What do these new photos tell us about new Doctor Who spin-off Class?
Peter Capaldi and a brand new monster stalk Coal Hill School in BBC3's new sci-fi series
After months spent hurtling through an empty vortex of time and space, Whovians are finally closing in on that one all-important fixed point: the release of Doctor Who spin-off Class, this Saturday from 10am on BBC3.
And after a double-bill of trailers and plot summaries, we finally get a first looked at Class's new enemy, the so-called Shadow Kin, alongside Peter Capaldi’s Time Lord.
So, what do newly released photos tell us about these creatures that definitely don’t come across like a combination of the fiery Pyrovile monsters from the Fires of Pompeii episode (yup, the one with Roman Capaldi) and Silence in the Library’s Vashta Nerada (the monsters literally called ‘the shadows that melt the flesh’)?
Well, firstly it looks as if they’re not posing an immediate threat to the Doctor. While the first trailer depicted the Shadow Kin smashing about Coal Hill Academy, it looks as if the monster poses no immediate threat to Capaldi as he gives some sort of explanation to the group. Are we in for a classic Who "this killer monster is actually a lovely bloke – ignore the bodies on the floor – here’s just misunderstood" soliloquy?
However, not all the new photos released make Class's new monsters appear like friendly combustible Groots. No, we now know the creatures have got some pretty vicious looking fire-swords…
Fire swords that April (Sophie Hopkins) somehow gets her hands on…
The new photos also give us a glimpse into a room with mysterious, maybe alien, technology and weaponry. Including a certain blue police box…
Have Katherine Kelly’s Miss Quill and Greg Austin's Charlie just travelled in the Tardis to reach this room? Or have they found the Doctor’s motor on earth amongst the intergalactic gadgets?
Oh, and note this: for some reason in this room teacher Miss Quill is dressed in a Coal Hill student uniform. Very intriguing…
And there’s plenty more to dissect from the new photos. There’s Ram looking ready to fight with a baseball bat...
There’s also a bat-less Ram looking a tad worse for wear beside the Shadow Kin…
You’ll probably notice in the last pic that Ram was dressed rather smartly (apart from blood splattered over his shrieking face). Well, that’s for the autumn prom we know will feature in the first episode, For Tonight We Might Die, an episode that originally had the title The Prom.
We’ve already seen the space-age gun in the hands of April, but looks as if Greg – the chirpy guy who said he was from “another planet” in the show’s first trailer – will handle the weapon throughout the series premiere.
But it won't all be beating up bad guys. Well, not with guns anyway. Looks like Miss Quill will send a stapler in someone’s direction in the classroom.
Could it be at this baldy-John Major-esque man (perhaps an inspector from the mysterious EverUpwardReach Ltd)?
Oh and there’s also a few pictures of a mysterious tattooed man in a changing room – having read the synopsis of episode 2, The Coach with the Dragon Tattoo, you’ll know this might well have something to do with the “skin-peeling dragon”.
Class episodes 1 and 2 will be available on BBC3 online from Saturday 22nd October.
