trauma. Tanya is "the smart girl" but this leads to her being incredibly lonely, having never had any real friendships before the first episode and still feeling like the "baby sister" and like she doesn't belong (which is directly linked to her intelligence as it's the reason she skipped three years in the first place). Yes, Charlie is "weird", but it's because he is literally an alien and also carrying the weight of his dead race-much of his happiness and optimism seems to be a wall. And like you said, Ram is such a refreshing male protagonist and it's so good to see the "jock" character struggling with this kind of PTSD. All the characters appear to be stereotypes at first glance, but what makes them interesting is how Ness plays with these tropes.
With regard to the social issues, I think Ness strikes a good balance between addressing racism and homophobia and not making it the be all and end all. Yes, they show Matteusz being kicked out for being gay, they show Ram explaining Sikhism to April (which includes the brilliant line "there's 300 million of us, try to learn something"), they show Tanya talking about her experiences, but that's not all the characters are. Charlie and Matteusz's relationship is allowed to have issues beyond "oh we're gay and ppl don't accept that", Tanya and Ram are both complex characters beyond their race. The female characters are all written brilliantly without being Strong Female Characters TM to show off how feminist and progressive the writers are. And that's depressingly rare in a TV landscape where social issues are mostly ham-fistedly shoved in for Woke Points (usually by people who clearly didn't bother to do any research)
Upvoting this for the first 95% of it which is well-written and makes great points. Disappointed that it ended with that tired old canard of assuming poorly-executed diversity must be "for woke points" and "to show off how progressive the writers are". Given how much sub-par television there is of all types, why suddenly go assuming it's political when it's sub-par *diverse* television? Isn't it much more reasonable to acknowledge that writing interesting, well-rounded characters and stories is hard and many shows fail to pull it off whether or not diversity is involved?
I think Claas, unlike the other spin-offs, doesn't understand what audience it wants to appeal to.
Definitely. As I said, it's spunoff from a kids show, wants a more mature audience but doesn't distinguish itself as clearly as Torchwood does
Agree
I think it wanted to appeal to teenagers, but it clearly failed
I say it's meant to be young adult
nightowl it was clear from the outset what audience it was targeting and it was told to us beforehand repeatedly. The problem with class was purely the BBC’s fault. They gave it next to no promotion, dumped it on iPlayer with no warning, then repeated it at a terrible time slot in the evening. If they’d have promoted it properly and gave it a 9.30 or 10pm time slot every evening it would have done soooo much better.
I love Class! Everyone always goes on about it not having a target audience but honestly, when it came out, just as I was entering the year of my GCSEs, it felt perfectly pitched towards me (who had, in years past, been obsessed with both DW and Patrick Ness' books). The characters in the show are all so mature and relatable and the way Patrick Ness has total creative control enables the show to use its specific point of view to tackle classic Doctor Who formats in a new way (alien world story, invasion two parter, base under siege/ low budget episode, Doctor-lite episode etc). While I loved a fair amount of the Capaldi era, I felt that its week-to-week episodes did often lack a sense of character cohesion. It felt like Clara and Bill just weren't consistent when they weren't written by Moffat himself. Class, coming out particularly at the time it did, was great antidote to this as it put Character as the central focus of the show and it was so refreshing to watch. My favourite episodes were 1, 2 and particularly 4, 5 and 6. The finale perplexed me somewhat but I really wish we could have seen more the these characters and given Patrick ness the chance to do something truly unique and epic. The man really had it in him.
I think it's a shame this wasn't a Netflix original (the BBC could have co-produced it with Netflix?). Had it been, I think it would have gained a much larger following and certainly been recommissioned a few times. Young people don't tend to browse iPlayer regularly and I don't see how it ever could have been a success being basically hidden like it was. I like that it is connected to Doctor Who but I think it should have been marketed more outside of the Doctor Who fanbase. It's basically an entirely new self-contained show that just happens to be in the same universe as the Doctor. It was obviously going to be picked apart by Whovian neckbeards (pretty much everything is) and in making it so only fans of Doctor Who knew about it and held forth on their negative opinions therein pretty much prevented new people (who might actually have enjoyed it) from being persuaded to try it out. Personally, I think it's the most consistently enjoyable (no absolute horrific clanger episodes!!) any Doctor Who-related show has been since the early Moffat era.
