Class 08: The Lost

In which the trauma of their detention, and Miss Quill's strange reappearance, have caused the group of students to drift apart. The pregnant teacher is hibernating, and Charlie fears what she will be like when she wakes, now that she no longer has the Arn implant preventing her causing harm to him.

Corakinus launches another campaign against Earth - he and his Shadow Kin emerging across the Coal Hill area through various tears in Space / Time. 

Amongst his victims are Ram's father, and Tanya's mother. She goes to see Quill to ask for her help, whilst Charlie and Matteusz seek support from Dorothea Ames, threatening her to do so.

When Corakinus goes after Tanya's brothers, Quill steps in and defends them. She then teaches Tanya how to fight back against the Shadow Kin. She must be able to defend herself and her family in the coming conflict.

Following the loss of their respective parents, the distraught Ram and Tanya approach Charlie and demand that he employ the Cabinet of Souls in revenge.

Corakinus threatens Matteusz and attempts to force April to sacrifice herself. Her death will finally free him from being linked to her via their shared heart. He claims he will leave Earth if she agrees, but is lying.

The Shadow Kin invade in force, and Charlie has to finally accept that he must use the Cabinet.

However, Corakinus has linked himself with Charlie as well as April, and both will die if he does so.

The Cabinet wipes out all of the Shadow Kin on Earth, including Corakinus. Quill manages to save Charlie, but April wakes up to find herself in Corakinus' body. As their vanquisher, Charlie is now Shadow King.

Ames passes through a hidden doorway and meets with the Governors. They are unhappy with her handling of the situation, and she is no longer worthy to help them with "the Arrival". She is attacked and killed by a Weeping Angel...

The Lost was written by Patrick Ness, and first broadcast on 3rd December 2016.

It was the final episode of the first series - and would subsequently prove to be the last episode full-stop. The BBC had failed to devote any care and attention to Class, wasting the chance to work meaningfully with a hugely popular author like Ness. The series was shown during a Doctor Who gap year, and it is obvious that Steven Moffat was equally neglectful of the series.

The Lost ends with some loose ends dangling and a cliff-hanger, such as April now trapped in the body of Corakinus, so it is clear that a second series was intended.

Ness later revealed that this would have featured the Governors more, and would have seen a Weeping Angel civil war.

Joining the cast as the Chair of the Governors is Cyril Nri, who had appeared as the enigmatic Shopkeeper in The Sarah Jane Adventures. This makes two Doctor Who spin-off series where he was due to contribute more significantly - only to see it cancelled.

Critics found the Governors to be far more interesting than the Shadow Kin, who were such a generic alien warrior race.

The whole episode was felt to be too rushed, with characters killed off who had never been properly developed in the first place. 

Overall, a huge disappointment to what had been a promising series. The final viewing figure for this finale was 0.32 million.

Class 07: The Metaphysical Engine, or What Quill Did

In which we see what Miss Quill was doing whilst the students were trapped in detention with an alien meteorite prison...

Dorothea Ames has offered her a means by which she can rid herself of the Arn - the creature implanted in her head which prevents her from using weapons. She warns that the procedure could be fatal, but Quill is determined to try. Meeting in the school hall, they are both joined by a man named Ballon.

Ames produces a machine which will miniaturise and transport them all.

They emerge to find themselves in a strange forest of red-leafed trees, unlike anywhere on Earth.

Ballon goes hunting and returns with a dead creature which is identified as an Arn. Ames explains that the device which transported them is known as the Metaphysical Engine. It allows people to enter into a thought or belief of another - including their concept of heaven or hell.

The device takes them into the afterlife of Ballon's people - the Lorr. It transpires that he is a shape-shifter who has become trapped in this one humanoid form. Ames needs the blood of the Lorr devil. He is so terrified of it that he cannot carry out the task, but is helped by Quill.

They must next retrieve a Quill brain so that Ballon can examine their anatomy. Quill finds herself in the Quill heaven, despite her refusal to believe in such a place. She encounters the original Quill goddess. Quill attacks her, accusing her of allowing her people to have died at the hands of the Shadow Kin. Ballon kills the goddess, decapitating her for the brain.

The trio return to Coal Hill School, now that they have the items needed to remove Quill's Arn - the dead Arn, the Porr devil's blood, and the Quill goddess' brain. Ballon carries out the operation and Quill is freed of the creature, although left with a scar down her face. She and Ballon have sex.

Going to find Ames, they find that they were never back at the school. They are really in a bleak desert landscape, within the Cabinet of Souls.

Ames claims to simply be a holographic projection. There is only enough energy to transport one of them out of the Cabinet. They must fight to the death. Time within the Cabinet moves at a faster rate, so they have no time to debate the matter. Ballon wins the fight but when he shoots Quill, it is he who dies - Ames having sabotaged the weapon.

Quill vows to destroy the Rhodian souls who inhabit the Cabinet.

She returns to the school and frees the students from detention. 45 minutes have passed for them, but Quill is several months older - and several months pregnant...

The Metaphysical Engine, or What Quill Did was written by Patrick Ness, and first broadcast on 26th November 2016.

In the previous episode we had seen Quill turn up with longer hair and a deep scar on her face - and this instalment explains how this came about.

It is refreshing to focus on Katherine Kelly's Miss Quill - who has been the most interesting and wickedly funny character of the series. The students are all too po-faced and hung-up on their relationships, whilst the purported hero of the show - Charlie - is deliberately set up to be humourless as part of his characterisation. It is also nice to see the series break away from Coal Hill once again, visiting a few new alien worlds - though they are more metaphysical spaces than actual planets.

There is just the one additional guest cast member this week - Chike Okonkwo as Ballon. The Quill goddess is played by Spencer Wilding, who had recently been playing monsters like the Minotaur in Doctor Who (as well as Darth Vader in Star Wars: Rogue One).

