Class

[Bogatan]

Oct 22, 2016 12:15:25 GMT blueshift said:

Oct 22, 2016 10:42:48 GMT blueshift said:

Bing bong, first episode of the Dr Who spinoff is up. WHAT DO WE THINK?

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p048h1s0/class-series-1-1-for-tonight-we-might-die

Hmmmmmm that was ok, still unsure why it exists though

Because the BBC can't/wont make Doctor Who every year and or Who spin offs are cheaper/easier to make and come with a built in audience.

Also 20 years later people are still tryng to make a new Buffy and they wont stop till they do, dammit!

I was going to say because it was time for a replacement for SJA, but that was a hell of a lot more violent than a SJA replacement could ever be. What time is this being shown? if its even on TV. Is it a BBC3 thing?

[Bogatan]

Aw no it is BBC3, its doomed.

[Pinwig]

I haven't watched this yet, but it feels to me like the BBC trying to recapture the same kids that enjoyed SJA now they're that bit older. Which is slightly worrying in that it would mean the BBC are already looking at the kids who loved Who in the Tennant years as the real fans of the show, rather than any that may have survived the late-night more adult oriented feel of the last series. I can't imagine the BBC now making a straight SJA replacement for CBBC broadcast. I don't think the audience is there any more.

[legios]

I thought it was very "eh". A sort of cut-and-shut of bits of "Buffy" without the style, and "Dark Season" without the wit, stitched together with some "It fits into the "Young Adult" demographic strait-jacket so it must have X" stuff. Very by the numbers and without really anything to make it stand out. Karl's inner teenager declared "eh, whatever" to it.

I can report that we were not impressed.
I kind of got that impression from the sound of stitches in my sofa arm being sliced through Ollie...
In fairness, I think Blu liked the teacher-cynic-alienterrorist...
Least sensible multi-classing choice I've seen in a long time
Says the human who thinks nerd-housing assistant-librarian is a sensible option. But anyway, Blu's opinion is clearly irrelevant seeing as he thinks cynical-gunbloke is the best character in "Dark Matter" as well. As to "Class", it means well I suppose. But it really isn't doing _anything_ particularly well. It is just there. At least it isn't making you growl and grind your teeth like some things.
...?
You shouldn't growl. You do it really badly. And you monkey-people have terrible teeth to begin with, don't make them worse.

Not the worst thing, or the thing that made me most annoyed, that I have seen so far today. But in fair that is a pretty low hurdle to clear.

Hurdle? It barely has to clear the kerb to claim that.

Karl

[The Doctor]

It was pish.

-Ralph

[Andy Turnbull]

The mum's line "Are you talking to a boy" in Episode one, which I predicted milliseconds before she said it was what drove is us to vodka.

A decent cast (teacher not withstanding) hamstrung by a shitty concept and some piss poor writing.

[blueshift]

Oct 23, 2016 17:19:50 GMT Andy Turnbull said:

A decent cast (teacher not withstanding)

But... but that was the best character!!!

[Andy Turnbull]

...

[blueshift]

Oct 23, 2016 17:43:59 GMT Andy Turnbull said:

...

!!!

[Bogatan]

I didn't realise the second episode was up till and hour ago.

I enjoyed it a lot more than the first. Didn't feel like a Buffy knock off for one thing. Meaning its already done more than Hex managed in however many years it ran for. And generally felt more natural.

[legios]

Now, I felt literally the opposite - the second episode felt much more "Buffy-esque" than the first one to me in so many ways. From the debate about what to call "the bunghole of time", so the dun-dun-duh! hints of an ongoing plot arc, to the rather laboured way that the monster was linked to the "trauma of the episode"...

Karl

[The Doctor]

The problem is that it has the same premise as Torchwood: 'adult' BBC3 drama series in which a team guard against strange things coming through a rift in time and space in a fixed location in an area of contemporary Britain. They stop the monsters when the Doctor can't be there! The team have 'edgy' issues about sex and violence and overcoming their demons! So it feels utterly redundant and made me wonder why the BBC hadn't just made a fifth series of Torchwood instead. It's the same bloody show, just relocated.

This show is even sillier though as all everyone has to do is ignore The Corridor Of Death where the rift is and everything is fine. Also, the rift is in a school. Lots of people connected with the school are already dying/vanishing. So, er, that school is being shut down pretty damn quick and there goes your show. Stupid premise.

Look, it's the school from some episode of Doctor Who! Except it isn't as it has been rebuilt and has a slightly different name. Er. And features no characters from any episode of Doctor Who. Er. Shoving the Doctor in there for five minutes does not make it a spin-off!

