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Old 25-10-2016, 13:40
Nelson_De_Souza
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Half my neighbours are black, I have friends and a tutor who is gay, my mother is disabled, and half the population happens to be female. Part of what Class aims to do is (amongst the killer aliens and stuff) tell stories that young people, and by extension all sorts of people in general, can relate to, and it's already touched upon things such as PTSD, parents not accepting your sexuality, having to look after somebody disabled, etc. and will likely continue to do so. As somebody at the age of 21 I've found a few things about the show I can relate to, and this is reflected by the fact that the show's cast is pretty much what I'd get if I randomly chose a bunch of people off the streets If you find it "patronising" (or perhaps the word you're looking for is threatening?) then I think that's more a problem with yourself. Not everyone can relate to the straight white athletic guy, I'm afraid.
Well I'm only 24 but nothing in Class rang true about the people when I was their age or indeed the non-alien situations they got into. I didn't find them relatable at all. Nothing about them seemed right to me.

Now, I don't know whether that is just down to me possibly not being a-typical for that age or just its very assumptive in its writing of what we experience, but Class didn't feel like anything I could connect or relate to...
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Old 25-10-2016, 13:45
Mulett
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Didn't the events of Hell Bent change the age issue, I thought he was now a few billion years old. Or was that only in a pocket universe?
Pocket universe only. Now lets never mention that again.
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Old 25-10-2016, 13:51
Corwin
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Didn't the events of Hell Bent change the age issue, I thought he was now a few billion years old. Or was that only in a pocket universe?
The Doctor who escaped from the Castle was technically only a few days older than the Doctor who was sent there.
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Old 28-10-2016, 15:42
nyder
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If you find it "patronising" (or perhaps the word you're looking for is threatening?) then I think that's more a problem with yourself. Not everyone can relate to the straight white athletic guy, I'm afraid.
WOW. You just completely stereotyped me without knowing anything about me.

My word - patronising - was correct. There is a hint there. I found it patronising.
You just assumed that I was a white, straight, fully able bodied man. Your assumption, however, is false on more than one account. So no I do not find it 'threatning', how silly.

I made an observation about the programme and based on my observation you (startlingly incorrectly) decided on my skin colour (and therefore my heretige), my physical ability my sexuality and my gender. I think that says a lot about you.
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Old 28-10-2016, 21:42
andy1231
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Just watched it on catch up, all I can say is thank God Peter Capaldi was in the episode 1. I don't think I will bother with this, would much rather have had a new series of Torchwood. but good luck to them anyway..
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Old 29-10-2016, 11:12
Sam_Gee1
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Just seen episode 3, not the biggest fan of this episode.

Spoiler
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Old 29-10-2016, 12:49
Nelson_De_Souza
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Well all the concerns I'd previously mentioned in the first two episodes showed up more than ever here in the third episode. The fact the show is so limited in its scope is really damaging it to me. How was there no outside involvement in this at all?

It feels so small and insigificant that this band of kids are the 'only saviours' or some such. It just lacks a genuine quality about itself.

All I can say is that at least it wasn't based in the school for this episode (it looks to set to return that way next week though) but doing all the close connection to characters we barely know already felt so odd. I'm struggling to remember their names (barring Ram) so to have all this character backstory so soon with wafer thin characters just seems off.

The premise is really a major sticking point and to be honest it lacks charm and a sense of fun about it, much like Series 8 and 9 of Doctor Who if I'm honest.

I've given it three episode so more than enough time but I don't think this is for me. I'm not exactly old either, so it's not that I don't get it, but none of it strikes me as genuine to this age group or indeed the Whoniverse.
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Old 29-10-2016, 13:36
Michael_Eve
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Just watched and thought it was a very decent episode and a step up from episode 2. It was a means to flesh out the characters and give more background, particularly Tanya and April. I think Vivian Oparah's underplaying of the part when she first sees her Dad was a bit odd, but I guess that could be interpreted as a sort of shocked numbness and as the 'focus' of the story (and indeed the Alien plan) she did a good job. The acting generally was of a high standard, particularly Kobra Holdbrook-Smith as Tanya's father who was excellent.