After coming across as an ambivalent character, Pooky Quesnel's Dorothea Ames is established as a proper villain, and we get lots of hints about the, as yet unseen, Governors who she works for.

They have been studying the tears in Space / Time centred on the school, but are not responsible for them.

Overall, one of the better episodes of the series.

Class 06: Detained

In which Miss Quill has Charlie and all of his friends placed in detention after school, going so far as to lock them in the classroom. She has things of her own to do, and does not want Charlie interfering...

He had only been a couple of minutes late, and is unhappy about being locked in as he suffers from claustrophobia.

As the youngsters talk together, one of the tears in Space / Time opens and a small meteorite smashes into the room, embedding itself in the wall. At the same time, they discover that the classroom has been transported into a black void.

Suspecting initially that this is the work of Miss Quill, they then come to realise that this is something to do with the glowing meteorite. Matteusz picks it up, intent on tossing it out of the door, but it has a strange effect on him. He finds himself telling everyone about his life back in Poland. He mentions very personal details, and tells Charlie that as much as he loves him he is also frightened of him as he isn't human. He is unable to let go of the rock, until April knocks it out of his hand.

Matteusz is unable to explain why he said what he said - other than he felt compelled to tell the truth. As they discuss what has happened, Tanya notices that everyone is quick to lose their temper. She realises that this is the work of the meteorite. It makes the holder tell the truth, whilst affecting the mood of the others. She takes hold of it, hoping that it will allow her to communicate with it. Like Matteusz she feels compelled to talk. She states that none of the other students are real friends, and everyone looks down on her as she is younger than them. She decides to persevere and ask the stone some questions. They learn through her that it is a form of prison containing a sentient presence, and it needs their help. Holding it too long will damage the brain of the holder, so Ram knocks it from Tanya's hand.

Charlie finds that anything thrown out of the room bounces back in again, and they surmise that it has become part of the meteorite prison - trapping them all here.

Ram holds it next and expresses his feelings for April before discovering that the prisoner was a mass killer, and being forced to tell the truth was part of his sentence. April also takes the stone and talks about her love for Ram. They learn that in this void dimension they will never age or die and so be trapped for all eternity.

The anger issues amongst the group mount. Finally Charlie decides to tell everyone what he thinks of them and all about his desire to have used the Cabinet of Souls to kill all the Shadow Kin, even if Matteusz hated him for it. By telling the truth now, unforced, he thinks that the stone will have no power over him and so takes hold of it. His wish for genocide overpowers the meteorite and they find the classroom returned to Coal Hill School. However, the prison now sees Charlie as a greater criminal and attempts to imprison him along with the current occupant. For a Rhodian, thinking about a crime makes you just as guilty as committing it.

Miss Quill suddenly walks in and destroys the meteorite - now able to wield weapons. She has a livid scar down her face, and her hair is noticeably longer than when she locked them in. She reveals that the creature implanted in her head to prevent violent behaviour, enslaving her to Charlie, has now been removed - and things are about to change...

Detained was written by Patrick Ness, and first broadcast on 19th November 2016. It was made back to back with the following episode, which reveals what Miss Quill was doing whilst the younger characters were trapped in detention. You could call it the "Miss Quill-lite" episode.

The episode features only the regular cast in a single room and uses the confines of this setting and situation to further develop the younger ones. Each takes hold of the strange stone and reveals something about themselves and their relationship with the others.

Whilst it may have been necessary to have a focus on the others whilst Quill was away, such an episode might have better suited an earlier slot in the series. We've sort of found out a lot about everyone through the preceding episodes anyway. We know who loves who, we know of Tanya's issues about her child prodigy status, we know of Matteusz's unhappiness at Charlie's temptation over the Cabinet of Souls...

The most interesting aspect of the episode turns out to be Quill's appearance at the end.

Generally, many US TV series have what is called a "bottle episode", which is designed to be the cheap schedule filler. It usually features only the regulars in a limited setting (the main one being used throughout the series). They often arise from another script falling through, necessitating a last minute replacement, or simply a way of balancing the budget. (The worst type of bottle episodes are the clips shows, which rely on flashback sequences).

The revived series of Doctor Who has featured episodes which might fit the "bottle" description - but somehow transcend it. This is mainly because they have been given the same level of attention as more conventional episodes, and concentrate on good story-telling and great performances. Just consider Midnight (or The Edge of Destruction back in the day).

Where Detained really wins is in the performances. Everyone is given a chance to shine but it is a particularly good episode for Greg Austin and Jordan Renzo.

There is one additional member of the cast - the voice of the alien prisoner is that of Ferdy Roberts.

Class 05: Brave-ish Heart

In which April and Ram have been transported through a tear in Space / Time to the Underneath - home to the Shadow Kin. It is a volcanic world of perpetual night. 

Meanwhile, the Coal Hill district is under threat from beautiful but deadly alien flowers, which feed on blood...

Dorothea Ames, the new school principal, informs Miss Quill that she and the Governors see her as a useful ally in helping defeat alien threats. She has a way of disabling the creature which inhibits Quill from using weapons. She wants Quill to talk Charlie into using the Cabinet of Souls to eliminate the flower menace. However, she intends that Charlie use this instead to destroy the Shadow Kin and so avenge their dead peoples.

Despite the disappearance of their children through the tear, Ram's father Varun argues with April's - Huw - over the relationship which has developed between them. Matteusz and Tanya have to mediate and get them to concentrate on the real problem.

April and Ram make their way through the Underneath to find Corakinus. April has determined to kill him - the only way to separate their shared heart, despite it also meaning her own death. She finds that she can think like a Shadow Kin, and uses this psychic link to trace Corakinus to his palace.

