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Old 22-10-2016, 16:55
Daniel Dare
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Keep an eye out for costume designer extraordinaire, June Hudson making a cameo.
http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2016-...cameo-in-class
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Old 22-10-2016, 17:08
Mulett
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We have a 14yo. OK for her to watch do you reckon?
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Old 22-10-2016, 17:23
Lord Smexy
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We have a 14yo. OK for her to watch do you reckon?
Depends on how lenient you are with what your children watch, but I'd say no. Mostly down to the fact that it's just very excessively gory, especially that second episode. I believe there are sex scenes to come too.

I mean, I watched much worse when I was 14, but it wasn't with my parents' blessing.
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Old 22-10-2016, 17:28
CD93
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including a poignant nod to Clara (and Danny Pink as well) in a brief scene that somewhat plays up the 'dead' aspect of her character a lot more than Doctor Who ended up doing.
...and one S. Foreman, interestingly.
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Old 22-10-2016, 17:31
Lord Smexy
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For Tonight We Might Die - 8/10
The Coach With The Dragon Tattoo - 7/10

It can be extremely tricky to get any kind of pilot off the ground. Spin-offs are far easier, though Class straddles the two somewhat - it's a spin-off no doubt, but it depends heavily on original characters, concepts, ideas and even someone whose never written for Doctor Who running the whole thing. In that respect, Peter Capaldi showing up as the Doctor in the pilot of Class is a welcome treat, but beyond that Class really has to sell itself on its own merits.

As it happens, The Doctor was perhaps the biggest anachronism going in a story that involved shadow monsters, warring alien races and Coal Hill Academy. Capaldi's Doctor is always welcome to show up in anything, and here his appearance which amounts to only around 15 minutes is well utilised and serves the purpose of definitely tying the events down in the Doctor Who universe - including a poignant nod to Clara (and Danny Pink as well) in a brief scene that somewhat plays up the 'dead' aspect of her character a lot more than Doctor Who ended up doing. He gets a fantastic line about Ikea, helps save the day, bigs up the new cast and is then off whizzing about once again... and that's about it from him. We get a fantastic new rendition of the Doctor's theme, and there was something about the lingering sounds of the TARDIS disappearing at the end that made his character more wonderous... something lacking in Doctor Who for a while (no fault of Capaldi who again, is fantastic)... but beyond that everything else about Class - good or bad - was down to Class.

Fortunately then, it was all rather good. The biggest strength of the first two episodes was its characters. Nearly all the characters get their moments - Charlie and April stand out in particular in the first episode, whilst Ram does in the second. Miss Quill gets some stellar moments in both and heads up a great ensemble not too far removed from the groups seen in Buffy. The banter is very similar to that seen in the vampire-slaying show, and it helps to both flesh out the main characters quickly...and making them rather likeable. The parallels to Buffy don't stop there - the monster in the second episode wasn't too different from one seen in Buffy, though the effects are obviously far better in Class (in fact the CGI monster in the second episode was extremely well done). The head of the school gets eaten in his office, as another parallel. The show itself opens at night in a school corridor, playing the role reversal of a girl saving a guy... whilst Buffy opens at night in a school corridor, playing the role reversal of the damsel in distress turning out to be the vampire. Then the term hellmouth even gets dropped in for good measure too. There are definitely worse shows you can be drawing deliberate comparisons to than Buffy!

It wasn't perfect by any means. The exposition dump in the first episode was pretty jarring and quick, not leaving you much time to catch your breath in figuring it all out. You're getting the backstory for two characters at once who aren't who they claim to be, eventhough we've only just been introduced to who they claim to be as well. And then they drop in a Tardis cameo in the same sequence and it's all a bit much for a few minutes. It leaves plenty of time after to make sense of it all, and it essentially sets up the playing field so you know what kind of show you're getting here rather quickly... but it could have maybe used a few more minutes. Another minor criticism is the scene where April tries to get everyone out of the prom hall... which was perhaps the only misjudged scene in the two episodes as everyone failed to listen to her... straining at credibility that nobody was that interested in taking her seriously, or indeed caring that much when she was having palpitations on the floor.

