Big announcement?

[Mr Awe]

Admitting that we know next to nothing about this, I wondered if Class might be a pre-existing concept that was retrofitted into the Coal Hill School and Doctor Who. Maybe Ness had pitched this series as a standalone, and then someone said, "What if we made it part of Doctor Who?" That idea then opened up new possibilities.

That was my impression when I first heard of the concept. They retrofitted an existing concept to latch onto the DW audience. It sounds like the only connection to DW is school. I suppose there could be more that we don't know about, but that's how it seems at first glance.

Sadly, a pretty disappointing announcement. If they have to do a spin-off, use some actual DW characters!

Mr Awe

 

[DarthPipes]

If we're going to have a show set at Coal Hill, could we FINALLY get an Ian Chesterton appearance?!

I agree...if it's going to be a spinoff I'd rather it be focused on existing characters (not named Clara).

 

[Tarek71]

"London is unprotected"? Doesnt UNIT still exist? Why would London be unprotected? And what are the teenagers going to do? Do some of them have super powers? Are some of them Alien teens? Do they have a sonic? Or K-9? Or Mr. Smith? Access to a trove of Alien tech? A Batcave? Buffy had super powers. She wasnt just a plucky kid who fought monsters.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Oh, that's it?

How disappointing, underwhelming, and overhyped. But above all else, how boring.

Meh.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Should at least call it "Coal Hill" though.

 

[Starkers]

Given Moffat's history (as a schoolteacher, with Chalk and Pressgang) I'm surprised its taken this long!

It isn't a notion that immediately leaps out and grabs you, although the involvement of Ness might be quite major seeing as he 'gets' young folk, but lets wait and see before we write it off eh

We have no idea of casting, or even tone, it'll probably be more mature than early Torchwood was at least (but lets be honest most of the time the Sarah Jane Adventures was more mature than Torchwood was...).

Alternatively it might be the Who version of Spooks Code 9

I'm wracking my brains to see if there's anyone in the Whoniverse who could be spun off into this (aside from Courtney Woods who I guess might still be at Coal Hill)

Anyone else get a bad feeling that we may be seeing Who's near future with Class being 8x45 minute episodes?

On the plus side its doubtful the BBC would be starting spinoffs if they felt the parent show was on its last legs.

I still want a Paternoster Gang show though

 

[Bob The Skutter]

WTF is wrong with every one? It's a new show in the Doctor Who universe. People have been saying for ages they want a new spin off. It's a respected writer/creator on board. BBC Three launched Torchwood so why be surprised they might want to do something similar with this?

Whatever the news people would have been disappointed. "Oh a feature film? You mean I have to pay to see what I watch every week for free? How disappointing." "New companion? How is that news, we know there will always be new companions. How disappointing." "K9 is coming back! Yay! But really, BIG news? How disappointing."

New Sci-Fi on British TV, something to look forward to as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

Whatever the news people would have been disappointed. "Oh a feature film? You mean I have to pay to see what I watch every week for free? How disappointing." "New companion? How is that news, we know there will always be new companions. How disappointing." "K9 is coming back! Yay! But really, BIG news? How disappointing."

That very presumptious. And wrong, IMO.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

Whatever the news people would have been disappointed. "Oh a feature film? You mean I have to pay to see what I watch every week for free? How disappointing." "New companion? How is that news, we know there will always be new companions. How disappointing." "K9 is coming back! Yay! But really, BIG news? How disappointing."

That very presumptious. And wrong, IMO.

We've all been around the internet long enough to know it's true.

 

[Starkers]

Whatever the news people would have been disappointed. "Oh a feature film? You mean I have to pay to see what I watch every week for free? How disappointing." "New companion? How is that news, we know there will always be new companions. How disappointing." "K9 is coming back! Yay! But really, BIG news? How disappointing."

That very presumptious. And wrong, IMO.

We've all been around the internet long enough to know it's true.

 

[Mitty]

Wow, the BBC really don't know the audience do they. Was completely meh about this. Would far prefer they through the money from this into the main program.

At this point I'm only watching out of some sense of duty, but the program is pretty much annoying me every episode. About the only one I liked last year was "Flatline", the rest I could easily have done without.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

It's a different channel, different budget. They can't "Throw the money behind the main programme" because it's BBC Three money, that they're trying to spend to make sure BBC Three as an online service works.

 

[StCoop]

It's a different channel, different budget. They can't "Throw the money behind the main programme" because it's BBC Three money, that they're trying to spend to make sure BBC Three as an online service works.

According to Ness it will shown online in BBC3 first and also be shown on BBC1.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

It's a different channel, different budget. They can't "Throw the money behind the main programme" because it's BBC Three money, that they're trying to spend to make sure BBC Three as an online service works.

According to Ness it will shown online in BBC3 first and also be shown on BBC1.

This was the deal anyway wasn't it? BBC Three goes online and then content will be premiered on BBC Three then later repeated on One or Two to increase the reach so people without internet access get a chance to see the new content?

 

[Saul]

Oh, that's it?

How disappointing, underwhelming, and overhyped. But above all else, how boring.

Meh.

What he said.

 

[Pingfah]

WTF is wrong with every one? It's a new show in the Doctor Who universe. People have been saying for ages they want a new spin off. It's a respected writer/creator on board. BBC Three launched Torchwood so why be surprised they might want to do something similar with this?

Whatever the news people would have been disappointed. "Oh a feature film? You mean I have to pay to see what I watch every week for free? How disappointing." "New companion? How is that news, we know there will always be new companions. How disappointing." "K9 is coming back! Yay! But really, BIG news? How disappointing."

New Sci-Fi on British TV, something to look forward to as far as I'm concerned.

For goodness sake Bob, a couple of ex-Who actors doing some radio plays is big news. A whole 8 episode spinoff TV show is like somebody shooting my dog.

I feel so desolate.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

WTF is wrong with every one? It's a new show in the Doctor Who universe. People have been saying for ages they want a new spin off. It's a respected writer/creator on board. BBC Three launched Torchwood so why be surprised they might want to do something similar with this?

Whatever the news people would have been disappointed. "Oh a feature film? You mean I have to pay to see what I watch every week for free? How disappointing." "New companion? How is that news, we know there will always be new companions. How disappointing." "K9 is coming back! Yay! But really, BIG news? How disappointing."

New Sci-Fi on British TV, something to look forward to as far as I'm concerned.

For goodness sake Bob, a couple of ex-Who actors doing some radio plays is big news. A whole 8 episode spinoff TV show is like somebody shooting my dog.

I feel so desolate.

Yeah, I suppose you're right. I should really adjust my expectations and focus on the big picture. A group of internet nerds got their expectations up and didn't get what they want. It's a pathetic announcement by the BBC that's wrong here.

 

[NightJim]

I'm on your side.

Admittedly it's not the best news. Some of Big Finish's recent announcements have gotten me far more excited, but I'm not going to just bury this before having actually seen it. Lets not forget that Moffat started off with Press Gang, a programme similar in premise. While it's not the show any of us wanted, there's nothing to say that it can't be amazing. "Oh they're rebooting Battlestar Galactica as a gritty drama? That'll be rubbish!" "Star Trek on a space station? That just goes against the very idea." Give it a chance before writing it off.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

A group of internet nerds got their expectations up and didn't get what they want.

Thats not it, at all. Its the BBC that hyped those fans up. Nobody came up with the MASSIVE and BIG ANNOUNCEMENT tags but them, did they?

 

[Pingfah]

A spinoff TV show is about as big an announcement as you could get with regard to any TV show, except CSI.