She battles the alien king and defeats him. Her mother, Jackie, manages to forge a link with her via a Space / Time tear, and through this portal Huw pleads with her not to kill Corakinus and herself. She relents and lets him live, but orders the Shadow Kin to imprison him. By defeating him in combat, she is now their ruler and can command the army.

As people die all over the district, smothered by blood-sucking petals, Charlie decides to open the Cabinet of Souls. However, April returns with Ram, accompanied by the Shadow Kin army. She orders them to destroy the flowers and then return to the Underneath.

Charlie admits that he is unsure who he might have targeted with the device had he opened it - the flowers or the Shadow Kin.

Ames admits that the flowers had been a deliberate introduction by the Governors, in order to observe April, Quill and Charlie in action. She informs Quill that she will still proceed with helping her remove the weapon block, despite her failing to get Charlie to open the Cabinet.

Corakinus breaks the anchor linking him with April, so that she loses her power over the Shadow Kin.

She and her mother force Huw to leave - only able to return when they permit him to do so. April now possesses the power of heal Jackie's paralysis.

Brave-ish Heart was written by Patrick Ness and was first broadcast on 12th November 2016. It forms the second half of the story which began in Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart.

There are no additional guest cast members.

Reception was mixed, with most critics praising the character development, whilst others pointed out the poor sci-fi elements, which weren't properly thought out. April appears to have helped cure her mother's paralysis, but how is never explained. Nor is the manner by which the Shadow Kin eliminate the flowers. They seem to turn them into shadow en masse, which was not quite how the aliens operated before.

The tone is varied, with characters pausing mid-action for heart-to-hearts, or speechifying. The fight between Corakinus and April makes one wonder how he managed to become king in the first place.

Overall, it is a middling episode which acts mainly as a set up for the final section of the series.

It is nice to have gotten away to an alien planet for a change. We've missed that this year, with Doctor Who taking one of its increasingly frequent gap years.

Class 04: Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart

In which the consequences of the Shadow Kin attack at the school prom begin to make themselves felt...

The displacement gun which Charlie had used on Corakinus had caused he and April to become temporarily merged. On separating, however, it was found that they now shared the same heart - existing in both our dimension and the Underneath - realm of the Shadow Kin. The death of one would lead to the death of the other.

Corakinus instructs his people to find a way to safely separate him from the Earth girl. Their efforts, however, have a negative effect on her. She begins to demonstrate anger management issues, arguing with teachers and fellow pupils at school. Things come to a head when her estranged father Huw turns up unannounced, recently freed from prison. He had attempted to kill himself by crashing his car - with April and her mother on board.

In her fury at him she manifests a Shadow Kin sword and threatens him with it.

Charlie, meanwhile, decides to inform Matteusz about the Cabinet of Souls which he brought from his home planet. The Rhodian souls within could be brought back to life, but only by taking over the bodies of others. Miss Quill overhears this, and is angry that Charlie holds a potential weapon that could destroy the Shadow Kin. Matteusz is worried that his boyfriend could even contemplate genocide.

At the same time April is suffering her difficulties, a mass of seemingly harmless pink flowers begin to appear around the district. They reproduce at an alarming rate, however, and what is worse is that they feed on flesh and blood and begin to kill people. They are alien in origin, having come through one of the space / time rifts.

Miss Quill is informed about this threat by Dorothea Ames, the new Head of Coal Hill School. She reveals that she knows all about her and Charlie, and has been specially selected by the Governors to run the school. She also reveals that she may have the power to remove the implant which enslaves Quill to Charlie and prevents her from using weapons

At the Shadow Palace, a Shadow Kin named Rannus comes up with a plan to help Corakinus - an anchor which will tie the heart exclusively to him. This plan fails, and Corakinus has Rannus executed.

Another adviser, Kharrus, came up with a variation on Rannus' anchor plan. This would entail anchoring Corakinus to a whole person, not just via the heart. Corakinus elects to proceed with this plan - but he will travel back to Earth and slay April and take the heart for himself.

When the plan appears to fail, Corakinus had Kharrus executed as well, despite her being his lover. 

It transpires that he had acted too soon, and the plan has actually succeeded.

As Corakinus rages against Kharrus for her failure, April is once again furious with her father who has arrived at her home. This triggers a switch, as Corakinus is transported to Earth, and April is sent to the Underneath. Ram leaps through the portal after her just before it closes...

Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart was written by Patrick Ness, and first broadcast on 5th November 2016. It is the opening instalment of the series' first proper two-parter, ending on a cliff-hanger. April and Ram have been transported to the Underneath, whilst Coal Hill is threatened by carnivorous flowers.

The Shadow Kin return from the opening episode, led once again by Paul Marc Davis as Corakinus. We get to see their home planet and meet some more of their kind. The two advisers - Rannus and Kharrus - are actually portrayed by the same actor - Kelly Gough.

Headmaster Mr Armitage had been killed off in the second episode, and this instalment introduces his replacement - Dorothea Ames. Whilst he had clearly been none the wiser about the odd things going on around his school - until one of them ate him - she is a much more sinister figure. She knows all about the background of Miss Quill and Charlie, in some detail, and is familiar with the space / time rents. 

She is working for the mysterious Governors, who had employed an android to spy on Miss Quill in the dragon episode.

Ames is played by Pooky Quesnel. Also joining the cast this week, as April's father Huw, is Con O'Neill.

Overall, we have a lot of character development and it is nice to get away from Coal Hill School and the monster-of-the-week format which the series was in danger of falling into.