Apart from that though both episodes were very strong - the pilot whilst not perfect did a good job at balancing all of its characters. It has some brilliant comical moments too - Capaldi's Ikea line, and my favourite being Matteusz's "You hired a band?" when the Shadow Kin came marching down the corridor - and wasn't afraid to venture into darker territory without coming across as try-hard like Torchwood did a lot of the time. It generally speaking managed to write younger characters as people, rather than as walking clichés, it had a few subtle nods to the parent show with even Capaldi's treat of an appearance being refined and scaled back. Class proved it could stand on its own two feet quite quickly, and is interesting enough, with enough going on. It is of a high enough quality to not feel like a sci-fi Waterloo Road, and it is distinct enough to not feel like a placeholder for Doctor Who. In doing so it seems to have a definite niche for itself, and I hope it goes from one strength to the next.

Worthy of praise were both the music used in the show - Blair Mowat's score was a refreshing and (pun not intended) classy alternative to Murray Gold's more 'Hollywood' approach. It fit the show well, including a nice piano piece near the end of the first episode and also the new rendition of the Doctor's Theme.
And the opening credits of the show...I really liked them. Torchwood's were nice and simple, The Sarah Jane Adventure's felt to have a cheap version of the Doctor Who one that didn't fit the character at all. The credits to Class were colourful and energetic - amounting to more than the quite dark tone of the show, in tone with the fact it was quite fun in places too. The song used again differentiates it from Doctor Who, but visually it's trippy in its own way and so felt quite familiar. It was more exciting than the opening credits have been visually for Doctor Who in a long while.
Some very good points. I couldn't help noticing the similarity to Buffy's opening scene... makes me wonder if Patrick Ness is a real diehard for that show.

I agree with you on the characters... they do feel like real people, and I think that's going to be the most important thing for this show. Miss Quill, though beautifully entertaining, is a little one-note, but the chemistry between her and Charlie is great. Wasn't expecting the whole "slavery" role for her but it definitely makes an interesting and unique dynamic.

From what I've heard, episode 3 is where the show really finds its confidence and stride, although as Nelson said, it almost looks the exact same as what we've just seen. I hope the show doesn't fall into the repetitive routine of "students get killed by monster in gory ways, everyone investigates".
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Old 22-10-2016, 17:35
Michael_Eve
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We have a 14yo. OK for her to watch do you reckon?
As said, depends upon the individual child. Very mild swear words, a bit gory in places in episode 2 but nothing much to worry about, really, I'd say.
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Old 22-10-2016, 17:58
PaperSkin
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Just watched episode two and by the last quarter I was trying to stop my mind from wondering else where.... which I think says it all....

I'll leave the show with episode 2, it doesn't work for me.... its too shoddy...
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Old 22-10-2016, 18:11
Mulett
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Thanks for the feedback everyone.

She's watching Buffy which has some adult themes and content. If it's any more adult than that, I'd probably not want her to watch it.
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Old 22-10-2016, 18:13
Abomination
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We have a 14yo. OK for her to watch do you reckon?
Rather fittingly today is also the tenth anniversary of Torchwood. I was 14 when the first episode of Torchwood aired, and I can't say that scarred me remotely. There wasn't really anything worse in Class - a bit of blood and violence, a few swear words, one bit of rear-shot nudity in the second episode, but that was about all.

...and one S. Foreman, interestingly.
I didn't notice that one! Very interesting!

I agree with you on the characters... they do feel like real people, and I think that's going to be the most important thing for this show. Miss Quill, though beautifully entertaining, is a little one-note, but the chemistry between her and Charlie is great. Wasn't expecting the whole "slavery" role for her but it definitely makes an interesting and unique dynamic.

From what I've heard, episode 3 is where the show really finds its confidence and stride, although as Nelson said, it almost looks the exact same as what we've just seen. I hope the show doesn't fall into the repetitive routine of "students get killed by monster in gory ways, everyone investigates".
It is very character driven, but I like that. I was thinking in the second episode that there was a lack of explanation as to what the monster really was - usually the Doctor can spew some technobabble to explain everything away, but Class doesn't have that advantage. It has to fill that void with characters you care about... so you care less about the details of the threat. Presumably some threats will make their identity a bit clearer, and I actually found it really refreshing to have more of a 'creature' in the second episode... there's a whole alien world out there and Doctor Who so rarely explores the wildlife of the universe - presumably because of the excessive CGI costs that'd involve, but they pulled it off well here.