I would've been 17 when Class came out, so I would've loved it, but it completely passed me by, I'm not sure why. I was drifting away from Doctor Who after Series 9 (despite it being the best series of the 2010s) so that's probably why I didn't watch it. I'm glad I got round to it eventually though! I agree about it being marketed as an almost unrelated show, because outside of the setting and Capaldi's cameo, it has absolutely nothing to do with Doctor Who (which isn't a bad thing at all!) A Netflix involvement would definitely have done wonders for it
I saw it when it came out and I was 17 I didn't have expectations and I loved it
I actually like Class, I watched it when it aired, because there weren't any new DW episodes at that time... Although it's not without its flaws, it didn't deserve cancellation and should have continued for at least another season to firmly grasp its narrative and style. Episode 7 is actually one of the best stories in Whoniverse of all time, including Big Finish (or what I've listened from it). It's just amazing and creative and I love it.
I haven't seen or heard of this show before you reviewed it
Now i want to watch it
BADLY
It's a shame how unknown it is, they really didn't market it and now they almost act as if it doesn't exist. All episodes are on Netflix UK though!
It's on BBC iplayer now
For me, half the issue was a complete lack of advertising! I didn't know it had even happened until long after it had been cancelled - and, as you said, releasing it on BBC3 killed it before it even had a chance to live.
I was so excited at the series finale and was so ready to see where Ness was taking the programme, but I suppose we'll never see it on TV again :(
Personally I really liked the series but the ending cliffhanger of the season had me going "Siriously? -_-" I'm not so sure I want to know where it went after that.
@@irrevenant8724 Im not sure, but i think they maaay have been planning a second season, that got cancelled after the 1st season did so badly. I mean quill was pregnant, not sure what her name is is a shadowkin, charlie just commited genocide...it feels like they were gonna go somewhere with it, imo.
@@mrlagoonslawyer Not to mention the massive reveal that #spoilers# were the secret power behind the school. (That's the cliffhanger I was referring to above). That struck me as a dumb reveal that made very little sense so I'm kinda glad they didn't continue it.
I would've loved to have gotten more Class in general though.
Spoiler alert :
According to the wiki, this is what series 2 was gonna be like :
"According to Ness, the series' main theme would be "deals with the devil", including a resolution to April's storyline, exploring how she was going to get her own body back after her consciousness had been transferred to Corakinus's body, and an exploration of Charlie's future. A future version of Charlie, who had "lost his soul" to save Matteusz, was planned to appear.
The series was also going to explore the Weeping Angels' home planet as well as see a Weeping Angel civil war unfold."
That being said, I would have LOVED to see it happen 😍
It launched on BBC Three right after that channel became online only. It was legitimately hard to find even for those interested. It’s like they wanted it to fail.
remember when people wanted a paternoster gang spinoff or a unit spinoff (with Kate and Osgood)
I'd watch a kate and osgood spin off
i still want a paternoster gang spinoff
A Paternoster gang spinoff doesn't really strike me as having the legs. I can see getting some mileage out of a UNIT series though.
Big Finish have made those
Thanks you for this review! I really enjoyed class, although i didn’t watch it until 2018. For me, it wasn’t the doctor who tie in that kept me watching it, it was the story and characters. It’s very adult and is not for everyone. I think it’s problem definitely was that, in a year with no doctor who. people wanted doctor who, and the shows lack of whoness was not what people needed.
Yeah, I really expected Class to suck, but I was surprised at how much it pulled me in. The characters are really well-rounded and you want to see what happens to them, it's written very well
Now people have been watching it more and it's got more attention now would be a good time to bring it back
I'm American and didn't it air first for us? I remember watching it after episodes of Doctor Who. Was it series 9 or 10? Can't remember.
What's the point of a spinoff that has no preestablished characters from the show barring a 2 minute cameo by Peter Capaldi?
Because it allows you to branch off and widen the universe without worrying about set timelines etc. It's the Knights of the Old Republic approach. It expands on the world by creating completely new characters to work with. Unfortunately that makes it a nigh impossible sell, because without any pre-established characters, there's no incentive to watch it
@@HarboWholmes I always thought KOTOR was a good story but an awful concept for a spinoff because it establishes that technology in that universe hasn't changed in thousands of years and just made the setting as a whole come off as creatively bankrupt.