Things you might like to know:

• Pooky Quesnel had previously featured in the 2010 Doctor Who Christmas Special A Christmas Carol, as the captain of the crashing spaceship.
• The episode title was inspired by the 1983 Yes song Owner of a Lonely Heart.
• Though Kelly Gough plays two different Shadow Kin, Rannus is voiced by another actor - Neil McCaul - to help differentiate them.
• Mr Armitage's name has been a added to the school memorial board, which already lists Clara Oswald and Danny Pink.
• Miss Quill shows a physics video to her class. We don't see it, but the voice shows that it is one of Brian Cox's programmes. He had cameoed in The Power of Three, as well as presenting The Science of Doctor Who as part of the 50th Anniversary build-up.

Class 03: Nightvisiting

In which a sentient plant-like lifeform emerges from a tear in Space / Time at Coal Hill School. This appears as a mass of tendrils, which can take on the form of people through a psychic link with its intended victims. Tanya is visited by her father Jasper - on the second anniversary of his death. Convinced she must be hallucinating, the figure attempts to make physical contact with her. He appears to have memories which only her father should possess.

Elsewhere, Miss Quill is visited by the same plant-form, which takes on the appearance of her sister. She tries to encourage her to accept a weapon - claiming that she can bypass the block which prevents her using guns.

Ram is on a video call with April when he is visited by Rachel - his Prom date who had been killed by the Shadow Kin.

April and Ram each run from their homes and meet up outside. They see people covered in green slime lying in the street and in nearby shops - victims of the tendrils.

Miss Quill knows her sister to be an imposter as she is too nice - she and her sister always hated each other. The creature reveals itself to be the Lankin - a parasite which feeds on the grief of its victims by appearing as someone they have lost, before absorbing them completely.

Unable to attack it, Quill fetches Charlie who has been in bed upstairs with Matteusz. Charlie stabs the creature with a screwdriver.

Ram and April discover a huge network of tendrils stretching across the neighbourhood. It is spreading across the whole of London. They spot one particular tendril, thicker than the rest, leading in through Tanya's window and head inside to save her.

Tanya hated her abusive father, and instead of feeding it the grief it desires, she poisons it with her anger. This weakens the Lankin. Miss Quill steals a double-decker bus and smashes through the main tendril leading into Tanya's home. The Lankin are forced to withdraw into the school and retreat through the Space / Time rift.

Charlie tells Miss Quill that Matteusz will be moving in with them, after being turfed out by his homophobic parents.

Nightvisiting was written by Patrick Ness, and was first broadcast on BBC 3 on 29th October 2016.

This episode allows for some character development, as we discover various things about the families of some of the regulars. Miss Quill had a sister with whom she shared a love-hate relationship (they loved to hate each other). April confides in Ram the circumstances that led to her mother being confined to a wheelchair. Her father had attempted to commit suicide by deliberately crashing his car - with his wife and daughter still in it. Matteusz has a homophobic family, who throw him out of the house due to his sexuality. He, meanwhile, sees his relationship with Charlie move up a level and they go to bed together. The main focus of the episode is on the one character who has been underused so far - Tanya. We learn about her dead father and about her mother and three brothers, and it is her attitude towards her father which leads towards the defeat of the Lankin. Her hatred quite literally poisons it.

The guest cast is a small one. Playing Jasper - Tanya's father - is Kobna Holdbrook-Smith.

Anastasia Hille plays Orla'ath, sister of Miss Quill. It transpires that Quill develop in nests, and sibling rivalry is encouraged in a "survival of the fittest" sort of way. 

Tanya's mother, Vivien, is played by Natasha Gordon. Anna Shaffer reprises Ram's deceased girlfriend Rachel.

Critics at the time claimed this to be the best of the series so far, thanks to scenes such as that between Tanya and her "father", and the development of the relationships between Charlie and Matteusz, and April and Ram.

Overall, an interesting little episode, though not terribly original. Ghosts pretending to be loved ones, concealing dangerous motives, is an old idea.

Things you might like to know:

• Tanya has a letter from Coal Hill School giving its address as Foreman Street, Shoreditch. I.M. Foreman was the name of the junkyard proprietor on whose premises the TARDIS was parked in 1963.
• The name Lankin came from the song Long Lankin, by contemporary musician Jim Moray. It was an adaptation of a 15th Century Scottish ballad called Lamkin.
• Moray also wrote a piece called Nightvisitor, which was included in the episode. It backs a flashback scene involving Tanya's father, and April plays a section on her violin. Moray released it as a single on the day this episode first aired.

Class 02: The Coach With The Dragon Tattoo

In which Carroll, assistant sports coach at Coal Hill School is attacked by a savage dragon-like creature in the changing rooms. It leaves his flayed body and vanishes through a tear in Space / Time. Ram is struggling to adapt to his new artificial leg and is sent off the football pitch by bullying head coach Dawson. He finds the body and, still traumatised after the death of his Prom date, he hides in a toilet cubicle. After a time he emerges to find no trace of the corpse. Dawson appears and sends Ram home. Stripping off to shower, he reveals an ornate dragon tattoo on his back. He sees a spot of blood in the shower and wipes it away with his foot - and the eye of the dragon tattoo blinks...

Headmaster Mr Armitage informs Miss Quill that the school is about to undergo a spot inspection, and her class has been identified for study. She is unhappy at this but is forced to co-operate.

Charlie, April and Tanya attempt to speak to Ram about the events of the Prom, but he is hostile and brushes them off.

Later Ram witnesses another death - that of a cleaner - but once again all the evidence vanishes and Dawson is close by. He begins to doubt his sanity and thinks the trauma of Prom night has affected him.

He has always been able to talk with Tanya, and decides to confide what he saw in her. She decides to hack into the UNIT website for ideas.

Quill is highly suspicious of the strange Inspector - a man named Paul Smith - believing him to have some hidden agenda. There is no record of him anywhere.

