Class review: The Audio Adventures: Volume Two (Doctor Who spin-off)

In the second volume of Class: The Audio Adventures, Charlie and Quill face the Daleks! But fortunately, they’ve got help, from a very old friend of the Doctor’s…

Following up last week’s review for volume one, we take a look at the next three episodes of Class: The Audio Adventures. Volume two features a newcomer to the school, strange disappearances, and a mysterious visitor called “Ace”. After the strong first installment, how successful is this second box set?

Everybody Loves Reagan

Like volume one’s Gifted, we get another episode focused on April and Ram that’s set relatively early on in their relationship. Although in this case, there’s definitely a larger focus on April. Particularly her insecurities and the pain that she’s already gone through so far.

It all starts when a new girl shows up at the school. Reagan seems to be really popular with most of the students. In fact, even the whole Class gang seems to love her. Everyone, that is, apart from April. Particularly since the more popular Reagan becomes, the more overshadowed April feels as a result.

This was an interesting little episode from Tim Foley. Once again, we have a writer who knows how to handle April really well, and focus on her strengths and flaws as a human being.

I can understand what Patrick Ness tried to do with “the Shadow Heart” arc for her. But honestly, April comes across as far more interesting and well written in the audios than she did on television.

We also get a very different kind of antagonist for the episode, too. In Class, we’re used to the more vicious or ruthless kind of monsters. We’re left unsure what Reagan’s motivations are for most of the episode. Does she really want to help people? Or is there something more sinister to her motives?

With another well-written episode, some strong performances and great character exploration, Everybody Loves Reagan continues to show just how much stronger Class is on audio compared to the TV series.

Now You Know

I really loved Now You Know. One thing that instantly leaps out is how it focuses on a pairing that the TV series didn’t feature: namely, Tanya and Mattseuz. In some ways, they’re two very different characters. But they’re also both outsiders. Not just of the gang, but in general.

Tanya’s incredibly gifted for her age, to the point where she’s a couple of years younger than everyone else. Matteusz, on the other hand, is from a different country altogether. So both know what it feels like to be left out. More than that: they both know what it feels like to be victims.

This is essentially a key theme of Now You Know. It’s very much a story that explores bullying, the kind of people who do it, and more importantly, the people who suffer as a result. It’s a very dark, mature episode of Class, one that feels very appropriate to the kind of story that Patrick Ness seemed to want to write when he created the series.

Tanya and Matteusz also work really well. They develop a very strong friendship rather quickly, and as a result, the audio series leaves us wondering why the TV series never thought of focusing on these two more.

Now You Know is another easy winner, one that proves just how much more mature and dark Class could’ve become on television originally.

In Remembrance not only features the return of Ace, but is also a direct sequel to Remembrance of the Daleks. Does it live up to the original classic?

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: BBC Press.)

In Remembrance

This is it. This is the key episode. It’s no exaggeration to say that In Remembrance was the key reason why I wanted to check out Class: The Audio Adventures, ever since its announcement. In fact, due to wanting to listen to the story in full context, it’s virtually the sole reason why I even watched Class at all.

Remembrance of the Daleks is one of my favorite Doctor Who stories of all time. It’s big, epic and does a great job of fleshing out both the Doctor’s past as well as the Seventh Doctor himself. But it was also great at handling mature, more relatable themes, too.

So when I heard that Class would feature an episode that was kind of a sequel to that story, I was immediately intrigued. Especially at finding out that Ace was also showing up! Ace has featured in many Big Finish audios, but this is the closest we’ve seen to a “modern” Ace. So, with so many exciting ideas included in this episode, does In Remembrance live up to expectations?

Absolutely. It really is an absolute joy to listen to for so many reasons.

First off, there’s Ace herself. Big Finish have told many stories about what happened to Ace after she was last seen on television in Survival. For example, we’ve seen her with the Seventh Doctor and other companions. We’ve seen her on Gallifrey, working for the Time Lords. We’ve even seen her in the Time War!

In Remembrance addresses all of that. But it also allows us to get a glimpse of what happened when she finally settled down. Of course, in this story, the first thing we see is her trying to blow up a Dalek. So she hasn’t changed too much, thankfully.

Quill and Charlie versus the Daleks

That would be exciting enough by itself. But we also have Quill, quite possibly the best character of Class, meeting Ace. As you can imagine, the two don’t get on well. Not one bit, in fact.

Both have very different views on morality, for one thing. However, both have strong reasons for their views, too. Quill has known nothing but heartbreak, suffering, and how to survive. Ace has of course been taught a better way by the Doctor. But considering the Doctor was responsible for leaving Quill on Earth, that doesn’t improve Quill’s opinion of Ace one bit.

More from Winter is Coming

However, they’ve also got bigger problems to deal with, as a Dalek has shown up through the rift. In fact, it’s a Dalek specifically from Remembrance of the Daleks. Ace, Quill and Charlie need to destroy it before it can get back to its own time and let the other Daleks know what its learned about their future.

On the whole, Guy Adams has written a very strong follow-up to Remembrance of the Daleks with In Remembrance. Not only has he linked back to that story in several satisfying ways, but he’s also allowed us to catch up with a familiar face, while still presenting that story from a new perspective. A real highlight for this box set, and The Audio Adventures as a whole.

Summary

Once again, we get another great set of episodes with Class: The Audio Adventures. Together with Volume One, this is a very promising start. In many ways, Class is proving to be a considerably stronger series on audio than it was on television. I’m already hoping that Big Finish gets to make Series Two.

Have you listened to either of the Class box sets yet? Have you been impressed so far? Are you eager to catch up with Ace? Let us know in the comments below.