Interesting, well made stuff with some creepy moments and imagery. When Miss Quill turned up with a bus to sort things out (still finding Kelly a really engaging screen presence) I raised an eyebrow, but Tanya declaring that 'it' wasn't her father and causing a weakness made the creature weak, so fair enough...

I'm not really analysing things too much, though. I think it's enjoyable genre TV made to a pretty high standard and am quite happy to carry on watching. I certainly prefer it to Torchwood Series 1 already as I actually like the characters! I think Suzie was my favourite from that series....she had the right idea! (half serious there. )
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Old 29-10-2016, 14:10
Paul237
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I'm struggling a bit with it. As others have said, it's a bit limiting. Few characters, same location, same story.

It feels like every week a 'rip' in time and space will open to allow a monster to terrorise London which the classmates get rid of by the end. Rinse and repeat.
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Old 29-10-2016, 14:47
Abomination
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For Tonight We Might Die - 8/10
The Coach With The Dragon Tattoo - 7/10
Nightvisiting - 8/10

The third episode was tonally very similar to what had come before, but delivered it in a much more refined kind of way that was free of the shackles of having to set out the premise of the show. Again the parallels to Buffy seem to be coming thick and fast, as Nightvisiting offers up a threat that appears as dead people - the party trick of Buffy's biggest and final recurring threat. The difference is that that particular threat for Buffy was more or less saved for its final season, when appearing as dead people carried the significant weight of reviving characters from the seven seasons of the show that had gone by. Class by comparison has just two previous episodes to work with, and so doesn't have the luxury of using the nature of the threat to bring back a whole variety of dead characters the viewer might like to see. Instead it does the sensible thing and hones its efforts in on one character as the story goes on. Whilst it finds time to advance the stories of all the main characters in some shape or form, this is by and large Tanya's story. It uses the nature of the threat to explore her character a little more, with the scale of the problem in the background upping the stakes and questioning the mortality of all the characters a little more... making it more interesting.

The threat briefly raises issues for the other characters - giving us a tiny insight into Charlie's relationship with his former family. It was interesting that the opening episode of the show painted the idyllic picture of the Rhodia people, whilst this episode in just a few lines brings that picture into a bit of doubt as Charlie points out he was more of a political asset than anything else. It somewhat struck a parallel to the Doctor in some ways - a character that chooses to remember the best of his people, but then when he is confronted with them he does the unthinkable and takes up arms and readies himself for the worst. It's the kind of layered storytelling Class will need over time, and it was great to get a small hint of that here. The focus for Charlie in this episode was instead Matteusz though, and it is great to see their relationship seemingly so settled - all too often depictions of same-sex relationships are rooted in drama at the core. It's a far better balance to allow the homophobia story Matteusz is dealing with fall into the background and let his positive relationship take centre stage, whilst it's also great to see Charlie being a bit socially awkward about it all too simply because he's socially awkward...rather than because a same-sex relationship makes him socially awkward. In just a few scenes they cover this quite well, without once having to define or label it and without Miss Quill even raising the slightest eyebrow about it at all and just accepting it 'as is'. It's all in all just a rather kind-hearted and nice aspect of a show that has been exploring rather brutal deaths, cruel stakes and dark themes... a nice relationship goes a small way in balancing that out.

Miss Quill continues to impress as well, aside from her regular sarcastic remarks she is shaping up to be a really solid character at the heart of all the others. The end of the episode hints at the idea she feels alone and isolated, whilst keeping up the pretence that she is only the cold, ruthless exterior she usually puts across.

