BIG FINISH: Class Returns - with some new faces!

The series created by novelist and screenwriter Patrick Ness Class was short lived, but clearly left an impact on its fan base that's still going strong. The Doctor Who YA spinoff centred on The sixth formers of Coal Hill Academy all have their own secrets and desires. They have to deal with the stresses of everyday life including friends, parents, school work, sex, and sorrow, but also the horrors that come from time travel.

Series One ended on a cliffhanger that sadly never got its conclusion, but here is where Big Finish came in. Originally contracted to create twelve audio dramas set within the first season - when the series was still in talks of renewal - Volumes One and Two reunited the original television cast in 2018 with Scott Handcock directing. Now the second half of the audio dramas are set to be released in April 2020.

The six new stories included in the forthcoming Class box sets are as follows:

Volume Three

The Soers’ Ditch by Carl Rowens

After a disastrous double date night, Charlie, April, Ram and Matteusz find themselves transported to another level of reality. Can they survive the Soers’ ritualistic traditions? And more importantly, can they save their friendships?

Catfish by Kate Thorman

When a new student transfers to Coal Hill Academy, everyone goes out of their way to make him feel welcome, and Tanya is especially surprised by how much they have in common. Will she sacrifice best friends for her very first boyfriend?

Sweet Nothings by Michael Dennis

Living on Earth isn't easy when you're used to life as an alien freedom fighter. For Quill, it's a lonely existence – until she meets a Man outside Coal Hill Academy: the Man who can offer her everything she misses from her past... and more.

Volume Four

Mock by Alfie Shaw

As the students of Coal Hill Academy prepare to tackle exam season, Quill and Charlie find themselves tested to their limits. Childhood memories from their homeworld threaten to hijack the present - and there are no easy answers.

The Creeper by Lizzie Hopley

While the pupils of Coal Hill Academy celebrate Hallowe'en, Quill and Matteusz investigate an alien distress call emanating from a boarded-up house in Shoreditch. Can April and Charlie reach them before it's too late? And what is the ‘Creeper’ inside?

Queen of Rhodia by Blair Mowat

Quill wakes to find herself unexpectedly back on Rhodia –which is impossible –though not quite as impossible as the life that waits for her there. To save her future, Quill must turn her back on the past. But is this the end or a new beginning?

Alongside the series regulars, Greg Austin (Charlie Smith), Sophie Hopkins (April MacLean) and Fady Elsayed (Ram Singh), two new faces are joining the cast.

Dervla Kirwan, familiar to many as the star of TV series Ballykissangel and Goodnight Sweetheart, takes over from Katherine Kelly in the role of witty alien exile, Miss Quill. And Joanna McGibbon steps into the shoes of Vivian Oparah as student prodigy, Tanya Adeola.

On the recasting, Producer/Director Scott Handcock said:

“Recasting’s a tricky process because people become familiar with a particular actor, and you don’t want to ask a performer to actively imitate what came before as that can often prove more distracting. But Dervla Kirwan’s Miss Quill is just as sarcastic and scathing as Katherine Kelly was on screen, and she embraced the character and backstory instantly: she’s got some really strong material in these stories. Similarly, Joanna McGibbon came to Tanya Adeola relatively fresh, reacting to what was written on the page, and it instantly feels like she’s been living with the rest of the cast for years.”

Class Volumes Three and Four are available for pre-order now at £19.99 each as a limited edition CD box set (only 1,000 will be pressed of each volume) or £16.99 each on download from the Big Finish website. Both volumes will remain at this price until general release when they will be available for £24.99 on CD or £19.99 on download.

Pre-order Class: Volume Three here

Pre-order Class: Volume Four here

These two new Class: The Audio Adventures volumes can also be purchased as a bundle together at the price of £38 as a limited edition CD and £33 on download. All CD purchases from the Big Finish website unlock a download exclusive from the Big Finish website and app.

Keep an eye out for my reviews for these box sets in the coming weeks.