She noticed that his spectacles have clear glass in them. He says very little - and when she throws a stapler at him he catches it with lightning quick reflexes. She notifies Charlie and warns him that they may be in danger.

Tanya tells Charlie and April of Ram's experiences. They suggest that she approach Mr Armitage to find out if any cleaners are missing. He confirms one did fail to come into work today.

A further attack by the dragon is witnessed by April and leads to the death of Mr Armitage. Ram discovers that the others have also now seen the creature and he is not seeing things.

Miss Quill uses the Inspector to lure the creature out of the school where it attacks him - revealing him to have been an android.

It transpires that there are two Leaf Dragons - a male and a female. The female has become physically bonded with Dawson, manifesting itself as his tattoo. The male dragon is visiting the school in order to hunt for and feed its mate. Ram finally makes the connection with Dawson, recalling his elaborate tattoo  and its similarity to the dragon. Quill and the pupils challenge him and he reveals the incident when the female bonded with him. He knows that he is safe from the male, who can't harm its mate, and he is benefitting from the dragon's powers to make himself stronger.

The male dragon is talked into returning through the tear in Space / Time for good - taking its mate with him. All it needs is Dawson's skin - not the rest of him. It then departs, dragging the coach with it.

Ram informs his father about his leg, and what has been happening at the school.

Miss Quill, meanwhile, investigates the remains of the android and finds a tag claiming it property of "The Governors"...

The Coach With the Dragon Tattoo was  written by the show's creator Patrick Ness, and was first broadcast on 22nd October 2016 - screened immediately after the opening episode. This could be considered in two ways. Either a double episode is fan-pleasing and likely to grab more attention - or the BBC weren't sure about the series and were determined to complete the run as quickly as possible. In hindsight, it appears that the latter was the case.

The episode title derives from the Stieg Larsson novel The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, published in Sweden posthumously in 2005 (Larsson died in 2004, aged 50). The English translation followed in 2008. A Swedish movie adaptation appeared in 2009, with a Hollywood remake in 2011.

The episode is set immediately following the events of Prom night. It is not known what really happened to Ram's date, Rachel, and everyone thinks she is simply missing. This took place one week ago according to dialogue. This cover-up doesn't help resolve his PTSD from the night.

Dawson's large tattoo reminds us of the Thomas Harris "Tooth Fairy" serial killer in Red Dragon. Harris' most famous character was a cannibal, and here we have an actual dragon monster eating victims.

We also have two types of bullying going on - the overt cruel behaviour of Dawson, and more subtle family pressure from Ram's father for him to succeed in football.

Sadly, this episode sees the departure of Nigel Betts as Mr Armitage, who had looked as though he might be a recurring character. He doesn't make it past the opening night.

Leading the guest cast as Coach Dawson is Ben Peel. He featured in Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom, so you could argue he has form with large reptilian monsters.

Jami Reid-Quarrell, who had featured in Series 9 as Colony Sarff and as a Gallifreyan Matrix Wraith, plays the enigmatic Inspector.

Seen briefly in the opening instalment, we get to properly meet Varun - Ram's father. He is played by Aaron Neil. Assistant coach Carroll is David McGranaghan, and the cleaner is Cally Lawrence.

Overall, after the set-up of the first episode, with its story arc and links to Doctor Who, Class appears to be trending towards a monster-of-the-week show. Luckily this will not actually be the case. Not many of the later instalments will fit that bill, so this is atypical.

Things you might like to know:

• One of the school buildings is named after Barbara Wright.
• We start to learn that there is more to the Board of Governors than meets the eye, as they have access to highly advanced technology and some secret plans involving Quill. However, we only recently saw that Ian Chesterton is supposed to be their Chairman. Presumably he must have retired between 2013 and 2016.
• Charlie is amazed by humans' ability to put out of their minds bizarre experiences, such as the Shadow Kin attack on the Prom. The Seventh Doctor had remarked on the same thing, citing humanity's failure to recall events like the Zygon / Skarasen incident and the Yeti in the Underground - whilst on a visit to Coal Hill School.

Class 01: For Tonight We Might Die

In which the Doctor's frequent visits to the Coal Hill area of London are shown to have consequences...

One of the pupils at Coal Hill School is not what he appears. Charlie is really an alien prince - a member of a race known as the Rhodians. One of the teachers - Miss Quill - is also a disguised alien. Her people are called the Quill. This race was enslaved by the Rhodians following a lengthy war. Miss Quill is bonded to Charlie, forced to serve and protect him despite her hatred of him and his people. An implant enforces this. She will die if she attempts to use any weapon.

The Rhodians were wiped out by another race called the Shadow Kin, but Charlie and Miss Quill were rescued by the Doctor and brought to Earth - which is how they found themselves at Coal Hill School.

Frequent visits from the TARDIS, Dalek and Cyberman time devices have damaged local Space / Time, and alien beings have been able to manifest themselves on Earth at this point. The most recent of these is a member of the Shadow Kin. They know of Charlie's survival, and seek to end the Rhodian race.

Charlie finds it hard to relate to humans due to his alien nature and aristocratic roots, but he comes to befriend some of the school's other loners. 

April McLean and Tanya Adeola have been tasked with preparing decorations for the forthcoming School Prom. April is thinking of asking Charlie to the prom, but he is intending to ask another boy named Matteusz. Charlie has noticed a strange shadow around the school.

Another boy named Ram Singh has also noticed this. He is not academically gifted, preferring football.

Tanya is then threatened by the shadow, but dismisses it as imagination due to overwork. She was regarded as a child prodigy and is constantly pressured to do well in her studies.

At home, Miss Quill tells Charlie that she is aware of the shadow, and that it has already destroyed one of the pupils.