@@vishaansingh1019 There are a few entirely sensible counter-arguments to that line of thought. For one, when an applied technology reaches a level that is essentially equivalent to magic, it may no longer necessitate innovation. It may also be the case that superseding "lightspeed" is practically impossible, or that no group possesses a pool of resources large enough to make a significant iteration upon the process. Beyond that, from a thematic standpoint, it's hardly a _star war_ if takes hundreds or thousands of years to travel from one star to the other :p
@@ColtA13 I mean in the sense that you go out of your way to set it an absurdly long time before the main series, but the universe and the things happened are nearly identical to the main series anyways. There's so much more you can do with the concept of a Sith Empire and an ancient war between orders, but instead it came off as a budget version of the Original Trilogy.
I loved Class! Because I ACTUALLY WATCHED IT!
I started watching this show without even realizing it was a doctor who spinoff at first and was pleasantly surprised
was I like the only one who fully watched Class and was obsessed with it?
Me too hahah
Same it was my show of the 2010's
Same! I LOVED it.
_"This video contains spoilers for Class series 1"_ You didn't really need the 'series 1' bit. ;_:
I remember I saw a handful of adverts when this was due to come out and remember being so hyped and watching the entire series as it aired purely because I missed SJA and still hadn't watched Torchwood yet and I honestly really enjoyed this series, it's a shame it was cancelled but I barely saw anyone even mention its existence and I totally agree it should've had some kind of anchor, or if Moffat wanted to make it stand on its own he should've had something more central surrounding Coal Hill that made it much more obviously focussed around there so people might recognise it and called it "Coal Hill" or something people are more likely to recognise as Who related (similar to how Torchwood was the arc of series 2 and became a series in of itself that people would both recognise the name of and recognise one key main character).
I need more Class content... the final episode has left me in a never ending cliffhanger 😢
As a TV show, I think Class is really strong and well written. As a Doctor Who spin-off, awful (strong word but let me explain). It was so badly timed in my opinion. After the darker tone of series 8, children were beginning to find the show too scary from what I read. So, theoretically, it makes no sense to release an even darker spin-off. After SJA's success and how much everyone loved it, I was really annoyed that there was no spin-off for kids released. Torchwood was also a success but the problem I have with Class is the fact it's set in Coal Hill. I find it so entitled for a completely new writer to make this beloved location a place of death and horror. Not only that, they actually killed off a character who had appeared in Doctor Who in a horribly brutal way. I just feel for the first series, they went too far.
Like I say, my main issue is the show feels like it didn't need to be a Doctor Who spin-off to be good. I almost feel like it could have been any school and the writer used Doctor Who as a platform because apart from it being set in Coal Hill and the doctor being in episode 1, is it really connected to Doctor Who? SJA and Torchwood linked back throughout. Class not so much.
I don't like to be negative but Class is one of the reasons I nearly dropped the show as I felt it was vandalizing the history of Doctor Who and honestly, it was heartbreaking. I don't think I'll ever forget how disappointed I was when I heard.
Wow, I didn't know you felt so strongly about the show! I personally don't think there was anything wrong with setting it in Coal Hill, because it's a recognisable location. It could be argued that the location had already been made into a place of death and horror in Remembrance of the Daleks because the Daleks use the school as a base! Also, The Caretaker arguably eased us into the setting being dangerous, because it put a monster there without killing any students, but it was there.
I get what you mean about bad timing though, because the Capaldi era saw a decline in viewership, so a niche spinoff for a smaller demographic is a strange choice for that time period.
@@HarboWholmes Yeah both me and Lewis were so upset by the decision. I feel even if Remembrance of the Daleks used it as a base and it was attacked in the Caretaker, it still was not permanent. This spin-off makes Coal Hill look like a place of constant terror and the Doctor pretty much insinuates this at the end of ep 1. Not to mention, it wasn't even the showrunner who was choosing to do this. Like I say, I find it really entitled and insulting for an entirely new writer to use an iconic Doctor Who setting for a dark teen drama. Especially because Doctor Who at the very start, was a family/kids show.
I really don't like being mean and I do try to see the best in things. Class came at a time where I was already slightly disappointed the tone of the series was darkening and becoming less accessible. So, pretty much, it kicked me when I was down. I had never came so close to leaving Doctor Who behind and in my opinion, it was this decision to release this that made me feel like that.