All of this I could happily shrug my shoulders and let go if the show was good on its own right. But despite the cast clearly being capable it was just...crap drama. Very poorly written with awful dialogue.

I don't feel compelled to watch any more of it.

-Ralph

[Bogatan]

Oct 23, 2016 19:42:47 GMT legios said:

Now, I felt literally the opposite - the second episode felt much more "Buffy-esque" than the first one to me in so many ways. From the debate about what to call "the bunghole of time", so the dun-dun-duh! hints of an ongoing plot arc, to the rather laboured way that the monster was linked to the "trauma of the episode"...

Karl

Thats actually what I meant. Episode 1 felt like a Buffy knock off. Episode 2 felt Buffy-esque. At least to me these are two very different things.

[primenova]

Are there 2 episodes online or just one, I got 2 up for 22 October.

[Andy Turnbull]

There are two episodes online currently.

Andy

[Andy Turnbull]

Episode 3 online now:

[blueshift]

I've heard no buzz about this show and it seems to be buried in the iplayer graveyard. I can't imagine it's doing very well though maybe it is for a mythical "ITS NOT FOR YOUUUUUUUUUUUU BLUESHIFT" audience.

[Andy Turnbull]

It was a retweet from the official BBC Who account that pointed it out to me otherwise I'd not have known.

Not bothered to watch it yet though.

[Pinwig]

Did they say it will have a repeat run on BBC2? That would get it more exposure. Blueshift might be right though. Maybe the kids are lapping it up through their tablets and we are still looking at it from a traditional TV exposure perspective.

[Andy Turnbull]

I can see it ending up on BBc2 at some point.

[legios]

Oct 29, 2016 23:19:56 GMT Pinwig said:

Did they say it will have a repeat run on BBC2? That would get it more exposure. Blueshift might be right though. Maybe the kids are lapping it up through their tablets and we are still looking at it from a traditional TV exposure perspective.

It seems to have developed a small following amongst canadians on another web-forum I monitor. Not a huge one - it does not generate a thread to rival Arrow, Supergirl or Orphan Black. More a Killjoys-sized following. Those who are watching it seem relatively positive about it. But it certainly hasn't generated huge amounts of traffic. But, given the posters there range from college age to fifteen-twenty years my senior they aren't exactly the intended target audience.

The original plan that Patrick Ness tweeted about back in 2015 seemed to be that it was going to debut on BBC3, and then get an airing on BBC1, but I'm not sure whether that plan is still actually going to happen....

Karl
(Not bothered to watch Episode Three so far. The first two episodes failed to give me a reason to come back - and I already have one "no, you don't get to win" series on the go. I can't fight a two front battle against MSG:Unicorn and Class at the same time :-) )

[Bogatan]

I liked episode 3. It still feels like the tone isn't quite right, I like it enough to watch more but theres something not quite right. But 3 episodes in and it hasn't really resorted to a magic technobabble solution to anything which is good, though I have to wonder exactly how long that can realistically last.

I think the shows big problem is not just lack of awareness but also confusion bout what it is. I mentioned it last weekend and the only person who knew about it thought it was a kids show.

Also its a weird show in that it has a tiny realistic life span. Its set in a sixth form meaning most pupils are there 2 years maybe 3. Given the tone of the show they probably can't introduce new characters from the secondary school to give them a longer life span. So thats going to be a constant cast turn over if it runs long enough.

[blueshift]

This is still a thing! anyone watching it?

[The Doctor]

Nope. I had pretty much forgotten about it anyway.

-Ralph

[Bogatan]

Just watched episode 6. 2 more episodes to go. I still think its pretty good, but the tone is still a bit mixed. Though it has has found its feet after the first two episodes.

I'm not convinced its properly built for its supposed target audience though, which would be a pretty big flaw.

[Pinwig]

Prob do a binge when it's done. I've not watched any yet.

[Andy Turnbull]

Not fussed, watched the first two eps, that was enough for me.

Andy

[legios]

Not really been given any reason to watch it - I gave it a charitable two episodes and did not enjoy it, so I haven't bothered to return. Can't see as I'm likely to at the moment with Humans, Flash and Supergirl running, and various odds and ends to be watched DVD Rental-wise there isn't really much room in my limited TV watching schedule for it at the moment.

Karl

[The Doctor]

When I have multiple versions of The Power Of The Daleks to watch, I could not give a toss about a show which has the tiniest and most contrived relation to the mothership show.

Unless, of course, I hear that Ram has been covered in blood again.

-Ralph

[Andy Turnbull]

Someone needs to tell us.

Andy