Class

This is the "Doctor Who" spin-off that was originally planned for BBC's streaming access earlier this year. It has been broadcast after "Doctor Who" on Saturday nights after its mother show on BBC America. It's set in Coal Hill Academy (formerly School), the school that the original "Doctor Who" series began at, and recently returned to a couple seasons back.

The premise surrounds a group of students and teachers at the school, who all have their own various secrets and backstories. The school, as background of so many "Doctor Who" adventures, has become a structurally weak point in the universe, both dimensionally and temporally, allowing all manner of nasties to enter.

I was expecting something along the lines of "The Sarah Jane Adventures," a show about kids, for kids. I was very surprised at watching the pilot episode, which of course guest-starred Peter Capaldi as The Doctor, because it was so dark. And by dark I don't mean the monsters which were living shadows, this was a mature show. This is a mature show for mature viewers, much more in line with "Torchwood" than "Sarah Jane."

So you've got high school students, doing high school things, and mixing in with, and mixing it up with some pretty nasty aliens. Most of the kids for me are interchangeable. If I'm being honest I wouldn't know if they switched them around every week, but there is one character who does stand out. That's Miss Quill.

Teacher Miss Andrea Quill, played with precision and a bit of charismatic madness by Katharine Kelly, formerly of "Coronation Street" and "Mr. Selfridge." She is a shape-shifting alien bonded to one of the students, and she's smart and mean and infinitely watchable. Really Kelly is the only thing worth watching in "Class" as far as I'm concerned. Even the ongoing Shadow King subplot doesn't grab me, these monsters in particular are a bit hokey, reminding me of the clay people in Heavenly Creatures more than anything else.

If "Class" isn't renewed, I hope that Miss Quill might join The Doctor as a companion, or better yet, as an adversary. Until then, "Class" is really only worth watching for the most hardcore Who fans.