But on the other hand, if I view it as separate from the show and not canon, I think it's some of the best television in terms of teen drama. I just hate the fact its connected to Doctor Who
I'll respect your difference of opinion but worth saying - Most instances in which Coal Hill has come up, it's not been in a nice way. Heck, Class points that out by having a big board that features numerous names from TV and expanded media from the school that have met horrible ends either on premises or off.
I think it’s for the best that they released a darker spin-off, because if the parent show got flack for being too dark, it had to lighten up but a lot of doctor who’s strongest stories are the darkest, so a spin-off allows fans to get the best of both worlds. Also a lot of the kids who were first brought in to the show with the 2005 revival would be growing up and with the RTD era being the show at the peak popularity it makes sense to give them fans something darker as they become more mature, or they could lose interest if it caters too heavily to children. I was 13 when class came out and was worried it would be too light because it was set at a school, and with doctor who introducing a super hero story that same year I worried I’d grow out of it. Doctor who is the earliest show I loved, so I will always watch it, can’t say the same for most people my age.
Doctor Who Adventures at the very start, doctor who was educational and was planning to focus on pure historicals, and it changed for the better. I’m glad not every whoniverse show is aimed at the same audience of families and kids because it has such a large age span in its audience thanks to running for so long, it’s nice to have something to appeal to everyone. It’s a shame it doesn’t still have multiple ongoing spin-offs aimed at different audiences like torchwood and SJA at the same time.
Class was far stronger then the first season of Torchwood which really only hit its stride with children of earth. I quite liked the moral drama of destroying a whole race in the finale but the main issue was tone. A tad uneven but nothing a second season couldn't have ironed out
The tone was definitely a big issue, but I agree that another series probably would've helped out with that. A lot of shows need that sometimes
I'd say the main issue was the 8 episodes. If it had even had an extra one, then the pacing would've been so much better for that middle section. Episode 3 in particular suffers in that it has to do way too much in the small time it has.
I enjoyed what I saw of Class. On my who rewatch I’m going to watch it all.
Still on series 7A though so got 3 more seasons of who to watch first.
Idk I’ve seen lots of people despise it too! I personally love it and watched it as it came out and got emotional when it was cancelled!
I never heard of this Class until today, it was never got promoted with Doctor Who or any other BBC program I watched
The sad thing is, the actor for Charlie had done an ama and I saw quite a few people asking about the next season and he seemed so excited about it
'Detained' is such a brilliant episode. It's my main sell when getting people to watch it.
Though one of the weaker spin-offs, "Class" was released at a time when we had no Doctor Who and Moffat's was coming off the heals of "Hell Bent", so it was a nice change of pace. The show itself was a bit of a mess at points and got a bit too goofy, with some characters being underused, but it was unique, and after that AWESOME cliffhanger, it does suck Series 2 never happened.
They so missed a chance when Clara left. "Clara and Me" would of been awesome
Yesss
"Watch the show first to avoid spoilers."
Me: "Nah, I'm good."
Miss Quill was such a great character, i really wish that they cast the actress for be an future Doctor.
The effects was really great and the conflicts the action, also really great too (and a very great opening).
I'm really sad, that season 2 would have Weeping Angels, we could dive so much on them and they origins maybe.
I loved Class but you’re forgetting that the best part is the opening title sequence that I never skipped and that always got me hyped for the episode
TRUE DUDE
"[Class] is kind of like power rangers for doctor who" honestly if they would have marketed like that (while simultaneously establishing its darker tone) I think it would a have garnered a good following but they didnt even market it. Like the tagline could be "what happens after the doctor leaves...?" And the show follows these teens left behind in the doctor's wake forced to team up against various alien threats and deal with the consequences with no magic spaceman that can just up and fly away.
I wish we had that character development in DW season 11 and 12
I for one really enjoyed this series, it is just a pity that it was so disconnected. This so could have become the series that showcased Susan the Doctor's Granddaughter.
I was genuinely heartbroken when I found out last wasn't going to have a second season the reason being the exact same thing happened with Torchwood Miracle Day: the last episode of the series having a brilliant cliffhanger but then just suddenly being cancelled
I really like Class. It shows the aftermath of the Doctors actions
I would only watch this for the 12th Doctor .
I wish they had just made it the Clara Oswald spin-off, because it’s genuinely quite disappointing that it never got a second series.
