Class series one discussion thread (spoilers)

[DS9Continuing]

Oh, that was confirmed nearly 8 years ago (that long??) in The Sarah Jane Adventures: "Death of the Doctor, Part 2." "And there's a Dorothy something. She runs that company, A Charitable Earth. She's raised billions." (Note the charity's initials: ACE.)

I saw that, and wondered if they would keep continuity with that when she shows up in the Class audios.

On the one hand, they would surely have to, because it has been established in on-screen canon (as much as the Whoniverse can be said to even have a canon, and assuming SJA's canon is counted as valid as DW's own).

On the other hand, they might not, if they decide that Sarah-Jane's "Dorothy something" is not definitive enough to establish that she is talking about the exact same Ace we know, and use that to provide the wiggle room they might want to take it in another direction.

On the third hand, I have no idea what may or may not have been established about Ace in the other BF audios, and her companionship with the Seventh Doctor. Presumably whatever that is, BF would want to also maintain continuity with that.

I also noted that the press release said Ace would be facing the Daleks, who of course were there when Ace last went to Coal Hill in "Remembrance Thereof". But the TV series finale suggested the Angels were in control at the school. A battle between the Daleks and the Angels, perhaps, with our teen heroes caught in the middle?

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[Steve Roby]

I’d be surprised if the Angels are involved. These are supposed to be S1 stories.

As for Blake’s 7, there are two key problems someone new to the show needs to overcome. First, the special effects. They’re roughly on par with 1970s Doctor Who. Second, camp. There are a lot of people whose attitude towards B7 is like that of some people to the original Star Trek: watching it for camp entertainment value, finding it all a source of laughs.

You need to be able to get past the cheap FX and you need to take the show seriously before it can work its magic on you. If you meet it on its own terms, it’s a pretty intense, character-driven show that can surprise the hell out of you with the places it’s willing to take the characters. And sometimes, well. A few episodes are less good. Take a moment of camp here and there.

The BF audios don’t have ro worry about cheap visual FX and the writers take the show seriously, so once you’ve for a grounding in the setting and characters, they do some really great stuff.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

As for Blake’s 7, there are two key problems someone new to the show needs to overcome. First, the special effects. They’re roughly on par with 1970s Doctor Who. Second, camp. There are a lot of people whose attitude towards B7 is like that of some people to the original Star Trek: watching it for camp entertainment value, finding it all a source of laughs.

You need to be able to get past the cheap FX and you need to take the show seriously before it can work its magic on you. If you meet it on its own terms, it’s a pretty intense, character-driven show that can surprise the hell out of you with the places it’s willing to take the characters. And sometimes, well. A few episodes are less good. Take a moment of camp here and there.

The BF audios don’t have ro worry about cheap visual FX and the writers take the show seriously, so once you’ve for a grounding in the setting and characters, they do some really great stuff.

Good points about the special effects and the camp. I often don't think about it because I grew up on classic Doctor Who and the original series of Star Trek, so that kind of barely phased me when I watched Blake's 7 for the first time about ten years ago.

 

[Steve Roby]

It took me several tries to get into B7. I read about the show in Starlog in the 1980s and read the episode guide and the first novelization, then a cable channel started carrying the show and I just couldn’t get into it. The video room at Toronto Trek showed a couple episodes and I lasted maybe 15 minutes. But one day I was at a bookstore that sold a lot of VHS tapes so I grabbed a tape with the first two episodes and the last two episodes and watched them and this time it worked.

Getting back to Class... not being impressed by the TV series the first time doesn’t mean it may not click for you another time, and it also doesn’t mean the BF audios won’t draw you in.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

Alright, alright. I'll be Blake 7-ed, probably this summer. But, I would like to finish Jago & Litefoot, SJS and Charley audios (and show on the latter case). But yeah, I think I can watch it and appreciate it for its intent.

 

[OCD Geek]

So, um...Class is retuning via Big Finish? Has anyone covered this?

Apparently, two volumes, and Ace, as played by Sophie Aldred, will guest in one of the stories. Already more interesting than the main show, that I've never ever seen beyond the pilot episode.

I'm late to the party on this one, but I'm really excited for this since Scott Handcock is producing it. Handcock and James Goss are the strongest producers currently at Big Finish. Damn near everything they produce is gold. Here's hoping Handcock's Class is as excellent and prolific as Goss's Torchwood. Since Handcock is overseeing Ace's post-Doctor development over on Gallifrey, I'm sure her Class appearance will factor into his long-term plans for her character.

For the record:

Scott Handcock

• The Confessions of Dorian Gray (5 series) 2012-2016
• Gallifrey: Intervention Earth (Series 7) 2015
• Gallifrey: Enemy Lines (Series 8) 2016
• Gallifrey: Time War (Series 9) 2018-present
• The War Master: Only the Good (miniseries) 2017

James Goss

• Torchwood: The Committee Arc (Series 1-2 and The Torchwood Archives) 2015-2016
• Torchwood: Outbreak (miniseries) 2016
• Torchwood: torchwood_cascade_CDRIP.tor (standalone) 2017
• Torchwood: Aliens Among Us (Series 5) 2017-2018
• Torchwood: Believe (miniseries) 2018
• Torchwood: The Last Beacon (standalone) 2018
• Torchwood: We Always Get Out Alive (standalone) 2018
• The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield: The "Unbound" Doctor Arc (Volumes 3-4) 2016-2017 Co-starring David motherfucking Warner as his alternate universe Third Doctor

 

[FreddyE]

One problem I had with class: It was to f-ing bloody and gory right from the start for my tastes. But I liked the concept itself.