The shadow attacks April when she is alone in the school hall, and another appears in Tanya's bedroom, witnessed by Ram who is on a video call with her.

Miss Quill wants to help April but cannot use her weapon against it. Charlie arrives in time and uses the weapon - a displacement gun - on the shadow creature.

This proves to be Corakinus - King of the Shadow Kin. Charlie's shot goes wrong. Corakinus has merged with April and they now share a heart - a side-effect of the displacement.

At the Prom, the Shadow Kin launch a massed attack. Ram's partner is killed, and when he tries to fight the creatures he loses part of his leg - cut off by one of their swords. April at one point is transferred to the dimension which is home to the Shadow Kin - the Underneath - and learns of their quest to find "the prince". He has an object known as the Cabinet of Souls, which he brought with him when he fled his home planet. The Shadow Kin see this as a great weapon which threatens them, and they want to obtain it.

The TARDIS materialises and the Doctor emerges. He has been keeping an eye on the Rhodian refugees and has been concerned about Charlie using the Cabinet.

April threatens to sacrifice herself by destroying Corakinus' heart. The Shadow Kin are forced to retreat back to their own dimension.

The Doctor temporarily seals the tear in dimensions, then helps Ram by providing him with a bionic leg. He warns Miss Quill and the young people of the threat posed by the damage to the area. There will be other alien dangers to face.

It later transpires that the Cabinet contains millions of Rhodian souls...

For Tonight We Might Die was written by Patrick Ness, creator of the series, and first broadcast on BBC 3 on 22nd October 2016. It is the opening instalment of a new spin-off from Doctor Who - the first new spin-off since The Sarah Jane Adventures nine years before. Anglo-American Ness is a well-known writer of Young Adult fiction, and this is the audience which Class appears to be pitched at. 

One of his best known works - A Monster Calls - was made into a movie in 2016, starring Sigourney Weaver and Liam Neeson voicing the titular monster.

Steven Moffat acted as Executive Producer, as did Brian Minchin who held the same position on the parent programme.

2016 was a gap year for Doctor Who, with no series being produced between The Husbands of River Song and the following Christmas Special - The Return of Dr Mysterio. 

Fans were pleased to hear about this spin-off because of this. Ness was a big name, and it was announced that the series would have concrete links with the parent series in that it was going to be set in and around Coal Hill School. This had first featured in An Unearthly Child, when Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright had been teachers, and the Doctor's granddaughter Susan was a pupil there.

The area - though not the school itself - was visited again in 1985 when the Sixth Doctor and Peri visited the junkyard at Totter's Lane in Attack of the Cybermen.

The school did get another visit back in 1963, when the Daleks used it as a base in Remembrance of the Daleks. They set up a transmat in the school basement.

More recently, Clara Oswald had obtained a job teaching English there, where she met Maths and gym teacher Danny Pink. A notice proclaimed Ian as Chairman of the School Board in The Day of the Doctor. The TARDIS was based on site for a time, when the Doctor took on a temporary job as School Caretaker. Temporal technology was used then to twice remove an alien Skovox Blitzer robot.

All this activity has damaged the area, creating a similar set-up to Torchwood's Cardiff Rift - where dangers from other planets and dimensions have a chance to break through to this one.

Something else which the fans were pleased about was the news that Peter Capaldi would be appearing in a cameo role to help launch the series. Neither Torchwood nor The Sarah Jane Adventures had featured the Doctor in their pilots / openers.

The only other previously seen character in this episode is Headmaster Mr Armitage, who had featured in a couple of Series 8 stories, most notably in The Caretaker. He is played by Nigel Betts.

Miss Quill is Katharine Kelly, who was well known for her six-year role as Becky McDonald in Coronation Street.

The younger members of the cast are led by Greg Austin as Charlie. He had featured in Mr Selfridge and is currently starring in Hunters on Amazon Prime, with Al Pacino.

As April we have Sophie Hopkins. Ram is Fady Elsayed. He was originally going to play Nabile in The Bells of St John, the young man who is captured by the wi-fi in the opening moments, but the sequence was re-recorded with another actor when Fady was no longer available.

Tanya is Vivian Oparah, and Matteusz is Jordan Renzo.

Playing Corakinus is Paul Marc Davis, who had portrayed the Trickster in The Sarah Jane Adventures, as well as the leader of the Futurekind in Utopia.

Corakinus and the Shadow Kin will prove to be recurring villains throughout the series, thanks to the notion of the shared heart. Other story arc elements include the Cabinet of Souls and the various relationships between the students (Charlie loves Matteusz, but is also fancied by April, and Tanya has an unrequited thing for April, whilst the relationship between Miss Quill and Charlie is one of forced dependency and mutual dislike and distrust).

Overall, an interesting start to the new series. The Shadow Kin are a great design and concept. We like the cantankerous Miss Quill from the outset, but the younger cast will take some getting used to. They don't all get much to do for now, other than Charlie and April.

Things you might like to know:

• The episode had a working title of "The Prom".
• The Doctor is stopped short by seeing the school In Memoriam board, which has the names C. Oswald and R.D. Pink on it.
• The school is said to be sited on Foreman Street in Shoreditch - from Susan's assumed surname.
• There are mentions of Buffy The Vampire Slayer and The Vampire Diaries - series which had inspired it. The location of the school is said to resemble the "Hellmouth" from Buffy. Buffy had been one of the main inspirations for Russell T Davies' 2005 revamp (no pun intended) of the series and the character of Rose Tyler.
• The character of Mrs Linderhof who appears briefly is played by Laura-June Hudson. This is actually the costume designer June Hudson, who was responsible for much of the late Tom Baker era - including outfits for Mary Tamm, Lalla Ward and Tom's final burgundy costume.