I think if the threats remain interesting and distinct enough I'll be quite satisfied. Again, like Buffy, Class seems to straddle the line between serial drama and monster-of-the-week. It can throw a new threat to you each week that is more or less wrapped up each time, whilst focusing more on developing the characters more fluidly throughout each... Ram's PTSD and the effect the first episode had on his actions in the second is the kind of drama I quite like. Character consistency... something Moffat's Doctor Who sometimes lacks (he's admittedly improved a lot with Capaldi, but Series 7 was horrendous for this), as did The Sarah Jane Adventures. I felt Torchwood was a bit better at it, and hopefully Class will continue to top that. With only eight episodes I can't see it becoming overly formulaic, so long as it does remember to keep those characters good.
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Old 22-10-2016, 19:18
Brandon_Smith
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We have a 14yo. OK for her to watch do you reckon?
Please I was watching worse things than that when I was 14.
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Old 22-10-2016, 19:41
Mulett
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Please I was watching worse things than that when I was 14.
I know, but she's our foster daughter so we have to keep the social workers happy!
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Old 22-10-2016, 19:42
Pull2Open
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We have a 14yo. OK for her to watch do you reckon?
My 10 year old daughter loved it
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Old 22-10-2016, 19:50
TVScanner99
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I liked them. But the opening credits are AWFUL!
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Old 22-10-2016, 20:00
Mulett
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I liked them. But the opening credits are AWFUL!
I was always unhappy with the Sarah Jane credits. LOVED the show but was never happy with the theme music or credits.
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Old 22-10-2016, 20:00
Pull2Open
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I thought Capaldi was more like Tom Baker in this, than ever.
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Old 22-10-2016, 20:00
jimbo_bob
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...and one S. Foreman, interestingly.
One of the areas in the school is named the Barbara Wright building - another nice nod to the past.
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Old 22-10-2016, 20:02
CarterD
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So, the big question that first episode left me with is: does the Doctor remember Clara?

(He obviously remembers his period as caretaker at Coal Hill, so if he doesn't remember her what did he think was going on during that period?)
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Old 22-10-2016, 20:05
jimbo_bob
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...and one S. Foreman, interestingly.
One of the areas in the school is named the Barbara Wright building - another nice nod to the past.

This posted twice for some reason
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Old 22-10-2016, 20:12
doctor blue box
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So, the big question that first episode left me with is: does the Doctor remember Clara?

(He obviously remembers his period as caretaker at Coal Hill, so if he doesn't remember her what did he think was going on during that period?)
As Hell Bent showed, he has memories of the fact that there was a Clara, and even the things they did together, but can't actually remember her personally.

It's why he could tell a whole story about her after the memory wipe, yet had no idea what she looked like.
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Old 22-10-2016, 20:25
CarterD
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As Hell Bent showed, he has memories of the fact that there was a Clara, and even the things they did together, but can't actually remember her personally.

It's why he could tell a whole story about her after the memory wipe, yet had no idea what she looked like.
Aha, makes sense. Thanks for jogging my memory
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Old 22-10-2016, 23:23
Brandon_Smith
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I know, but she's our foster daughter so we have to keep the social workers happy!
Ahhhh okay best be safe.
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Old 22-10-2016, 23:24
Brandon_Smith
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Also I felt like Patrick Ness wrote Capaldis dialogue better than Moffat does it felt more natural and doctor-y then in the main series.
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Old 22-10-2016, 23:42
Pull2Open
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Also I felt like Patrick Ness wrote Capaldis dialogue better than Moffat does it felt more natural and doctor-y then in the main series.
I think you may be right
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Old 22-10-2016, 23:48
Sam_Gee1
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For Tonight We Might Die - 8/10
The Coach With The Dragon Tattoo - 7/10

It can be extremely tricky to get any kind of pilot off the ground. Spin-offs are far easier, though Class straddles the two somewhat - it's a spin-off no doubt, but it depends heavily on original characters, concepts, ideas and even someone whose never written for Doctor Who running the whole thing. In that respect, Peter Capaldi showing up as the Doctor in the pilot of Class is a welcome treat, but beyond that Class really has to sell itself on its own merits.

As it happens, The Doctor was perhaps the biggest anachronism going in a story that involved shadow monsters, warring alien races and Coal Hill Academy. Capaldi's Doctor is always welcome to show up in anything, and here his appearance which amounts to only around 15 minutes is well utilised and serves the purpose of definitely tying the events down in the Doctor Who universe - including a poignant nod to Clara (and Danny Pink as well) in a brief scene that somewhat plays up the 'dead' aspect of her character a lot more than Doctor Who ended up doing. He gets a fantastic line about Ikea, helps save the day, bigs up the new cast and is then off whizzing about once again... and that's about it from him. We get a fantastic new rendition of the Doctor's theme, and there was something about the lingering sounds of the TARDIS disappearing at the end that made his character more wonderous... something lacking in Doctor Who for a while (no fault of Capaldi who again, is fantastic)... but beyond that everything else about Class - good or bad - was down to Class.

