Did you enjoy those two featurettes that went behind the scenes of the new Doctor Who spin-off, Class? Well, here are two more videos!
Fans have been crying out for a trailer for the upcoming Doctor Who spin-off, Class. For now, we will have to make do with the various behind the scenes videos that the BBC seems quite fond of producing. Don’t get us wrong, however. They are great fun, as well as insightful.
Related Story: Class: Two Behind the Scenes Featurettes from the BBC
Last Friday, A.Dot, host of BBC 1Xtra Breakfast, sat down with Sophie Hopkins (April), Fady Elsayed (Ram), Greg Austin (Charlie), Vivian Oparah (Tanya), and producer Derek Ritchie for a relatively lengthy discussion about the show. Included in this video are also the two featurettes from our related article above.
The panel can be viewed here:
Austin describes Charlie as “a bit of a weird one,” “a bit awkward,” and “socially inept.” He notes, however, that this is why he is lovable. He and the other characters are able to form unlikely friendships “under the extreme circumstances.” His three descriptive adjectives are:
- quirky
- inept
- leader
Elsayed describes Ram as “a caring, loving, cheeky, kinda cocky young man who has a heart of gold which he gets to explore.” His three descriptive adjectives are:
- caring
- passionate
- driven
Hopkins describes April as having “a big heart,” “her feet firmly on the ground,” and “the potential to kick butt.” She also calls her “a good egg” and “selfless.” Her three descriptive adjectives are:
- wise
- strong
- kickass
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Oparah jokes that Tanya’s heart is not “as big as the others,'” but she is “a good kid.” She explains that the character is fourteen and got moved up in school because “she’s got the brains.” Because of this, “she’s also got the attitude” and is “a bit quick to be rude to people” because she feels “a bit defensive” about being younger than her classmates. Despite this, her main goal “is to make friends” and her attitude comes “from a loving place.” In addition to this, “she’s very switched on” and “woke.” She declined to provide three adjectives, simply stating, “You can’t pin her down.”
Much of the panel was spent answering questions submitted by fans through social media. Katherine Kelly (Miss Quill) and showrunner Patrick Ness later provide textual answers on Class’ official Facebook page.
A.Dot poses the first question to Ritchie:
"What makes Class so different from Doctor Who, or its spin-offs?"
He replies,
"Class is, of course, the first YA Doctor Who spin-off, so it’s a brand new take on the Doctor Who universe. Very much in the Doctor Who universe, we have awesome monsters, we have big concepts. We go to wonderful places, but at its heart is the story of our gang. And we follow that story so closely; every aspect of their lives, we investigate, and that makes it really unique because we see these people in their real lives dealing with the most insane things every single week — and still trying to go to the prom, and still trying to have a relationship, and still trying to pass three levels while the most bonkers things happen to them that change their lives forever. So, it’s incredibly heartfelt. It’s incredibly urgent. It’s incredibly real. And I think it will feel like a really unique, but very grounded part of the Doctor Who universe."
The next question is,
"What was it like when Peter [Capaldi] was on set?"
The answers are interesting, yet unsurprising.
"Austin: Peter was incredible to work with. He walked on set – we didn’t really know he was there. He kind of just like crept on and was like, “Oh, hi, guys.” . . . And watching him take the script from the page and transform it into something real is just beautiful to watch. He’s a madman, I think, just in the best possible way. He’s a genius. And just seeing him like take bits of the script, and going, “Uh, I think we should do this with this bit. This works like this. What do you think about that?” He really plays with it and it’s just so free and wonderful to watch. He’s been an inspiration.Hopkins: When he was on set, the energy – it was electric. And I think we were all quite blown away and in awe.Ritchie: You were all quite star struck.Hopkins: Fangirling! But, yeah. It was like a master class watching him. And it was like – it was nothing I had ever seen before. He’s so charismatic and he like – he’s got his lines in front of him, but what you see in the finished product, it’s all him. You know, he turns it and makes it his own and it’s beautiful to watch.Oparah: That aside, he was also really helping towards us. Like, he was there to support us. And really, really supportive. And you think “big actor, they just sort of do their own thing,” but he was so encouraging. And it was just really nice.Ritchie: It was like you’d been working together for years. It was a fantastic atmosphere on that set. You’re a great team!"
That was just a portion of the panel, but let’s move on to the next video. There has been an ever-growing list of adjectives that have been used to describe Class, one that has become quite lengthy. In a short featurette shared just today, some members of the cast gave their take on what we can expect from the show. Adjectives abound, some new, and some which have been used before to describe the show.
- so good (probably not in the Teen Girl Squad sense)
- fun
- stupid
- clever
- sexy
- violent
- fresh
Going back to the first video, we can add from Ritchie:
- epic
- heartfelt
- awesome
Beyond these simple descriptors, Oparah made a particularly important observation:
"It doesn’t patronize the audience . . . it shows them realness and truth and honesty."
This echoes Ness’ hope that the show will be seen as “true . . . to what teenagers feel like their lives are.”
(Article continues below the next post link.)
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