Class (TV Series) For Tonight We Might Die (2016) User Reviews

Tonight We Might Die

[Prismark10 · 8/10 · 22 October 2016]

Patrick Ness created and written this Doctor Who spin off that is aimed at a Young Adult audience. It also means that it tilts somewhat towards Torchwood with some mature themes such as swearing and blood being shed rather than The Sarah Jane Adventures.

The first episode returns to Coal Hill School now refurbished and upgraded to an Academy. With all the adventures by the Doctor in and around there is a rift in time and space where a portal opens up and lets in or out various aliens. So far so Torchwood and I am sure actor John Barrowman is spitting blood.

Four disparate students, Charlie, April, Ram and Tanya are preparing for Autumn Prom. However sinister shadows are appearing and physics teacher Miss Quill seems to know a lot more about what is going on. Shadowy monsters are about to be unleashed and the TARDIS is not far behind.

The first episode was very stylishly shot, lots of overhead shots and very well paced. The special effects were nifty. It really has hit the ground running and just to cement its place the Whoniverse, Peter Capaldi pops up as the Doctor.

By the end of this first episode, the team of the young students and Miss Quill has been set up, some cultural references although you can feel the inspiration for this series seems to be Buffy: The Vampire Slayer which also influence New Who when it returned in 2005.

A few cringe moments, but on the whole...

[weridguys · 8/10 · 30 October 2016]

It's pretty good! I'm sure that the few cringe worthy moments from the first few episodes will lessen as the show finds it's place. The first episode had a few serious moments, but the humorous ones were the ones that one it for me. I can see the show securing a place as a more mature alternative to doctor who, and can only hope that it gets enough popularity to warrant continuation.

Pros: The funny bits are really funny. Good characters (mostly, though I feel like Ram is a little underdeveloped). Feels more mature and less rigid in terms of plot than doctor who

Cons: Some cringe worthy lines/scenarios. Lets play the "How many times can we flashback to the blood spurt on his face" game! The plots of the episodes need more depth to be more enjoyable

On the whole I feel like all of the issues it suffers from are side effects of a mature show that is weighed down by simple, more childish explanation of plot.

First Episode Fun

[myangel109 · 7/10 · 22 October 2016]

I came across this by accident as I was vaguely only aware that they were doing a new Doctor Who spin off in a school. I am a huge fan of who (currently wearing a Dr WHo Christmas Jumper 2 months too soon).

Anyway on to the review.. this is a great pilot, I had no idea that it was a Who spin off until about 25% in which makes it accessible to a new fans and doesn't require background knowledge of the source material. When I started watching it, I felt there was an Americanized atmosphere to the school and compared to other British productions (Teachers, Skins, even Sarah Jane).

I am a massive fan of shows like Buffy and I enjoyed the reference and homage that they play to these shows. This show aired the same week as another 'British Buffy' type E4 show called 'Crazyhead' and I felt this was much better.

A dramatic debut, definitely benefiting from Capaldi's appearance.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 7/10 · 11 June 2017]

Coal Hill School, now a fancy Academy for young adults, sees its students menaced by the Shadow kin, a set of sword wielding, burning shadows. Teacher Miss Quill and student Charlie hail from the civilised planet of Rhodia, on opposing sides, but united by seeing their planet devastated by the Shadow kin. The Shadow kin are chasing a cabinet, which Charlie took to Earth, apparently containing the souls of every Rhodian. Miss Quill calls on the help of a famous time traveller.

I must admit I didn't fancy it during transmission, so much bad press, first episode down I felt like I was watching a blend of Grange Hill and The Sarah Jane Adventures. Targeted at a young adult audience, I can see how they just missed the mark.

I enjoyed it, but this could have been so much better, the high point ultimately the appearance of Peter Capaldi. Some nice special effects,but slightly wooden acting in some areas. I wonder had this been scheduled at a sensible time would it have been more successful. 7/10

Brainless

[TheDonaldofDoom · 24 October 2016]

I tried to approach this with an open mind, but the further it went on the more I realised that they've blown it. First of all, the attempt to make Doctor Who "cool" has failed because of the clichéd sci-fi elements ripped straight out of the Book of Clichés. Besides, DW has never intended to be cool, nor should it.

I'll give credit where it's due, Patrick Ness didn't make the mistake of focusing too much on boring real-life issues that have no place in fun sci-fi series. At some points it tried to bring in social issues merely for the sake of commenting on social issues, most notably the random racial comments. But generally that sort of thing was avoided. In fact, I'd argue it jumps right into the alien events too quickly, when we barely even know anything about the characters.

One problem with Class is how cheesy it is. I remember Patrick Ness saying he wants to create monsters as memorable as the Weeping Angels, but I'm not getting that here. So far we've got generic shadow warriors with plastic-looking faces and cheap CGI. The backstory of the aliens is nothing special either and it isn't dressed up in an appealing way. It's just a generic alien backstory with alien-sounding vocabulary but little interest. A bit like the lore of a mediocre sci-fi RPG.

The final big problem with this episode is how it lacks emotion. I barely knew any of the characters and yet there are these scenes that could have been emotional, if not for the lousy script and pacing which made it hard to care what happens to the characters. The acting's mostly okay, although at times it's as unconvincing as a GCSE drama pupil ("I'm really sorry about Rachel").

I knew Class wasn't going to be incredible but I didn't realise it would be this disappointing. Even an appearance of the Doctor couldn't save it. Perhaps it'll improve in the next episode, but so far I'd say if you want good teen sci-fi watch Stranger Things instead.

Good Start

[johnluke-79567 · 7/10 · 5 January 2019]

To keep it short. This episode was a good start for a new show. It is not a kid show at all. It has horror elements to it which I applaud. The charactors were great and the first scentury leaves alot of mystery that kept me interested. To top it off you had a scene of the main charactor of the main show, the Twelth Doctor. It ended with the doctor defeating the enemy and forming a team out of the main casts to defend earth.

Unbelievably bad,.. a great disappointment.

[davidrain-86160 · 4/10 · 24 October 2016]

I had been looking forward to this for months. I was a great fan of both Torchwood and The Sarah Jane adventures, and I also enjoy shows such as Skins. The writing in the first episode of Class was appalling. The characters are rushed, and the attempt to give them depth has failed miserably. The show is filled with plot holes and entire aspects are just glossed over.

Multiple people in the school see aliens, and multiple people are killed. Despite this, the police do not visit the school. In the next episode, nobody remembers the aliens, which is credited to the shoddy excuse of "selective amnesia". The writing is rubbish.

A promising show that has been ruined by poor writing.