Class: S01E01 and S01E02 (spoilers on release)

It's going to be on the I-Player in about 40 minutes, 10am, for UK viewers. See how to watch it in other countries here:

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/14XjtnLypvQz3lD7mp4Dt43/where-to-watch-class-around-the-world

I personally thought it was incredibly cringey and badly made.

I've now seen all of the first episode. I just think it was incredibly poor quality. The idea itself is just a rip off of SJA and Torchwood, which isn't a good thing. The characters don't feel like real teenagers. Mrs Quill is just hammy and Over-The-Top villain. The secondary characters just feel paper-thin, but, in fairness, this is the first episode. A lot of the episode is silly padding. Some of it just goes out of its way to be edgy, without any real reason (the bit with the woman in the shop, when she talks about her husband). The Doctor's appearance is very simply a deus ex machina and is just there to make speeches, which is all that Peter Capaldi's Doctor seems to be able to do. Also, his appearance just shows the lack of faith they have in the show succeeding on its own terms. The monsters look exactly like the Pyroviles and the way they work is just the Vashta Nerada. So much for original. It very much feels like it was written on the spot with specific things appearing for one scene only. The plot just goes on and on. Some of the characters are also uncharitably dumb, especially April, of whom doesn't think that she could use the schools fire alarm and goes on stage shouting some tripe about instagram and how they're all dumb. Also, the bits with Tanya's mum saying she can't go to the prom is entirely pointless. If you haven't guessed yet, I wasn't a fan. The episode just doesn't leave a good impression for a first episode, which isn't healthy for the show. However, it could improve. I am going to watch the next episodes, but I have the feeling that this episode will just put people off.

Yep, I'm in the same boat. A few things bugged me. The premise really isn't new, even to Nu-Who, and the scene where characters literally say "So I guess this like Buffy meets Vampire Diaries crossed with Once Upon A Time" was so on the nose it hurt. There will, I think, be complaints about lesser SFX and the cheaper look of the show compared to Who but I think those complaints are a bit amiss. The budget of an online YA show in it's maiden year is clearly not going to be in the same league as the Beeb's flagship drama and most lucrative moneyspinner in the parent show. Not even close.

On the whole though, this show lives or dies on whether the leads are likable enough and I'm really interested in pretty much all of them. Miss Quill is not a villain but is a real subversion of the mentor figure we get in this kind of thing. She's somewhat amoral and doesn't care about the humans one bit. It's a nice change from the kindly mentors in the Giles/Gandalf/Obi-Wan mould. I hope she doesn't have too much of an arc and become more human as the show goes on. I like her ambiguity in any given scenario. I had hear the pre-publicity say this was going to be gory and it certainly was. Ram's leg being chopped off was horrendous.

I think the best thing I can say about this is that I would have liked it even without The Doctor. It's going to have to do more over the series though, as I kinda feel like we've seen this setup and scenario in various forms. Easy to forget though that "Oh, it's like Buffy" - and that show really is the closest comparison -  might be something we think but that show finished 15 years ago. This show's target market were in nappies then, so I think comparisons have to be taken in context as there's a whole younger generation who probably haven't seen Buffy and this won't seem as rehashed to them.

Odd not terrible SJA Vibe meets Waterloo Road, characters seem a bit bland, CGI A bit ropey, and shot extremely dark, even daytime scenes are dull. I think only if/when the Doctor turns up again would this be priority viewing.

In short better than nothing but not by much.

Regards

mark687

He was referring to the premise and vibe.

Family life and relationships were always going to come up in Class and pretty much any contemporary set drama. I don't think that's particularly evocative of Waterloo Road but I agree with the notion it needs to put a spin on it to keep interest over the course of a whole show because we've seen enough like this already. I too noticed the lighting but I wonder if the darkness is to disguise the limited effects and sets as much as it is a style choice. We'll see over the course of the series when we see episodes by other directors.

That's a good sign for me then. Loved Primeval. 

I'm not sure whether to watch it on BBC3 Online or not. I kind of hoped it would be broadcast on BBC1 the Monday after BBC3 Online transmission.