Another invasion of London begins!
The students of Coal Hill School are about to be appointed Earth’s first line of defence against would-be alien conquerors, when the Doctor’s off battling Daleks or drinking tea.
In a series of eight forty-five minute episodes aimed at young adults, the students are set to come face-to-face with scream-inducing school dinners and convoluted alien plots.
Entitled CLASS, the spinoff will mark the screenwriting debut of author Patrick Ness, with DOCTOR WHO showrunner Steven Moffat serving as executive producer alongside Brian Minchin.
Moffat has described the series as being about ‘growing up in modern Britain but with monsters’, promoting its premise:
“No one has documented the dark and exhilarating world of the teenager like Patrick Ness, and now we’re bringing his brilliant storytelling into Doctor Who.”
Ness released a statement upon the series being announced:
“I’m astounded and thrilled to be entering the Doctor Who universe, which is as vast as time and space itself. There’s so much room there for all kinds of amazing stories, and to work with Steven Moffat and Brian Minchin to find a place to tell one of my own has been an absolute joy. I can’t wait for people to meet the heroes of Class, to meet the all-new villains and aliens, to remember that the horrors of the darkest corners of existence are just about on par with having to pass your A-Levels.”
Coal Hill School has been a part of the DOCTOR WHO mythos since the very first episode, with a noted student being the Doctor’s granddaughter Susan Foreman, with teachers Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright joining the family duo on their voyages through space and time.
The school made a significant return in DOCTOR WHO’s fiftieth anniversary show, as current companion Clara Oswald’s place of work.
Due to the school’s Shoreditch (‘the Hipster capital of the world’) location, the aliens they come across will surrender at the sight of students’: perfectly preened and sculpted facial hair, vomit worthy shirts, and scarves tied and re-tied in inconceivable ways.
Since its revival in 2005, DOCTOR WHO has spawned two previous spinoffs: TORCHWOOD chronicling the adventures of Captain Jack Harkness and his team as they defend the Earth, and THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES FOLLOWING one of the Doctor’s former companions and a bunch of kids skipping school to out-fart Slitheen.
CLASS is set to air on BBC3 in 2016.
