Going back to Class

Episodes One to Four

 Seven years back we saw the last Doctor Who spin off to date, an eight part series called Class. Its fair to say that it wasn't a massive hit and finished after just the one season. Despite what that suggests there is much to like in the show and these reviews were written back in 2016 after one watch so you can see that, even if it wasn't perfect, at least one person liked it...

Episode 1 `For Tonight We May Die` / Episode 2 `The Coach with the Dragon Tattoo`

It’s been a while since we had a new Doctor Who spin off and just as it seemed as if that period was gone, along comes Class. At least for those aware of it. Debuting on the BBC’s peculiar channel / portal hybrid BBC3, it starts off at a disadvantage because even the Radio Times barely acknowledges 3’s existence. The show has a potential draw in the form of Peter Capaldi guesting in the opening episode…but nobody really wants to say too much about that because the series is unsuitable for younger people. On the other hand this is a series for…erm younger people. One way or another it will be a miracle if people find this show let alone decide to watch it. Who is it really designed for?

The answer, pleasingly, is everyone who likes this sort of stuff. It’s so called adult content consists of one mild swear word, a brief kiss between two boys and more blood than usual. In other words nothing more than you might spot if you watched Eastenders. Its concept is delightfully Whovian, its style well produced, narrative slightly over wordy and self- consciously speckled with (out of date) pop culture references and a line about Instagram. Oh and if you look very carefully you’ll spot the name Foreman S on a board of former pupils who have died. The director wants to show you the names of Clara and Danny of course but us veteran fans are scouring that board for familiar names. In other words it’s a bit more extreme than Doctor Who- but not as clever and less sensationalistic  than Torchwood but cleverer. Which is a nice place to be.

What is missing- and don’t misunderstand my enjoyment of this episode- is something extraordinary to really wow us. The monsters almost do it- the way they appear in clouds of black smoke and glide in unison along the corridors is thrilling and the momentum of the second half terrifically developed. It’s just that…we have seen this kind of stuff before. Some time ago. One character even mentions how the school is “like the Hellmouth”. What year is this? Had Class checked in a decade ago we’d be marking it ten out of ten. Now it’s a solid se-ven as Len Goodman might say. Really well made, well acted and visually striking but rather familiar.

There’s trouble at Coal Hill Academy (not sure how Ian and Babs would greet the idea of by passing the council and taking money direct from the government) where kids are disappearing and an alien Prince and his beholden slave and former leader of opposing forces from their home planet are hiding out Jon Cryer style posing as student and teacher. The Prince is Mr Selfridge’s son while Miss Quill is Lady Mae Loxley. That’s not part of the plot of course!

It’s a premise which might have benefited from being revealed over a few episodes rather than the exposition heavy scenes here. A number of other kids are drawn into this malarkey including one girl called April who ends up sharing a heart with the Shadow Kin leader. Played by Sophie Hopkins she is excellent in managing to convince us that April is dealing with this issue in a level headed way.

The Shadow Kin themselves are like up market Krargs, the monsters from `Shada` given a Samurai twist and quite the best monsters we’ve seen in the Whoniverse for years. The trouble though with having the Doctor in the episode is that having built up the kids and their fight as soon as he steps out of the TARDIS wearing Jon Pertwee’s hair, all eyes are on him and we forget the kids. It really needed longer before he showed up.

If some of the dialogue is a tad clunky and there’s too much stuff about the alien planet (a place where they seem to wear UK school uniforms for some reason) there is also a strong urgency to the danger and director Ed Bazalgette marshals the different elements very well. The main cast seem promising especially Greg Austin’s downplaying in the face of Katherine Kelly’s amusingly angry Miss Quill.

The best thing is that you can watch episode 2 right away and you really should because it seems to show more of what will be true shape of the series. Without all the explanations or indeed the Doctor, `The Coach with the Dragon Tattoo` riffs effectively from horror movies and is far gorier visually and grittier narratively than the opener. Patrick Ness’s script deal with the after effects of tragedy and shock focussing on Ram’s reaction to the events of the week before. As you might expect he isn’t dealing with things especially well unlike actor Fady Elsayed who delivers a pitch perfect performance in the role. The character is trying to maintain his outward cool, struggling to play football again and also witnessing more traumatic events. The other strand includes some amusing Ofsted gags complete with a wordless schools inspector who turns out to be a robot! Katherine Kelly is very funny as she confronts the inspector first with Western style drawn out stares then in the middle of a lesson. Mind you her teaching methods are so unorthodox its wonder she can hold down the job.

The episode is thus finely balanced and can be witty one minute and horrific the next. The dragon like monster gives the series a two out of two so far for aliens but is used creatively at the climax. Again this is Elsayed’s scene but you do feel the gang will need a Thing of some sort with which to act against all these monsters. The school meanwhile is going to have an increasing number of vacancies the way things are going. The idea suggested that the Governors are up to something –and quite possibly aliens as well- will resonate with any teacher watching.

 Episode 3 Nightvisiting

 Anyone who found the opening two episodes came across rather broadly may prefer this thoughtful and occasionally poignant story of an unconventional invasion which sees the streets of London festooned with bizarre appendages reaching into windows. The episode opens though with a montage telling us the story of Tanya’s late father and the aftermath of his death. This is a strong opening to what is an episode that relies on character rather than too much technobabble and is all the better for it. At the centre of things, Vivian Oparah delivers a powerful performance as the confused and shocked Tanya.