 

[DS9Continuing]

I was somewhat surprised at that as well. The show was aimed at the teen audience, and I'm not really familiar with their genres so I'm not sure if that's standard for such things, but the repeated dismemberment and exsanguination was rather unexpected.

And then we get naked man ass in ep 2 and a gay sex scene in ep 3 - now don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled to see a gay lead character have an active sex life, I'd hit em both all up one side and down the other myself. But I didn't expect to see rampant gay buggery of the homosexual variety in a teen-oriented Doctor Who spin-off. Even Torchwood was tamer than that.

Not complaining about any of that, to clarify - I'm just saying it wasn't what I had expected it to be. And that's a good thing, I suppose.

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[Guy Gardener]

Exciting, nay: titillating TV, is cancelled much faster.

 

[Christopher]

I was somewhat surprised at that as well. The show was aimed at the teen audience, and I'm not really familiar with their genres so I'm not sure if that's standard for such things, but the repeated dismemberment and exsanguination was rather unexpected.

And then we get naked man ass in ep 2 and a gay sex scene in ep 3 - now don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled to see a gay lead character have an active sex life, I'd hit em both all up one side and down the other myself. But I didn't expect to see rampant gay buggery of the homosexual variety in a teen-oriented Doctor Who spin-off. Even Torchwood was tamer than that.

Not complaining about any of that, to clarify - I'm just saying it wasn't what I had expected it to be. And that's a good thing, I suppose.

What adults tend to forget is that the very last thing teenagers want is to think of themselves as children. They're at the age where they want to explore adult ideas and themes, where they need to start learning about the issues and situations they'll face once they reach adulthood. So a lot of "young adult" fiction is indeed pretty darn adult in the themes and topics it explores. Just look at The Hunger Games, for example.

Also, the current generation of young people doesn't share their elders' antediluvian notion that gay sex is somehow fundamentally different or more extreme/taboo than the heterosexual kind. Those distinctions don't generally matter as much to the generation now coming of age, which is why we see them mattering less in fiction directed at teens and twentysomethings. More and more, stories just treat relationships the same way irrespective of the partners' genders.

 

[The Wormhole]

Either we watched a heavily edited third episode in Canada or my memory of this show is terrible, but I don't remember there being any gay sex in the show. I know there was a gay relationship, but I don't remember them having sex. And a sex scene more wild than anything seen on Torchwood? Are we really watching the same Class?

 

[ATimson]

I know there was a gay relationship, but I don't remember them having sex. And a sex scene more wild than anything seen on Torchwood? Are we really watching the same Class?

They definitely had sex but it was offscreen (cut from them in bed together to them naked in bed together afterwards.) We didn't see anything like John Barrowman's scenes in Miracle Day.

 

[DS9Continuing]

Maybe you did see an edited version, because at one point they were not only in bed together but there was definite back-and-forth movement (under the covers anyway). I specifically remember being impressed that the gay couple (Charlie and Matteusz) got the action scene while the straight couple (Ram and April) got only a chaste peck in a bus stop. I'm absolutely convinced I didn't imagine it.

Anyway, I only bring it up because I'm impressed they went there. I mean, we're used to people touting their commitment to diversity in casting and characters, but the finished product not quite walking the walk because of 'commercial concerns'. In this case, the walk was definitely walked, regardless what one may think about the actual quality of the show.

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[The Wormhole]

specifically remember being impressed that the gay couple (Charlie and Matteusz) got the action scene while the straight couple (Ram and April) got only a chaste peck in a bus stop. I'm absolutely convinced I didn't imagine it.

Now, see I actually do remember a sex scene between Ram and April, though I think it was in the fourth or fifth episode. They tried some very awkward comedy tied in with it by having the alien king or whatever he was that April was connected to also suddenly want to have sex with one of his underlings at that very same instant.

We didn't see anything like John Barrowman's scenes in Miracle Day.

Honestly, I found Miracle Day's sex scenes rather tame and not worth all the declarations of GRAPHIC GAY SEX that dominated the internet when those episodes aired.

 

[ATimson]

Honestly, I found Miracle Day's sex scenes rather tame and not worth all the declarations of GRAPHIC GAY SEX that dominated the internet when those episodes aired.

Maybe not compared to other shows, but compared to my recollection of the first three seasons it seems like it was a step up in graphic-ness, gay or otherwise.

 

[The Wormhole]

Granted, it was a bit more graphic than we saw in previous Torchwood seasons, I still felt everyone made a mountain out of a mole hill over it. I remember the week before the episode aired there was lots of talk about the episode having a GRAPHIC GAY SEX SCENE which in the end just turned out to be two naked guys thrusting at each other and making out, with a bare ass visible.

 

[TommyR01D]

I didn't expect to see rampant gay buggery of the homosexual variety.

I suppose the sluggish, sad, heterosexual kind would be a bit of a bore.

 

[thribs]

Still can't believe this is the place we get post Time War Ace for the first time. I suppose I'll have to buy it just for that.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Elizabeth Sandifer's TARDIS Eruditorum has begun analyzing Class with this piece on the first episode. Sandifer doesn't much like it, and damns it with faint praise ("for all its flaws we might fairly describe Class as the Chibnall era done right").

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

LOL, not looking good on the Chibnall entries. I'm interested in seeing her review Capaldi's exit trio, though.