I think they are getting there own audio book or something like that, I read it somewhere a couple weeks ago
@@x-menlol1613 Big Finish produce Class audios.
I wish we could have a spin-off of Clara and Me having adventures.
What I could never get over was the uncanny resemblence from main character Ram to one of The Who Addicts on TH-cam!....
Anyone else waiting for the Rusty & Handles spin-off?
So glad I found the series on DVD recently. You have me excited to watch it now!
I never even knew about this series but am definitely going to check it out
I had to watch the fourth episode for my media class and it was quite interesting
So I decided to watch it all after my exam and I honestly loved it!
I really wish they did a second series
I always assumed class failed because of the way it was advertised. When I saw the first trailer I thought it was going to be for a younger audience like the Sarah Jane adventures and I wasn’t going to watch it since I was 19. But my friend wanted to watch it so I joined her for something to do and you can imagine my surprise when aliens started skinning people and chopping off limbs. I think if the trailers leaned more into these darker elements and it was aired on BBC 1 or 2 it would have done much better.
I really really like Class. When I first watched it it was only because it has something to do with DW. But then it really drew me in. And god, I just absolutely LOVE Miss Quill.
I'm just really sad there was never another season:(
One of the best things Doctor Who has ever done and absolutely the thing you should do with a Doctor spin off. Made more sense then bloody Torchwood.
One of the best spin offs! I watched all the episodes when it came out I loved it! One of the only things by Moffat that felt original and I enjoyed how different it was to Doctor Who, wasn’t just trying to be the original show.
I object K9 is a great series, and has pretty good story arc. It's goofy in parts but it is just a bit of fun. It setting and world is intriguing I thought you are supposed to defend the despised not despise it yourself.
It was too far removed from the Whoniverse. Its like having a star trek spin off set entirely in admrial archers Home for Beagles.
Nova Sky I guess don’t think of it as a spin off. If you think about it as a new story in the same cinematic not-cinematic universe
They should do a Agents of SHIELD style spinoff starring Martha as the Coulson, and Mickey. It would be perfect because then you could develop her character, in the way you mention in another video.
This looks and sounds like one of the best series i have never, ever heard about.
It is quite good, they just did it badly
I was one of the few who watched the series and who loved it and I'm so sad that they cancelled it so early. I absolutely loved the dynamics of the characters and as a young adult I was and still am the key audience.
But even in Germany where I'm from the show was treated as if people were embarrassed that it existed. It aired on One, a side channel of our main public channel, but only late at night, after the new Doctor Who episodes and after a repeated Doctor Who episode from one or two seasons earlier.
And so I rarely got to watch it when it aired, because I had school and I wouldn't stay up until midnight on a Wednesday.
Such a good show was so refreshing to have a doctor who spin with a different tone I’m so sad it didn’t get renewed
It needed a second season to finish things properly, I would've loved to have seen "The Arrival" (and the music is so creepy) and how they got April back in her own body. Matteusz and Charlie fixing their broken relationship, Tanya and Ram dealing with watching their loved ones die in front of them, Quill with her baby that will eventually kill her... Like damn. There was so much to unpack. I'm hoping now that Big Finish has the rights to the show, they'll make a series 2!! They've already done like 12 episodes, plus in the latest one that came out this past January gave us a very brief look past the series 1 finale... Uhhhh I'm not really sure where I'm going with this essay but yeaaaahhh I've been doing a rewatch and it's a decent series so support Big Finish so we can mayhaps see the aftermath of these broken characters👉👈
Thank you now u showed me there is more doctor who 2 character episodes
I would have loved to see a second series of Class, because I’d love to see how all of the cliffhangers of the finale resolve themselves. Plus, you know, I like it
I acc really liked Class. I think I was like 14 when it came out but I found it to be a really good banger
The only reason it got cancelled was due to the marketing being terrible.
I'm a huge doctor who fan and had no idea it was a thing and that's the sake for a lot so no one knew it was a thing and it didn't get the viewing figures it needed
Hope they cary on with the arrival storyline with the weeping angels. There’s something there
I love Class and still want it come back. Even for just a crossover episode
Im okay with there being no characters of the main cast being a connection to the main series. If anything it's creative and allows for the series to stand more on it's own.
