Yeah, the thing with Buffy is the entire concept could have made for one hell of a terrible show... but Joss Whedon and the other writers had an incredible amount of tact with how they handled it, knowing when to go for the comedic moments and when to tone it down, managing to balance the sci-fi elements with the ordinary side of life without making one more interesting than the other and being able to fluctuate between the two naturally. By comparison, New Who looks like a lost puppy.

Another thing it was brilliant at was how far it could take its characters down an unsavoury route and still make them likable and sympathetic. In fact, looking at its spin-off Angel, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce is one of my favourite television characters of all time.

If Class can manage what Buffy could without making me think "groan, not more soap opera in the middle of an alien invasion" then I'll be impressed.

I think the Rift from Torchwood was going down that kind of route. As were the Ninth Doctor and Captain Jack's jacket and trench-coat looks which were very reminiscent of Angel and Spike.

I think I remember RTD saying with Doctor Who he took a lot of inspiration from Buffy's "A plot; B plot" format as well.

Then there was James Marsters turning up in Torchwood to basically play Spike. :P

We think alike, agreed with everything you said and Wesley has to be one of my favourite characters of all time as well.

The more I think about it, the only cameo we need is Twelve at the start of the first episode to set up the general premise. Then just let the show do it's own thing.

Mention the likes of Ian/Barbara/Clara/Danny once or so in passing to remind audiences they worked in Coal Hill but other than that, let the show stand on it's own two feet.

Absolutely. The last thing any new series needs is tons of links to another series. A few maybe, to get it up and running, but once it's clear that we are in the Who world, that should be enough.

I do wonder what direction the show will take, will it focus on the characters or will it just be Alien of the Week stuff.

If it is the latter, it has no hope of getting past S1.

Yes, agree entirely. The more I read about the setup for the show, the more it does sound similar-ish to Buffy. But then I guess any sci-fi/fantasy show set in a school could be paralleled with many other shows - even the Sarah Jane Adventures to a degree. But I hope they do as you suggest and stamp their own mark on TV land, with any Buffy similarities being minimal.

I am genuinely more interested in Class now more details have been released and I do like the Coal Hill School location, more so as neither Clara or Danny can be in it. Although I do wonder if any other staff or pupils who appeared in Doctor Who will pop up. And I do wonder if they'll ever find the Dalek transmat station in the basement . . . .

Elements of both but going by Ness's tweets, it's gonna be very character driven.

Good to hear.

RTD went on record as Torchwood was being shown that he intended for the show to be like Buffy and Angel. Well you can see how Torchwood turned out.

The end result was pretty different, with the biggest similarity being the main character having a fetish for cool coats. For the most part, though, Buffy and Angel had intelligent, creative and thought-provoking scripts, while Torchwood just had characters swearing and getting angsty to fill in the gaps inbetween scenes of them shagging each other and pointing their guns at everything.

On another note, I hope that despite its YA target audience that Class will still be appropriate for young children, though it seems unlikely at this point, because my brother would be so disappointed if he wasn't able to watch it.

The likenesses to Buffy in Doctor Who's first few years were extremely numerous, regardless of whether or not the inspiration was quite so deliberate. Rose becoming the Bad Wolf in The Parting of the Ways was very similar to Buffy evoking ancient power in Primeval.
Or there being a massive portal between worlds reached via a tower in Doctor Who's Doomsday, or a massive portal between worlds reached via a tower in Buffy's The Gift. In fact the whole idea of humans scavenging alien resources through Torchwood in Series 2 of Doctor Who, was quite similar to the idea of humans scavenging supernatural resources through The Initative in Season 4 of Buffy.
Or there being an elected official as the main bad guy in Doctor Who Series 3, and there being an elected official as the main bad guy in Buffy Season 3. Respectively the season where we also saw a rogue version of our protagonist, and a rogue version of our protagonist.

I never noticed most of these, but yes, you're right. I can especially see the comparison with the Master being similar to the Mayor and Faith.

Who's decision was it to create Class?

Steven's or the BBC's?

Patrick Ness I should think.

I'd have thought a senior BBC commissioning editor, not a creative type. Moffat or Ness could have pitched the idea but they can't just make a show without the moneymen giving them the go ahead.

http://www.cultbox.co.uk/news/galler...r-who-spin-off

Also missed the pics from earlier shooting and LOVE the fact that there is

*squeals*

I wonder what aliens they will use from DW, can't see Daleks or Cybermen popping up but perhaps Zygons, Ood maybe a Sontaran...

I wonder if they will use any of the bad guys from The Sarah Jane Adventures like The Trickster or The Nightmare Man.

I would love to see an Alphi Centaurian, or even the Chumblies, though realistically that won't happen.

I could see the Autons being used, though.

I'd like to see more 1960's monsters. Maybe do a credible version of the zarbi....

Does anyone know which actually TV channel it'll be on? (Usually a week or so after its online debut if everything else is to go by.)