The episode is far from perfect. The exact scale of the threat isn't quite established, and the lack of other people involved was for the first time (in my opinion, I know others have had issue with this in previous weeks) questionable. The plot has the excuse that it all unfolds over a short period of time under the cover of darkness, but to not even have any follow-up seemed a little far-fetched. It's not enough to tarnish what was the strongest and most character-driven threat seen so far, admittedly. Class is so far straddling the lines between episodic and serial drama quite well, though Nightvisiting was more in the territory of a standalone story the Charlie and Matteusz story helps to ground the main plot in the timeframe of the show rather than making it feel like detached filler. Combining it with decent effects, and competent enough directing from Ed Bazalgette (who has stepped up his game for Class after some weak efforts in Series 9 of Doctor Who) Nightvisiting did nothing to deter watching further. It would have done little to win over people who weren't keen on the first two episodes admittedly, but with only eight episodes to work with there's only so much that any one episode can do. Hopefully a second series will be given a couple more episodes to work with - if only for a bit more space to breathe, also free of the constraints of setting up the premise of the show as well.
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Old 29-10-2016, 15:09
Lord Smexy
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Favourite episode yet. A lot more slow-paced which is definitely a benefit, and a little bit creepy. I'm not convinced by Ram and April supposedly falling for each other though.
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Old 29-10-2016, 15:18
Lord Smexy
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WOW. You just completely stereotyped me without knowing anything about me.

My word - patronising - was correct. There is a hint there. I found it patronising.
You just assumed that I was a white, straight, fully able bodied man. Your assumption, however, is false on more than one account. So no I do not find it 'threatning', how silly.

I made an observation about the programme and based on my observation you (startlingly incorrectly) decided on my skin colour (and therefore my heretige), my physical ability my sexuality and my gender. I think that says a lot about you.
And where, might I ask, did I assume that you were a white, straight, fully able-bodied man? If you had read it corrrectly, I was stating not everybody could relate to such a person in defense of the diversity of the characters, not calling you one. From my perspective you are merely a faceless name on the internet. I'm afraid you're defensive attitude suggests to me that maybe it does make you feel threatened.
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Old 29-10-2016, 15:41
Abomination
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Favourite episode yet. A lot more slow-paced which is definitely a benefit, and a little bit creepy. I'm not convinced by Ram and April supposedly falling for each other though.
I was a little thrown by that myself as well, but I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt for now. Ram comes across as a bit of a "ladies man", he did when he had his girlfriend with him and that's just who he seems to be. This episode made sure once again we didn't forget his girlfriend, she's still very relevant...if anything Ram is coming across as quite insecure. He was immediately defensive and possessive of his friendship with Tanya, and then gets overly close to April as well. It stands to be seen if they can work things into just eight episodes, but so far he's over-compensating for the hole that's been rather traumatically left with him.
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Old 29-10-2016, 16:10
Nelson_De_Souza
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For me, the April and Ram moment was another scene that didn't ring true either. Nothing about that seemed genuine and as a pairing they don't work either. Kind of felt for the sake of it.

If I'm honest, the romance side of things with the main characters does seem rather shoehorned in at the moment. The Charlie and Maateusz pairing has to me gone from nothing to something inside three episodes with barely any screen time for the pair of them. I know things can happen off screen but if we take on screen only, they've met, kissed once, kissed again and then has sex. Now Mattuesz is living with Charlie.

Considering they've barely featured as a pair, a heck of a lot has happened between them. I'm not saying I want tonnes and tonnes of romantic scenes between any of the characters, but a more believable progression perhaps might make it less all of a sudden.

I get Patrick Ness has got to strike a fine balance, but the characters are so wafer thin to me that repetitive alien invades etc every week can be scaled back in favour of character progression.
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Old 29-10-2016, 16:12
Thamwet
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Is it me or has this spin-off been pretty great so far?

I'm wondering if Miss Quill was written with "female Doctor" in mind throughout? If so, then it's worked well so far.
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Old 29-10-2016, 16:18
Michael_Eve
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Favourite episode yet. A lot more slow-paced which is definitely a benefit, and a little bit creepy. I'm not convinced by Ram and April supposedly falling for each other though.
I didn't mind that scene, really. Both gone/going through a lot and having opened up to each other about painful stuff they shared a rather tender kiss. A bit of basic humanity amongst the madness. (Miss Quill: "I think I'm going to vomit!" ) Whether it goes anywhere or not....?
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Old 29-10-2016, 16:22
Thamwet
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Granny hit the nail on the head. At the start it's not clear, as we are all used to the obligatory black/asian characters every series must have now, but once the wheelchair rolled up you realise that there is a very deliberate checklist.