We don't always need something like a former companion to tether the spinoff to the main show
Class was so good and visually stunning
I loved Class I thought all the characters were well rounded and there were some really interesting episodes and concepts.
I was seeing a comment about how some people didn’t like the fact it was too dark and non family friendly for doctor who. But i thought it was ok. I didn’t even remember it was part of doctor who, I just liked it cause it was an interesting show. Episode 6 was definitely my favourite
Personality I think that Class is awesome
I just came back to this after watching series 1 bc all of it just came onto BBC Iplayer and I'm pissed bc there isn't more😭
Personnally I loved it, I watched it when it aired and I listened all the audios, I just wish there would have been a series 2
Harbor wholmes they should've featured these characters in a Doctor Who episode, and that episode would've been a back door plot. And you were also right they should made Clara the lead in this serise.
been a fan of dw for 8 years now. literally never heard of this show until today
I like it. We can hope someone take a look and picks it up.
I was like "Yeah, I'm not gonna watch this spin off."
Then you said one of the main characters was nihilistic and apathetic; now that's a character I can relate to!
I LOVED Patrick Ness’ “the knife of never letting go”, i am deffo going to check this out cheers man! 😊👍
id say there are 2 main issues with class 1) no body really knew it existed and 2) it doesn't look like a doctor who show sarah jane adventures was obvious given she was a companion and torchwood was the series 2 mystery box, class is a generic name with no parallel in the show
I had wanted to watch Class, but with no cable box at the time, my main source was iTunes, and unlike Doctor Who, there was no season pass available. Access to BBC America Online became available for me less than a month before the show was to be removed from the website. Between my schedule and not really binge watching television at the time, I was only able to watch the first two or three episodes.
Class was actually class
Great review, very well executed and I’m glad you enjoyed the show. I had similar thoughts and enjoyed it originally because of its deviants from the parent show. Overall I felt Patrick Ness should’ve got a second season, but the Big Finish Production audios are good quality - I’ll be reviewing them myself on my channel. One question, what software did you use to get the scenes without an unwanted trademark?
I’ve always enjoyed this show. It’s different to the show and I like the characters realistic portrayal, all performed extremely well. Gutted series 2 never got made and wish that the last episode were edited to leave the angels scene as still we are all here wishing and knowing it will never happen
This guy is like the kid who can't hate anything he just watched
I literally forgot this even existed and I saw the whole thing.
Can we also appreciate that this is one of the few shows where the children actually tell their parents what's going on?
My sister and I loved class. I think the villains are cool and threatening, and the characters were interesting. The cliff hanger seemed to have potential for a good story, it’s a shame it was canceled.
And yeah, definite Power Ranger vibes
My ultimate problem with Class is they failed to make the moral question of "should we kill all the Shadow People" work. The argument should have been "do I seek revenge? does committing a genocide make me as bad as the people who I'm committing genocide against? if I do kill them all I will save billions of people?" But actually comes across like "do i let thousands of worlds die or do I maintain this sacred object?"
They don't even show a good Shadow person or if they can be good, they're all just fanatics who want to kill everything in the universe. Take the Dark Eldar for example, they are a faction who come out of nowhere from their city and inflict pain and torment onto others, but they need to to do this because their souls are constantly being eaten by the dark god Slaanesh. So you know if Slaanesh is gone then they can be redeemed.
I'd say the question for Charlie wasn't exactly along those lines. For April, sure.
Episode 5 highlights that the Shadowkin are the way they are because they've lived forever with a belief system that perpetuated the idea that their existence is a mistake and that the worlds around them will end their "mistaken" existence if they don't end them first. For April, that does raise the question of wiping out a whole species without knowing them beyond Corakinus and his soldiers.
For Matteusz, he's seen people try to excuse retaliation as righteous and for him, that's a big issue - because he's seen it make things much worse. He's seen it used to paint people as all one thing and seen those "righteous" people turn into horrible people with no end to their actions. So the question for him is "what will Charlie become if he does this?".
For Charlie, however, it's rather different - as hinted at in Episode 1 and then outlined in Episode 6... with the fact that Rhodians are brought up believing that doing it or not doesn't matter - and that wishing so does - Charlie is already fucked as he sees it. Because a part of him wishes them dead, due to his belief system, he's already seeing himself as a monster. So, the question for him is not about whether he should be killing the Shadowkin or not but rather it's about weighing up one species vs. another. He knows that using the Cabinet will likely destroy all the souls of his people...
