Class: How the Audio Adventures have improved upon the TV series

Class returns on audio! How are the first three episodes of the series?

(Image credit: Class/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

After both watching the TV series and listening to the audios, we have to ask: is Class actually now better on audio?

Less than a month after Big Finish released volumes one and two, Class: The Audio Adventures is already shaping up to be a great series from Big Finish. In fact, having watched the TV series for the first time recently, I think that I can safely say that the audio series is already an improvement.

So what is it that makes Class work so much better in the audio medium than on television? Well, there are a few key reasons for this.

More writers

For the entire television series, there was only one writer for Class: Patrick Ness, the show’s creator. A whole television series having just a single writer isn’t uncommon, at least, not in Britain. (If you’re American and have wondered why so many of our series are so short, that’s usually the key reason why.)

However, for someone who was more used to writing literature, and now was suddenly writing for television, a completely different medium by comparison, even eight episodes is a lot to write for. While Ness created Class, it might not have been the best idea to have him without a strong writing team behind him.

The Audio Adventures really prove this. There’s a nice variety of writers across all six episodes, all used to writing for the audio medium. With more writers, a wider variety of ideas are presented, while still telling great stories with well-written characters.

Stronger grasp of characters

This was the second problem that I had with the television series. While all the characters had been created by Patrick Ness, there were times when the series didn’t seem too sure of how to handle them.

Take April, for example. In the first episode, she’s established as someone who’s nice, clever and caring. However, she also clearly feels a great deal of insecurity, too. These are all interesting qualities that made her feel like a real person and deserved to be fleshed out further.

Unfortunately, when she was focused on more, the series moved away from that. Instead, Class focused a lot more on both the heart she shared with the Shadow King and her anger at her father.

The latter of course deserved to be explored. But combined with her Shadow Heart arc, not to mention her relationship with Ram, the writing seemed to move too far away from the original qualities she had as a character.

Quill and Charlie meet Ace and the Daleks in the second volume of Class: The Audio Adventures.

(Image credit: Class/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

April’s character development

The Audio Adventures thankfully corrects this with two key episodes: Gifted and Everybody Loves Reagan. The former does focus on April’s relationship with Ram, to some extent. But at the same time, Gifted also focused on how intelligent she was, her love for music, and her knowledge of stories and folklore.

Everybody Loves Reagan, meanwhile, concentrates more on her flaws, in a good way. The episode fleshes out her deep insecurities, her self-doubt, and her fear of losing her friends. Essentially, both episodes do a great job of remembering all the elements that made April interesting in her own right in the first place.

Overall, Class does this for all the regular characters on audio. It either fleshes them out in ways that we didn’t see on television, or by making brand new pairings and telling brand new stories through them.

Keep in mind, I did enjoy how the TV series handled characters. Nightvisiting in particular stands out as a fantastic episode for Tanya. Charlie and Matteusz were always wonderful to watch. And of course, you already know my feelings on Quill. But it’s still nice to see that The Audio Adventures have taken that quality from the TV series and improved upon it even further.

Better links to the Doctor Who universe

When the TV series began, Class made sure to include Peter Capaldi as the Doctor in the first episode. After that, no real ties to the main series until the finale with the Weeping Angels. Which, if I’m honest, still feels like it was the wrong way to do it.

Yes, Class should have stood on its own two feet. But if it really wanted to establish itself as a Doctor Who spinoff, it could’ve been handled better than it did in the opening episode, For Tonight We Might Die, where the Doctor’s appearance almost worked against the story.

More from Winter is Coming

The Audio Adventures, on the other hand, has In Remembrance. Which features really strong links back to Doctor Who with both Ace and the Daleks. Not only are both much better handled and better incorporated into the world of Class than the Doctor was. They’re also given a much better story, too.

Big Finish also made sure to include this particular story as the last episode in the audios for the moment. So it’s something special. Most of the episodes feature brand new monsters and stories, so when a real blast from the past shows up, it’s simply a nice bonus for the Doctor Who fans. At the same time, it still works as a really great story.

Because of all of these key elements, Class has now been given a much stronger direction on audio than on television, and really is much more satisfying as a result. Will we get an audio continuation from that cliffhanger? We can only hope.

Next. Doctor Who Series Eleven officially begins on Sunday October 7th!. dark

Are you curious about the Class audios? Have you listened to them already? Do you think the series is stronger with Big Finish than with the BBC? Let us know in the comments below.

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