Fortunately then, it was all rather good. The biggest strength of the first two episodes was its characters. Nearly all the characters get their moments - Charlie and April stand out in particular in the first episode, whilst Ram does in the second. Miss Quill gets some stellar moments in both and heads up a great ensemble not too far removed from the groups seen in Buffy. The banter is very similar to that seen in the vampire-slaying show, and it helps to both flesh out the main characters quickly...and making them rather likeable. The parallels to Buffy don't stop there - the monster in the second episode wasn't too different from one seen in Buffy, though the effects are obviously far better in Class (in fact the CGI monster in the second episode was extremely well done). The head of the school gets eaten in his office, as another parallel. The show itself opens at night in a school corridor, playing the role reversal of a girl saving a guy... whilst Buffy opens at night in a school corridor, playing the role reversal of the damsel in distress turning out to be the vampire. Then the term hellmouth even gets dropped in for good measure too. There are definitely worse shows you can be drawing deliberate comparisons to than Buffy!

It wasn't perfect by any means. The exposition dump in the first episode was pretty jarring and quick, not leaving you much time to catch your breath in figuring it all out. You're getting the backstory for two characters at once who aren't who they claim to be, eventhough we've only just been introduced to who they claim to be as well. And then they drop in a Tardis cameo in the same sequence and it's all a bit much for a few minutes. It leaves plenty of time after to make sense of it all, and it essentially sets up the playing field so you know what kind of show you're getting here rather quickly... but it could have maybe used a few more minutes. Another minor criticism is the scene where April tries to get everyone out of the prom hall... which was perhaps the only misjudged scene in the two episodes as everyone failed to listen to her... straining at credibility that nobody was that interested in taking her seriously, or indeed caring that much when she was having palpitations on the floor.

Apart from that though both episodes were very strong - the pilot whilst not perfect did a good job at balancing all of its characters. It has some brilliant comical moments too - Capaldi's Ikea line, and my favourite being Matteusz's "You hired a band?" when the Shadow Kin came marching down the corridor - and wasn't afraid to venture into darker territory without coming across as try-hard like Torchwood did a lot of the time. It generally speaking managed to write younger characters as people, rather than as walking clichés, it had a few subtle nods to the parent show with even Capaldi's treat of an appearance being refined and scaled back. Class proved it could stand on its own two feet quite quickly, and is interesting enough, with enough going on. It is of a high enough quality to not feel like a sci-fi Waterloo Road, and it is distinct enough to not feel like a placeholder for Doctor Who. In doing so it seems to have a definite niche for itself, and I hope it goes from one strength to the next.

Worthy of praise were both the music used in the show - Blair Mowat's score was a refreshing and (pun not intended) classy alternative to Murray Gold's more 'Hollywood' approach. It fit the show well, including a nice piano piece near the end of the first episode and also the new rendition of the Doctor's Theme.
And the opening credits of the show...I really liked them. Torchwood's were nice and simple, The Sarah Jane Adventure's felt to have a cheap version of the Doctor Who one that didn't fit the character at all. The credits to Class were colourful and energetic - amounting to more than the quite dark tone of the show, in tone with the fact it was quite fun in places too. The song used again differentiates it from Doctor Who, but visually it's trippy in its own way and so felt quite familiar. It was more exciting than the opening credits have been visually for Doctor Who in a long while.
Agree with all of this, the first episode was a great pilot, great introduction to the characters and the setting of the school and the Shadow monsters were a good villain. The second episode the plot itself was quite average at best but excellent character work again takes it up a level, which is very similar to Buffy in a way and you can tell. Even the way the
Spoiler


Hopefully they can get some great villains to come through too.
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Old 23-10-2016, 00:43
Abomination
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I liked them. But the opening credits are AWFUL!
I really liked them myself. They didn't opt for overly try-hard cool, they made it quite colourful rather than edgy, and the song isn't too bad either... plus the trippy kaleidoscope feel of it really hits the same kind of note as Doctor Who. It kind of made me realise how lifeless the one on Doctor Who feels...and I say that as someone who never had a problem with DW's current intro, visually at least.

Hopefully they can get some great villains to come through too.
Spoiler


Aside from that the threats at Coal Hill so far seem interesting enough. As much as the second episode had a strong monster-of-the-week vibe that's not necessarily a problem so long as the threats remain diverse and distinctive. So far they seem to be, much more so than Torchwood's threats were at this early stage. And there's no sign of a Cyberwoman yet, so that's another perk
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