Doctor Who spin-off Class to start filming in April with Peter Capaldi set to 'pop up' in new show
Casting announcements are also expected soon, but it remains unclear whether the programme will be shown weekly or 'drop' as an entire series on BBC3
New Doctor Who spin-off show Class will start filming in April, RadioTimes.com can reveal.
And while the cast has still not been confirmed it is understood that Peter Capaldi’s Doctor is in line for an appearance in the spin-off drama.
According to top level sources, the finishing touches are being put to the cast list for the series which is set in Coal Hill, the iconic Doctor Who school that we’ve seen various times throughout the show’s history and at which, more recently, Clara Oswald taught.
The cameras will start rolling in just over a month – and certainly before Doctor Who series ten starts filming in May, according to the sources.
“It wil have a close connection with Doctor Who so don’t be surprised if Peter pops up,” said one source close to the production.
Eight epsidoes, each lasting 45 minutes, have been commissioned but so far the BBC is undecided about how to show them.
They have been commissioned for BBC3 so will air online first. But the BBC is still to decide whether they will be posted on a week-by-week basis or whether the whole series will be 'dropped' at once to allow fans to binge watch the entire first run. Like all original BBC3 content, Class will eventually find a home on a linear channel, almost certain to be BBC1.
The BBC has so far teased fans with details of the series which it expects to air towards the end of 2016.
It has said that “incredible dangers are breaking through the walls of time and space, and with darkness coming, London is unprotected” and promises “all the action, heart and adrenalin of the best YA fiction."
The drama is set in Shoreditch, hipster capital of the world and is written by Patrick Ness - an author of nine books, including six bestselling YA novels.
He has written the screenplay for his own novel, A Monster Calls, which has been filmed for release in 2016 and stars Liam Neeson, Sigourney Weaver and Felicity Jones. Described by John Green as "an insanely beautiful writer’" his works have an appeal with the Young Adult fiction audience.
Ness said: "I can't wait for people to meet the heroes of Class, to meet the all-new villains and aliens, to remember that the horrors of the darkest corners of existence are just about on par with having to pass your A-Levels."
Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat will acting as executive producer on the show, which he describes as "growing up in modern Britain – but with monsters!”