And thinking on that point - though the Shadowkin effectively murdered his people, their souls are preserved. So he's left to weigh up - "do I entirely end my people who I've always sworn to protect so I can be sure the Shadowkin can harm no others?".
Essentially, Charlie's moral question is a variation on the War Doctor's - keeping fighting the fight and hoping for an alternative solution vs. sacrificing your people to ensure the future of others... but unlike the War Doctor, there isn't going to be any nice spacetime trickery to save his people.
The problem with your War Doctor comparison is that they bothered to show that only a few Time Lords wanted to destroy all of time. The other regenerations hated him as he felt no remorse at the death innocents.
While with Charlie, it just comes off as him overthinking. Sure people say a minority group are the reason for society's problems and then all the bad stuff happens, but that reason is either false or not true for all members of that group.
The Shadow are never shown being kind, are never given a moment or backstory moment to make the audience say "maybe we shouldn't kill them" and maybe then the 'when would it stop?' moral dilemma could work if Charlie was thinking about removing a group of aliens who have a different ideology to him. It works for the Dark Eldar as for as much as they violate their victims, the Craftworld Eldar and their history shows their race can be redeemed if Slaanesh's curse was to disappear. And when a race of child molesters and rapists seem more redeemable than the main subject of a moral question, you know it's not written well.
To me, Class felt a bit Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Torchwood (they literally referenced the BTVS similarity in the show). All the shenanigans in the high school was very BTVS, but it was aliens instead of supernatural stuff, and the team was more rag-tag than having one 'chosen one', more like Torchwod. And the aliens are threats felt more Torchwood than Doctor Who. Alien related but very STRANGE and sometimes led to darker outcomes and injury than doctor who. Add a tiny hint of SJA and Skins (two very different shows lol) and I think that sort of sums it up.
Loved it would love them to do another series
Not gonna lie, the way you describe the premise of kids being thrust into a high-concept conflict and dealing with trauma and moral ambiguity… it reminds me a LOT of Animorphs. Anyone remember that book series?
I had absolutely no idea what Class was until I spotted it on Netflix a year or so bad even after following Doctor Who since New-Who started, but I thought it was absolutely brilliant! Such a shame it was short before it even made it out of the gate with no advertising and an awful platform, it'd make a brilliant Netflix original or something of the like if BBC weren't so attached to their own graveyard of a service.
Jokes on you class was my entire life for about a year straight
I never even knew that this existed until this year and THAT SUCKS! If I'd known that this was around when it came out, I would have watched it!
I really enjoyed the Australian K9 :(
I watched the opener for Capaldi.... and not going to lie... he was the best bit about it.... I then gave up wanting to watch...... thankfully though i did get it on DVD cheap two years later and actually thought it was "pretty good" and Quill became a HUGE highlight for me.... similar to how Missy, River, Donna became huge sassy wins! She owned every scene.... then it made me think what if Katherine Kelly was the Doctor... what if she was cast in the title role instead of Whittaker honetly to me THAT would have been genius casting. And in some ways Class did what Series 11 failed to do... showcase a strong lead role character from the off, show chemistry between all lead cast no matter their background and by then end gave you an understanding of each of them.... such a shameit didn't know what it wanted to be and because of viewers like myself tuning out after being disappointed from episode 1 OR not checking it out at all.... it couldn't get a chance to have a couple more series to expand itself and (maybe) tied in.
I had to watch episode 4 (random I know) for my media class, so after the exam I watched the whole series, and the ending shook me so much 😹
I just really wanted to know what Quill's baby would look like XD a Quill disguised as a human and a shapeshifter disguised as a human having a baby together?
I actually had no idea this existed
I watched the show. It was pretty decent. Although it might have fared better if it had not been a Doctor Who spin-off because it just didn't feel like Doctor Who. And that wasn't because it was darker than Doctor Who, Torchwood it certainly darker, but it feels like it's in the same universe. The newest iteration of Doctor Who could certainly benefit from seeing how a diverse cast is handled in Class, because that show did a lot better job than Doctor Who is currently doing.
I... genuinely did not know this was a thing until right now...
Thought this was going to be about k9 and company based off of the title and the premise of this show
I never heard about this at the time. After watching this review, I don't think I will watch it anyway.