With school out for Doctor Who (for the summer and the rest of the year), BBC Three has turned its attention to enrolling a cast for the long-running series’ “youthful” spinoff, Class. The new series will be set at Coal Hill School, which was also the setting for the first episode of Doctor Who. But it seems all those TARDIS trips have worn out the fabric of space-time, allowing a chance for “something waiting…to kill everyone and everything, to bring us all into Shadow.”
All told, there are four adolescents tasked with taking on the Shadow, presumably during study breaks for their A-levels: Relative newcomers Greg Austin (Mr. Selfridge), Fady Elsayed (Penny Dreadful, Law & Order: UK), Sophie Hopkins (The Devil Knows You’re Here) and Vivian Oparah have been cast as the central, studious quartet. They’ll be led by Mr. Selfridge’s Katherine Kelly, who will play a teacher and a “powerful new presence” at the school. And don’t be surprised if these British Scoobies gather in the library to strategize against alien invaders, as Class executive producer (and erstwhile Doctor Who showrunner) Steven Moffat has said he’s “always wondered if there could be a British Buffy [The Vampire Slayer].” To that end, YA author Patrick Ness, whose A Monster Calls fantasy novel has been adapted for the big screen (and Liam Neeson), has been tapped to write the series. Filming is underway, and Class is expected to be in session later this year.