Following a social media tease earlier today promising some “good news” on the way, BBC Three has just announced that they have been developing a new Doctor Who spinoff series! Titled Class, the Doctor Who spinoff will be set in contemporary London and hails from YA author Patrick Ness. Set at the Coal Hill School, the fictional educational facility where Doctor Who began all the way back in 1963’s “An Unearthly Child,” Class is officially described as follows:
Incredible dangers are breaking through the walls of time and space, and with darkness coming, London is unprotected. With all the action, heart and adrenalin of the best YA fiction (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Hunger Games), this is Coal Hill School and Doctor Who like you’ve never seen them before.
“No one has documented the dark and exhilarating world of the teenager like Patrick Ness,” says Doctor Who showrunner Stephen Moffat, “and now we’re bringing his brilliant story-telling into ‘Doctor Who’. This is growing up in modern Britain – but with monsters!”
“I’m astounded and thrilled to be entering the ‘Doctor Who’ universe,” says Ness, “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.”
In addition to it’s ties to Doctor Who‘s origins, the Coal Hill School has been visited throughout the series’ 50+ year run. Jenna Coleman’s Clara Oswald is currently a teacher there. Whether or not Class will feature either Clara, Danny Pink or even Susan Foreman in any capacity remains to be seen.
Class will be executive produced by Steven Moffatt, Patrick Ness and Brian Minchin. The Doctor Who spinoff was commissioned by Damian Kavanagh, Controller BBC Three and Polly Hill, Controller BBC Drama Commissioning. It is produced by BBC Cymru Wales in association with BBC Worldwide for BBC Three.
Eight forty-five minute episodes of the Doctor Who spinoff will film in and around Wales from Spring, 2016. Look for Class to premiere in 2016.
