...Despite being influenced by Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
There's still much we don't yet know aboutClass, the teen-geared Doctor Who spinoff set to premiere on the BBC Three in October. We know that Class will feature eight 45-minute episodes centered around four students and their teacher at London's Coal Hill School, most recently featured in Doctor Who as Clara's place of employment.
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And, now, we know a bit more about what these kids and their teacher's shenanigans will look like. Class showrunner Patrick Ness recently talked to Empire, revealing a bit more about the details of the upcoming series, what past TV shows have influenced it, and how it fits into the Doctor Who universe. Here's what he had to say...
"Coal Hill has existed in Doctor Who since literally episode one,” Ness told Empire. "The Doctor’s granddaughter went there. So we thought, 'All that time activity at the school, has that caused any problems?' Well, what do you know, it has!"
Those "problems" will take the form of monsters, beasts, and other Doctor-caused problems that the teenage students of Coal Hill School will have to defeat. It isn't unlike that great example of teen supernatural storytelling, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which Ness references as an inspiration for Class, saying...
Adults watch [a show like Buffy the Vampire Slayer], because it’s a great show, but the POV and the agency are all teenage, and that’s what we want to do with Class. It needs to be from the point of view of the sixth-formers – but that doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily a 'young show.'
Ness was also very adamant that Class is not a show about "chosen ones," but rather about the regular people who get caught up in these larger-than-life messes and just have to deal with them. As he put it:
It’s happenstance that puts these people [at the center of things]. What if your timing is just weird and things happen to you? How do you deal with it? I’m interested in real consequences. The Doctor is always exciting, but he never stays. He goes off on the next adventure. What happens to real people?
Greg Austin, Fady Elsayed, Sophie Hopkins and Vivian Oparah have been cast as the four teens, with Katherine Kelly joining the TV series as their new teacher. Filming has already begun on the project in and around Wales. Class will be making an appearance at New York Comic Con, alongside Doctor Who, in October.