The programme makers clearly decided on this checklist beforehand, which personally I find quite sad, patronising and bigoted. To actually sit there and think, there's not enough black people on telly so we have to get some in oh and let's not forget the asians we don't want them to feel left out do we; better have some disabled representation too; lots of strong females that's a must, oh and only catholic couples stay together so everyone else have to be from broken homes or their parents are widows/widowers. oh nearly forgot about the gays, won't it be funny to make the catholic gay ha ha ha; now is there anybody we've missed? - oh we forgot about the transgenders........ patronising bigots.

Imagine if you ran a business and created yourself a checklist -Must haves: 1 black employee, 1 asian employee, 2 gay employees, 1 disabled employee etc...

Nobody is saying these groups shouldn't be represented on television, it's just that a single series shouldn't deliberately go out of its way to 'tick all the boxes'.

That said, once I got past that little silliness, I actually quite enjoyed it. I must admit, though it has a couple of flaws, it is much better than I had thought it was going to be.

Please allow me to explain something- London is a huge, multicultural powerhouse of a city, with people of just about all ethnic groups living there. Therefore, the fact that such people appear in a show based in London, really isn't very unusual.

I'm not accusing you of being a bigot, like your in-canon namesake was, but I do think you are being somewhat dim. I think you are jumping on the "anti-PC" bandwagon without really giving it much thought. Actually, however, it makes perfect and absolute sense for the cast of "Class" to be such a diverse group.

I know this message is in reply to your comment, Nyder, but it goes to everyone here who's been bringing up the same sort of nonsense about the character's being "too diverse." It's very silly to say such things about a show based in one of the most diverse cities in the world.
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Old 29-10-2016, 16:38
Brandon_Smith
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Episode 3 Was MUCH MUCH better and I hope Episode 4 can keep up this standard. Loved to opening with Tanya, loved Charlie and Matteusz' character development (FINALLY THEY DID THE DIRTY!), and now they live together! Quill, Charlie and Matteusz fighting crime together, that'll be interesting. And this episode felt Y/A without trying too hard to be I think it struck the right balance. Interesting enough plot with The Lankians? is that it?

Looks like April is gonna be the cure to Rams PTSD (Although is it just me that thinks that happened to fast?) and I think there starting to really accept that they're a team. Although it'd be nice if they had like a secret hideout, or base, Sarah Jane had an attic, The Doctor has a box. And maybe they can salvage Alien tech to make scanners and stuff? If they're gonna have to deal with "The Crack"
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Old 29-10-2016, 18:56
Barracute
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Finally got caught up with Class, glad my first taste was a 3 eps in one marathon, as had i just watched the opener alone, not sure i would have continued. That was not a good start and the second wasnt much better, thankfully the latest ep was a big improvement. Despite it only being the 3rd ep, i still felt the dead relatives angle still worked, clearly Tanya is the best thing in it so far and so an episode concentrating on her was a good thing. I agree with the comments about Ram, two episodes after being heartbroken over the death of his girlfriend jumping down the throat of April, just didnt ring true, i hope the GF doesnt comeback and we have some sub soap opera love triangle angle lol
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Old 29-10-2016, 20:01
bokonon
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I am always a defender of the BBC against the lumpen Daily Mail, 'PC gone mad' brigade. They really have gone for the full house on this occasion though to the extent that it did seem slightly comical. On the whole though I do think it is rather sweet that they are so eager to ensure that everybody gets represented.

Have only watched the first ep and I must say I enjoyed Capaldi more than usual while finding the tendency to dial everything up to 11 (as in Who) all the time rather irritating.
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Old 29-10-2016, 22:38
Lady of Traken
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Well I've watched three episodes now and it's okay.

The first episode actually felt the strongest. There was a decent balance of plot and some characterisation. I liked how I was surprised about who Miss Quill was and how she was related to Charlie. The Shadow kin and their planet was actually one of the more interesting aspects.
Seeing the Doctor well he seemed be written a bit strangely.
Very quippy although Capaldi was good acting it he was there so briefly and it was like didn't really care too much for the humans or the aliens he dropped off at Coal Hill.
I really felt the opener should have been a two parter so that we got time to know the characters a bit beforel the alien rift opened. The most interesting character was Ram with the death of his girlfriend and Miss Quill ( Katherine Kelly is very watchable ) . The other characters felt very superficial. That is a weakness of the show which I hope they can overcome. Will these characters go through a journey this series and be different by the end. I hope so.

