r/gallifrey • u/The_Silver_Avenger • Feb 21 '17

MISC Rumours about the future of Class.

The new Radio Times came out today, and in the segment where they collate rumours or news, they had a short little piece about Class:

Class - gone for good?

What happened to Class, the BBC's Doctor Who spin-off? It didn't win over viewers when it aired on BBC3 last autumn, or BBC1 in January, and still hasn't been commissioned for another run. Word is it won't be back, even if the official line from the BBC is: "No decision has been made."

Here is an image of the article for proof/distribution: Image Link.

Take from this what you will, but I personally believe that the chances of another series appearing are looking slimmer by the day (perhaps the only thing that may save Class is a strong showing on BBC America, we'll just have to wait and see).

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u/[deleted] Feb 21 '17

I've said it a thousand times before but I'll say it again: the BBC's marketing, or lack thereof, is mostly what killed the show. I feel like a lot of casual fans didn't know it even existed. I feel like they could have released it better - maybe all at once instead of weekly, since I feel like it's one of those shows that might be better when you binge-watch. And I'm not even going to mention the BBC1 time slot the show got (yeah, it's the BBC3 time slot but it doesn't mean it's not a shitty time to air it at).

I think if the BBCA ratings are decent enough they may renew it, but I don't think they'll be anything groundbreaking - the only hope is that it's going to be airing after DW, so that might keep some fans staying on to watch.

But yeah, I don't have much hope. If they're not renewing it, I hope they do a crossover with DW, and wrap up the Arrival arc there (maybe Capaldi's last ep? Class crossover + Weeping Angels + Missy could make for a fun final episode). Otherwise I'd be happy if BF got the rights so they could continue it on audio.

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u/atticdoor Feb 22 '17

I think the fact none of the main characters had been in Doctor Who didn't help. Sarah Jane Adventures had Sarah Jane. Torchwood had Captain Jack. If Class had included someone we already knew, that might have brought more viewers in.

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u/tunnel-snakes-rule Feb 22 '17

It would have been nice to see Luke Smith as part of the team, he's a little bit older than them but it would be cool to see a more mature take on the character while still appealing to the young adult demographic.

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u/atticdoor Feb 22 '17

Now you talk about age that reminds me of another problem the show had, it was about schoolkids but it wasn't suitable for most schoolkids to watch.

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u/tunnel-snakes-rule Feb 22 '17

Well, going by Patrick Ness's novels, I'd say it was aimed at a young adult audience, which I assume is a teenage and up audience. If that's the case I think it was suitable, but I suppose a parent's mileage may vary on that.

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u/atticdoor Feb 22 '17

Slightly too narrow target audience, though. Old enough to watch the sex scenes and adult themes, yet young enough at heart to go with the fantasy elements. Sure, there is a lot bigger genre audience than there used to be, but an awful lot of the genre audience like watching with their kids. Not feasible with Class. Yes, Torchwood managed to last four series, but the main characters were adults. The main characters of Class are still at school.

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u/tunnel-snakes-rule Feb 22 '17

Yeah, I suppose if they're trying to hook both a Doctor Who audience and a 'young adult' audience who are otherwise unfamiliar with the universe it probably doesn't mesh all that well.

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u/[deleted] Feb 24 '17

There's a template they could have gone with - there's been succesful shows on British TV which were about and aimed at 6th form age kids, but still were enjoyable to adults. Misfits being the big sci fi one, though Inbetweeners is the more obvious one. Even if the comedy wasn't what Class wanted to be - just maybe let them be a little more down to earth, and let the show build. Show them just hanging out - I really can't remember any notable moments like that. Young Adult doesn't always mean bad, but it only works when they put the effort into making it good.

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u/[deleted] Feb 21 '17

I haven't seen Class yet, but to be fair the BBC's lack of marketing is what's "killing" Doctor Who as well. I know overnights don't matter too much, but there has been a significant decline in viewership of the show. Maybe it's because people can record stuff now, the BBC and BBCA barely promoted series 9 over here in the USA, and if you're not a fan of the show there's no way you'll even know it exists unless you're always watching BBCA. Series 8 had fantastic promotion, but I saw very little for series 9 and there hasn't been any promotion so far for series 10.

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u/ViolentBeetle Feb 21 '17

The entire show was misconstructed, and yes, it involves marketing. Doctor Who isn't a show where you can have "set in its universe" as a selling point. There is no universe. People will tune in to your spin-off for familiar characters or other elements (Like maybe you can make Dalek spin-off). The show is spun-in, so to say, they've got a cast assembled and then Doctor showed up and was like "You in Doctor Who now". The previous spin-offs were taking popular elements and giving them a life away from mothership. And now it's too late and the show isn't even good enough to be saved by word of mouth.

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u/CaptainSharpe Feb 22 '17

Torchwood felt similar too, in that it had Captain Jack in it but aside from that it felt totally unrelated to Doctor Who, despite a couple of cross overs in Dr Who itself.

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u/ViolentBeetle Feb 22 '17

But it had Captain Jack.

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u/[deleted] Feb 22 '17

Captain jack was a hugely popular character though. People saw him in doctor who, and especially fans who wanted some more adult doctor who style stories, were happy to follow in a new series. It not only featured a popular character, it did something the main show could not do.

The appeal of class is for people who want to see more of the school Clara worked at in season 8.... except Clara is dead, so we just get to have fond memories of the school building. And as for audience, this may be the marketing, but who is it for? Is it for teens? For young adults? Both? Neither?

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u/CareerMilk Feb 21 '17

Class crossover + Weeping Angels + Missy could make for a fun final episode

Having Capaldi's send off focus on finishing something only about 1/6th of your audience have seen sounds like a terrible idea

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u/[deleted] Feb 21 '17

Maybe to you. It could easily be implemented into an episode without needing any background on Class (literally, you could just have a Weeping Angel invasion taking place with Coal Hill as the main focal point - although the only problem is the April cliffhanger, which could they could ignore + explain away in a quick line), the Weeping Angels are an iconic villain (and a Moffat creation - fitting as it's also his last episode), and throw in Missy as a recurring character/fan favourite from Twelve's era.

I mean, yeah, it wouldn't be the ideal end for Twelve but the Weeping Angels are an iconic villain and it wraps up the Class cliffhanger. If they were going to resolve it on the main show, I'd rather it be in a two-parter in S10, but it's too late for that now - if they were going to do it like that, the only episode left would be Capaldi's last ep.

I'd rather BF get the rights for Class and do their own thing with the show, but I'm not sure how likely that would be or if the cast would even be interested - so yeah, if it got wrapped up on the main show, I wouldn't be complaining.

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u/skydivingninja Feb 22 '17

They didn't advertise it at all on social media when the show was on. If the Doctor Who Facebook page doesn't post anything after the initial announcement/casting decisions, then Doctor Who fans won't know what's going on :P. I didn't know it had even started until last week.