As we (and indeed both Tanya and Miss Quill separately) guess the sudden appearance of lost ones is not as it seems – the rather big green root growing from the deceased’s backs is enough of a clue. The aliens are called the Lankin and they gather souls using them to reunite with their still living relatives or so they eventually claim. What the episode is about though is the way these apparitions try to tempt characters to join them. Much of the running time deals with two encounters - Tanya and her father, Miss Quill and her sister – and the way all parties respond to the scenario.

As you might hope Miss Quill’s reaction is barbed sarcasm- as her `sister` explains the virtues of joining souls, she quips “This is a sales pitch”! Tanya though appears to be more tempted by her `father`s seemingly extensive knowledge of their old life together. Katherine Kelly is again in show stealing form- she is essentially the Doctor surrogate in some scenes and offers a positive answer to the age old question Could the Doctor be a woman? Vivian Oparah emphasises Tanya’s strength as much as her weakness in a stand out performance with an equally riveting turn by Kobna Holdbrook- Smith as her father. The actor manages to balance the personality of the Dad with some weird alien twitches perfectly.

Meanwhile Ram and April try to find their friends and run around the deserted alien plant infested capital which incidentally is realised extremely well.  Perhaps the only weak point is the way they stop for a heart to heart and a big of a snog in the middle of what Ram himself described earlier as “the end of the world”. Well they are teenagers I suppose. Otherwise the script is spot on as the dual conversations develop and both sides reveal their hand.

Using music and some very intimate direction Ed Bazalgette supports this wordy narrative well, as mentioned the staging of the outdoor scenes is excellent. Inside, there are little touches like the animal like noise every time Tanya’s father’s eyes twitch or the rather gooey insides of the tendrils when they are cut. Judging from the reaction to the first two episodes people may have an issue with the denouement here, not so much the way it is Tanya’s anger rather than grief that she ends up giving the Lankin thus weakening them but the way the huge entity just goes back into the crack. This is a potential weakness because it seems like a cop out; it doesn’t harm this episode for me but if every antagonist ends up just popping back it is going to become very predictable.

Two final things worth mentioning. Charlie has very little to do this episode as he spends much of it in bed with Matteusz but when the Prince does join the action  he amusingly brings useless implements to attack the alien fronds with. This fish out of water aspect of his character could definitely be an asset if used more and really suits Greg Austin. Meanwhile Miss Quill contributes to the defeat of the Lankin by driving a great big red bus through its numerous tentacles. This is the most British thing I’ve seen all year and you have to love any series that includes such an idea. Class is starting to live up to its name.

 Episode 4 Co-owner of a Lonely Heart

You’ve got to hand it to Patrick Ness, this episode is an extremely bizarre collision of familial woes and alien goings on. On paper it shouldn’t work yet somehow it does. After `Nightvisiting` set the tone following the uneven two openers, this amusingly titled fourth amps up the overall plot furthering the distance from Doctor Who to become a series with its own identity.

April’s having a bad day as her heart’s co-inhabitant the Shadow Kin leader is not being half hearted in trying to get the whole thing back despite the multi Galaxy spanning distance between them. April starts to develop some of his scimitar wielding attributes which come in handy when her father pops up after being released from prison. Incidentally he’s played by renowned actor Con O’Neill, an impressive coup in itself. Meanwhile Miss Quill has an interesting meeting with the new Headteacher who turns out to be an alien as well. Almost unnoticed lots of petals are drifting about and they too are not of this world.

The 45 minute length gives time for quite a build up- as well as developing the romance between April and Ram- but it also means the pace is uneven and the other regulars seem to be waiting around for something to happen.  Nevertheless Sophie Hopkins is convincingly mood swinging and the jumps from here to the Shadow Kin world are well judged. The latter place looks tremendous; the designers on this series certainly know how to conjure up unusual imagery.

The episode ends on a multi layered cliffhanger which leaves those not directly involved gawping incredulously at what they’ve seen rather like the viewer. I’m all for exciting climaxes but there is perhaps just a bit too much going on here so soon in the show. It feels like we’re still getting to know these characters –especially at the opening episode was hijacked by the Doctor- yet already they’re behaving like they’re 22 episodes in. I’m not sure quite where April’s logic comes in either – how does she know her act at the end for her mother will work? This could be something I missed as on my laptop’s limited speakers I did find some of the Shadow Kin’s dialogue difficult to understand and the sound rather over filled at times. Perhaps it’s my age, eh Patrick?

There is definitely a strong momentum and visual signature to this series now and it has quickly become unpredictable which is something that even the always enjoyable Sarah Jane Adventures often lacked.  It seems as if a lot of older Doctor Who fans haven’t taken to it which is a shame as anyone fed up with Steven Moffat or for that matter Russell T Davies will surely find something interesting from a new writer defining their own version of modern telefantasy. Much has been made of Class’ Young Adult credentials but I think the series reaches further than that and anyway how many millions of older adults have read the Harry Potter books for example?