The second and third episodes weren't as interesting, went very small scale with dragon tattoos and trunk monsters and the endings seem predictable ( except for the death of Mr Armitage which was shocking ) although I liked some of the development of Ram and to a lesser degree Tanya.

I can see it's trying to be a bit like Buffy but a monster of the week coming out the rift at the school is going to restrict the show really badly. At least Buffy had a whole town to explore and also went further as could Torchwood. I think it will need some expansion over time with other characters and conflict not just of the alien kind to survive more than one series

Read the interesting debate on here about whether the characters were stereotypes and yes I think it is trying to widen it's appeal by doing that. Obviously.
What is more worrying is the way the adults are written as unsympathetic characters for the most part. But I suppose the series isn't written for me and it's all about teenage angst.
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Old 30-10-2016, 00:27
Sam_Gee1
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For me, the April and Ram moment was another scene that didn't ring true either. Nothing about that seemed genuine and as a pairing they don't work either. Kind of felt for the sake of it.

If I'm honest, the romance side of things with the main characters does seem rather shoehorned in at the moment. The Charlie and Maateusz pairing has to me gone from nothing to something inside three episodes with barely any screen time for the pair of them. I know things can happen off screen but if we take on screen only, they've met, kissed once, kissed again and then has sex. Now Mattuesz is living with Charlie.

Considering they've barely featured as a pair, a heck of a lot has happened between them. I'm not saying I want tonnes and tonnes of romantic scenes between any of the characters, but a more believable progression perhaps might make it less all of a sudden.

I get Patrick Ness has got to strike a fine balance, but the characters are so wafer thin to me that repetitive alien invades etc every week can be scaled back in favour of character progression.
Agree with all of this, right now everything seems rushed. For me Ness is unsure on what he wants from this show, and that is a problem with an 8 ep season. Apart from Ram and April relationship my biggest issue is the world building, everything is too focused on the characters which to me is arguably the reason why they are so "wafer thin." We just don't see how they interact with anyone else. The world seems dead, legitimately we are 3 episodes in and the only time someone has spoken who isn't a main character, part of their family and the alien is dead.

That said i did like the first 2 episodes, but problems are starting to get quite glaring now and i doubt for improvement judging by the next time.
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Old 30-10-2016, 01:50
Brandon_Smith
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Also one question, I forget, why can't Miss Quill use weapons?
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Old 30-10-2016, 03:33
Abomination
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Also one question, I forget, why can't Miss Quill use weapons?
If she uses a weapon, other than in defence of Charlie, the creature planted in her head will kill her. It will also kill her if she attempts to hurt Charlie, or if she fails to protect him.

If you're familiar with Buffy it's a bit like the chip in Spike's head... it'd cause debilitating pain any time he hurt a human, or even pointed a weapon at a human.
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Old 30-10-2016, 09:11
nyder
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And where, might I ask, did I assume that you were a white, straight, fully able-bodied man? If you had read it corrrectly, I was stating not everybody could relate to such a person in defense of the diversity of the characters, not calling you one. From my perspective you are merely a faceless name on the internet. I'm afraid you're defensive attitude suggests to me that maybe it does make you feel threatened.
You blatantly suggested that I found the diversity 'threatning' and in reply to me said that not everyone can relate to white, straight, athletic men, suggesting that that's what I relate too.

Now you attack me for being defensive. Nothing I said was incorrect. The BBC very clearly had a silly PC checklist that, as someone who falls within this checklist (though in my original post I did not say this I only found that necessary after you insinuated that I was some kind of bigot), I find patronising. That is not being defensive.

Once again you end your attack by suggesting that I somehow feel 'threatened' by this diversity. I do not know exactly what you mean here, I simply find your attitude extremely ignorant.

On a positive note, and to continue within the context of the thread I am enjoying the series so far. I was not expecting to enjoy it and had concerns about it, but I am pleased that my concerns were unfounded. If anything, I am a little confused as to why the BBC would see fit to put this out only on the online BBC3 and not mainstream.
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