Class 1.8 - Reviewed

The series finale of Class is now out there - The Lost. Under no circumstances would I recommend you read any further if you haven't seen it yet, as there is one helluva spoiler. If that's you, go away now.
I'll wait a minute or two until the others have gone...

Right then. So we left things with that split two-parter over the last two weeks. The young folks were falling out due to the "Meteorite of Truth", and at the same time Miss Quill was freeing herself from the Arn in her head on a metaphysical quest. She may have gotten rid of the parasite, but she has gained something new - a bun in the oven. Not great tidings, as Quill mothers die in childbirth and get eaten by their sprogs. No doubt this will be resolved by the fact that the father is a shape-shifter rather than another Quill.
Tonight's episode began with some shocking moments. Ram's dad is butchered by Corakinus in front of him, the Shadowkin King appearing out of nowhere on the playing field. Shortly afterwards, Tanya's mum cops it as well.
It all looks like events are building which are going to push Charlie into opening that damned Cabinet of Souls. Corakinus announces that Matteusz is on his hit list. Destroying the Shadowkin will also mean the death of April, and Corakinus ups the ante by infecting Charlie with Shadow - so he'll die too.
It really looks like there will be vacancies in the cast for series 2, which I sincerely hope is in the pipeline. Earlier, I predicted Matteusz's death, as he is the only one not to have any family on view, and he's just a bit too nice. He has some lovely moments with Charlie here, which made me think that this is all too good to last. Surprisingly, he made it to the end. April appeared to die, and it looked like Charlie would follow, as he finally opened the Cabinet.

That's because the Shadowkin invaded in force, latching onto everyone's shadows. Charlie makes the ultimate sacrifice - knowing that he will die, April will die, Matteusz doesn't want him to be a mass killer, and once the souls are out of the box there's no way of bringing his people back.
Quill saves him at the last minute. His fate is to live with the guilt of what he has just done. April hasn't made it, however. Or has she?
Whilst everyone is squaring up in the Coal Hill assembly hall, head teacher Dorothea has been talking to the mysterious Governors. They're led by Cyril Nri, who was the weird shopkeeper in the Sarah Jane Adventures. Definitely not the same character.
The Governors are planning for an event known only as "The Arrival". They're not happy that the Cabinet has been opened, so Dorothea pays with her life - and here's the big spoilery moment for those of you who ignored that warning at the start.
She has her neck broken by a Weeping Angel.
Yes, we all thought that the Doctor would set up this series, then that would be it for its connection to the parent programme. There might have been a one-off guest appearance by a Who monster in a stand-alone episode, but it's the Angels who are going to be the Big Bad - at least for the second series.
But that wasn't the final surprise. April's dead, but suddenly Corakinus sits up, and he is now April...
An excellent way to end what has, for the most part, been a very good series. Yes, the youngsters have grated a bit at times, and I don't buy that Tanya can beat up Shadowkin after 5 minutes of basic karate training with Quill.
Lots to be resolved with the second series. April now in Corakinus. The Weeping Angels and Governors. Quill's baby. Will Matteusz still love Charlie? How will Ram cope with his girlfriend looking like the creature that murdered his father? What will Quill do, now that her enemies have been destroyed, and she's no longer tied to Charlie?
Roll on that second series.
So that's all the new Who for 2016 - until 25th December. Lots of new photos released today for The Return of Doctor Mysterio, which can be viewed as a gallery on the official website.

Class 1.7 - Reviewed

The penultimate episode of the first series of Class is now out there, if you have access to BBC 3 website or the i-player service.
The Metaphysical Engine, or What Quill Did lets us see what Miss Quill got up to whilst the younger characters were stuck in detention last time. Thanks to last week's episode, we kind of knew how this would end - as she now has gotten rid of the Arn parasite and so has free will again. She no longer has to protect Charlie.
The means of removing the Arn were convoluted, to say the least. It involved procuring a couple of items from things which only exist in the realm of Belief - hence the Metaphysical Engine of the title.
The recipe is this. Take the pheromones of an Arn - to be found in their heaven. Get a shape-shifting surgeon, who has been frozen from shape-shifting. Free them by obtaining the blood of his - or her - devil in hell. Then get the brain of a Quill. But as they no longer exist (save for you know who) get it from her goddess in her heaven.
This is all the plan of the Governors, who think that the tears in space / time at Coal Hill are not just the result of frequent TARDIS intrusions but are there for a reason and to be profited from in some way.

The shape-shifter - Balon - succeeds in removing the Arn. We get to hear about what it was that Quill lost when she was captured. Not just her freedom, but her partner as well. She's a soldier, and so is Balon, so the two of them hit it off. No inter-species mating on view, but we do get to see the post-coital aftermath. They thought they were back at the school, but turns out they were really in the Cabinet of Souls, and duplicitous Dorothea informs them there's only enough juice for one of them to get home. They have to fight each other to the death, which they do - rather than work together to try to both get home. We already know from last week how this will pan out, so this latter segment seemed wholly pointless - except to give Quill something else to get angry about and stop the episode under-running by about 10 minutes.

Personally, it has to be my least favourite episode so far. Some nice one-liners from Quill, as to be expected, but the whole thing seemed a bit far-fetched - which is saying a lot from a life-long Doctor Who fan. The idea that the things Quill needed for her cure existed only in various heavens / hells - and the Governors know this, and how to get to them - was a bit of a stretch. The episode also suffered in being totally detached from the Coal Hill setting, which up to now has been the point of the series. It felt like I was suddenly watching a different show - despite the mentions of UNIT and Zygons.
Next Saturday sees the season finale. The Shadow Kin are back, and at least three of the younger regulars all look like they might not make it to the second series.

