Class
Class is so good! _profiterole_ had already given it the thumbs-up, so I went into it confident that it wouldn't disappoint, and did it ever deliver. So. much. equal. representation.
Kind of gif-heavy (and one gif is probably NSFW).
[Spoiler (click to open)]There's definitely a Buffy-ish vibe since the setting is a high school: Coal Hill Academy, which is well-known to DW fans. In fact, the first ever episode of the show starts there. I haven't seen a lot of Classic Who, but 'The Unearthly Child' is one of my favourite episodes ever. The child in question is Susan Foreman, the Doctor's granddaughter. I missed Susan's name on the roll of honour board in the first episode of 'Class', but I did catch Clara and Danny's names. (Which, by the way, still heartbroken for them both.)
The main cast includes Charlie, an alien prince, and his protector Miss Quill. Instant love for her. SO BADASS. SHE RUNS OVER THE EPISODE 3 MOTW WITH A FREAKING DOUBLE DECKER BUS. The other three main characters are Ram, April, and Tanya. Charlie's boyfriend Mattheusz hasn't been given top billing so far, but they're adorable together and spend a lot of time having sex and cuddling.
I'm a bit too spaced out today to write a proper review, but some things I've loved so far: Miss Quill is actually the leader of the revolutionaries who warred with the royal family (I LOVE the references to the "terrorist or freedom fighter" debate), and as punishment, she has an implant (some sort of creature, I think) in her brain that forces her to protect Charlie while not being able to fire any weapons.
The kids are all traumatised in some way, each suffering from some form of PTSD: Charlie's entire race is dead; April's dad is in jail after attempting to kill his family in a car crash that left her mother paralysed (to say nothing of the fact that her heart has literally been robbed by the very creepy Shadow Kin); Tanya's dad died unexpectedly of a stroke when she was twelve; and Ram's girlfriend was murdered in front of him in the first episode. (He also had one of his legs chopped off by a monster; luckily for him, the Doctor apparently carries spare prosthetic limbs in the TARDIS.)
My main concern right now is that there's going to be overkill in terms of the death and devastation the kids are exposed to every week, but it's definitely being handled with care: the third episode was pretty much all about facing trauma. To quote The Telegraph, "it’s a refreshing change to see the psychological consequences of such events actually play out on screen, rather than being ignored in favour of a more action-packed script that’s not bogged down by trauma."
Have some gifs of some of my favourite moments so far.
Miss Quill!
Playing around while torturing her students with a surprise quiz. :-D
Miss Quill and Matteusz snarking at each other. (She's such a good alien parent figure, no issues at all with her ward's soon-to-be-live-in boyfriend. *g*)
Going to go a bit overboard on Charlie/Matteusz now because pretty much all their scenes are so gif-able.
APRIL!
My dad, he was a folk singer. He played the fiddle. And made people cry with it. Okay, he make me cry. He was always away on tour, so we didn't see him very much, but it was nice when we did. And then it got less nice. He drank. A lot. And then he drank more. When I was eight years old, he purposely drove off the motorway with me and my mum in the car. My mum was in the passenger seat and that's why she's paralysed. I was sitting in the back, but I didn't get hurt. He said it was a suicide attempt, that he wasn't thinking straight, but he still went to prison for it. I got lots of therapy. Loads of it. People were really nice. So nice, but also careful. Like me and my mum were just glass figurines. I'm not made of glass. What he did, it's important, but if it's the thing that rules, then he gets to keep doing that to us every day forever, and I won't have that. I play folk music because I love it. I won't let him take that from me. And that's why I'm so goddamn sensible.
RAM. ♥
And Tanya, my girrrrrl. <333
Gifs from here and here.
Kind of gif-heavy (and one gif is probably NSFW).
[Spoiler (click to open)]There's definitely a Buffy-ish vibe since the setting is a high school: Coal Hill Academy, which is well-known to DW fans. In fact, the first ever episode of the show starts there. I haven't seen a lot of Classic Who, but 'The Unearthly Child' is one of my favourite episodes ever. The child in question is Susan Foreman, the Doctor's granddaughter. I missed Susan's name on the roll of honour board in the first episode of 'Class', but I did catch Clara and Danny's names. (Which, by the way, still heartbroken for them both.)
The main cast includes Charlie, an alien prince, and his protector Miss Quill. Instant love for her. SO BADASS. SHE RUNS OVER THE EPISODE 3 MOTW WITH A FREAKING DOUBLE DECKER BUS. The other three main characters are Ram, April, and Tanya. Charlie's boyfriend Mattheusz hasn't been given top billing so far, but they're adorable together and spend a lot of time having sex and cuddling.
I'm a bit too spaced out today to write a proper review, but some things I've loved so far: Miss Quill is actually the leader of the revolutionaries who warred with the royal family (I LOVE the references to the "terrorist or freedom fighter" debate), and as punishment, she has an implant (some sort of creature, I think) in her brain that forces her to protect Charlie while not being able to fire any weapons.
The kids are all traumatised in some way, each suffering from some form of PTSD: Charlie's entire race is dead; April's dad is in jail after attempting to kill his family in a car crash that left her mother paralysed (to say nothing of the fact that her heart has literally been robbed by the very creepy Shadow Kin); Tanya's dad died unexpectedly of a stroke when she was twelve; and Ram's girlfriend was murdered in front of him in the first episode. (He also had one of his legs chopped off by a monster; luckily for him, the Doctor apparently carries spare prosthetic limbs in the TARDIS.)
My main concern right now is that there's going to be overkill in terms of the death and devastation the kids are exposed to every week, but it's definitely being handled with care: the third episode was pretty much all about facing trauma. To quote The Telegraph, "it’s a refreshing change to see the psychological consequences of such events actually play out on screen, rather than being ignored in favour of a more action-packed script that’s not bogged down by trauma."
Have some gifs of some of my favourite moments so far.
Miss Quill!
Playing around while torturing her students with a surprise quiz. :-D
Miss Quill and Matteusz snarking at each other. (She's such a good alien parent figure, no issues at all with her ward's soon-to-be-live-in boyfriend. *g*)
Going to go a bit overboard on Charlie/Matteusz now because pretty much all their scenes are so gif-able.
APRIL!
My dad, he was a folk singer. He played the fiddle. And made people cry with it. Okay, he make me cry. He was always away on tour, so we didn't see him very much, but it was nice when we did. And then it got less nice. He drank. A lot. And then he drank more. When I was eight years old, he purposely drove off the motorway with me and my mum in the car. My mum was in the passenger seat and that's why she's paralysed. I was sitting in the back, but I didn't get hurt. He said it was a suicide attempt, that he wasn't thinking straight, but he still went to prison for it. I got lots of therapy. Loads of it. People were really nice. So nice, but also careful. Like me and my mum were just glass figurines. I'm not made of glass. What he did, it's important, but if it's the thing that rules, then he gets to keep doing that to us every day forever, and I won't have that. I play folk music because I love it. I won't let him take that from me. And that's why I'm so goddamn sensible.
RAM. ♥
And Tanya, my girrrrrl. <333
Gifs from here and here.