Class 1.6 - Reviewed

The latest episode of Class has now been put up on the BBC i-player service - Detained.
No Miss Quill this week, or Head Teacher Dorothea - that's for next week. Tonight we just had the five young regulars in an ensemble piece that takes place in a single room.
Quill has put everyone on detention, so they are locked in a classroom when a tear in space / time opens and a meteorite smashes them into some kind of limbo.
This chunk of glowing rock makes people tell the truth when they hold it - so each of the gang gets their moment. After reliving some significant memory, they start saying what they really feel - mainly about each other. The rock also causes them to become angry.
First up is Matteusz, who admits he's scared of Charlie. Then Tanya has a go, and tells them all how she knows they treat her like a kid. Ram and April both admit the same thing to each other - that she doesn't care for him quite as much as he does for her. Tanya proves to be the smartest person in the room, quickly working out that they can ask the rock questions whilst they are holding it, and so learn what it is, and how they can escape back to Coal Hill.
Turns out the rock contains the consciousness of an alien prisoner. He had four fellow inmates, but has killed them. It looks like this will be the gang's fate, until Charlie has his go.

We've been waiting a while for this character to get into his stride. As an alien he proves stronger than his classmates, and is able to destroy the entity - sending them back home. Trouble is, the prison is now short of a prisoner, and Charlie is about to be dragged back there - being the one with the most guilt. For his race, thinking about a crime is the same as committing it. Quill appears and saves him - only to reveal that this is the last time she'll be doing this. Her hair is suspiciously longer than an hour ago, and she has a livid scar on her face. Next week, we'll find out what she was getting up to whilst the gang was in detention. What we do know is that she is no longer harbouring the parasite that enslaved her to Charlie.
I must admit that most of the characters did not come out of this very well. Ram acted like a right dick, and Tanya proved to be quite racist. An episode like this usually comes quite early in a series - a chance to get dirty washing out of the way so that the characters can then move on and we can start getting to like them. Here, we seem to have gone backwards. Matteusz is the only one who seems to be really nice, so I fear he may not be long for this, or any other, world.
As the penultimate episode is Quill-centric, it leaves only one last episode in which to do some mending for the gang's supposed friendships.

Class 1.5 - Reviewed

Brave-ish Heart was screened yesterday on BBC 3. It is the second half of the story begun last weekend with the episode Co-Owner of a Broken Heart.
That ended with April and Ram traveling through a space / time rent to the planet of the Shadow Kin, whilst the rest of the gang were about to be overwhelmed by bloodthirsty flower petals.
April has gone to Mordor to challenge Corakinus, the Shadow Kin King. As the two share a heart, we know that this won't have a straightforward outcome.
Back at Coal Hill, the new Head, Dorothea, reveals her plan to force Charlie to use the Cabinet of Souls as a weapon, to rid the Earth of the petals. As a threat they weren't all that well developed last week, but this time we get to see them in grisly action.
Miss Quill wants Charlie to use the weapon not on the petals but on the Shadow Kin.

The two plot strands do not quite gel, making you think that this two-parter could just as easily have been individual episodes. The conclusion does tie the two strands together, but not in a very satisfying way. The Shadow Kin just happen to be able to destroy the petals, and April just happens to have become their new King after beating Corakinus in a rather feeble sword fight.
Of course, he can't be killed without her dying too, so he gets locked up - presumably to allow him to return yet again.
The respective dads of April and Ram also manage to transport themselves to the Shadow realm, and bizarrely seem to take this in their stride.
The character Charlie gets a bit more to do this week, but as a buttoned-up prince the actor Greg Austin doesn't. Even when his lover is being threatened with a gun, there's scarcely a hint of emotion.
The episode ends with Dorothea once more promising that she and her fellow Governors can remove the parasite which enslaves Quill to Charlie - presumably central to the season finale.
Next week's episode - Detention - looks like it might be more of an ensemble piece for the younger cast members.

Class 1.4 - Reviewed

As with previous weeks - do not read on unless you have seen the latest episode of Class - Co-owner of a Lonely Heart.
The main focus this time is April. Back in the first episode, she found herself sharing her heart with the King of the Shadow Kin - Corakinus. He's back again - trying to get full ownership of the organ.
His influence over April is increasing - leading her to start thinking like he does, and to produce a pair of scimitars when she gets angry.
She has plenty to be angry about, as her dad has just been released from prison and has turned up in the area. We found out earlier that he had tried to kill himself by crashing their car - with April and her mother inside. This is why mum is confined to a wheelchair.
April started seeing Ram last week - and this week they consummated their relationship (in safe fashion I should add).

Elsewhere, Charlie has shown Matteusz the Cabinet of Souls, and Matteusz isn't happy at the thought that his boyfriend might be capable of genocide. The souls on release could inhabit other peoples' bodies and destroy them, or take them over. Either way, another race would die.
Miss Quill, meanwhile, has met the new Head Teacher (Pooky Quesnel, who was the spaceship captain in A Christmas Carol). There's more to her than meets the eye. She works for the Governors - the ones who had a robot infiltrate the academy in the second episode. She is concerned about flower blossoms that are unseasonably falling in the area. These things feed on blood, and are multiplying at an alarming rate. Naturally, they're alien - one blossom having fallen through one of the space / time tears.
The episode ends on a cliffhanger - with April having nearly killed her dad and cured her mum's paralysis now jumping through a tear to confront Corakinus. Ram has jumped through after her. The lethal flower blossoms are still unresolved, and the new Head Teacher claims she can free Quill from her enslavement to Charlie.
Another very good episode. If this one travels at a slightly slower pace, it's because it is the start of a longer storyline. I didn't know it was to be a two-parter when I sat down to watch it this evening.
Charlie is the one character who is least defined. Presumably, the show will focus more on him once it moves towards the final episodes.