Class ( TV series ) Class was an eight - episode spin - off series of " Doctor Who " , co - produced by BBC Wales and BBC America for digital television station BBC Three and BBC America . It was announced on 1 October 2015 . " Class " was aimed specifically at a young adult audience and contained sexual content , violence and language above the level allowed on the parent series . " Class " was the first BBC - produced " Doctor Who " spin - off series since " The Sarah Jane Adventures " ended in 2011 . Created by Patrick Ness , who was also the sole writer , " Class " took place in Coal Hill School , which first appeared in " Doctor Who " s very first episode as the school Susan attended in 1963 . The school was also a recurring location during series 8 and series 9 , as the school where Clara Oswald and Danny Pink both worked as teachers and the Twelfth Doctor briefly worked as a caretaker whilst under " deep cover " . " Class " was first released on BBC Three ' s streaming service on 22 October 2016 , with a BBC One broadcast following in January 2017 . In Canada , the spin - off aired on the " Space " channel . Australia aired it on ABC2 . " Class " is in many aspects similar to its sister spin - off series " Torchwood " as well as series 5 of its mother series " Doctor Who " , in which " " the boundaries of space - time have been stretched to breaking point , allowing all manner of creatures through . " " However , Ness pointed out that " " We ' re not telling stories of the ' chosen ones ' . " " and that " " It ' s happenstance that puts these people [ at the centre of things ] . What if your timing is just weird and things happen to you ? How do you deal with it ? I ' m interested in real consequences . The Doctor is always exciting , but he never [ stays ] . He goes off on the next adventure . What happens to real people ? " " Synopsis . What if your planet was massacred and you and your worst enemy were the sole survivors ? What if a legendary figure out of space and time found you a place to hide ? But what if the things that want to kill you have tracked you down ? And worst of all , what if you haven ' t studied for your A - levels . . . ? Because Coal Hill School has been a part of Doctor Who since the beginning . But that ' s come at a price . . . Like all sixth form ers , our heroes navigate a life of friends , parents , school , sex , sorrow – and possibly the end of existence . Something waits for us there , just on the other side of sight , for its chance to kill everything , to bring us all into Shadow . . . Cast . Secondary cast . On 13 June 2016 , a bit earlier than scheduled , Ness revealed the lead would be a gay character who has a boyfriend , whom he kisses , sleeps with and loves . Ness told that given the recent Orlando shootings , riots caused by homophobia , over the weekend , it seemed less important to keep that a secret . Genesis . In an interview for " Doctor Who Magazine " # 502 , Steven Moffat told : " My boys are both teenagers , of course , so I ' m quite excited to see what they ' ll make of " Class " , which has a lot of great stuff for that age group . Well , for every age group , but thanks to Patrick Ness , it captures that teenage world with great poignancy and wit . " Patrick Ness revealed to Radio Times , on 29 July 2016 , that the idea for Class started up with the rejection of a " Doctor Who " episode ; " At first they asked me to write an episode of " Doctor Who " , and I said it ' s a brilliant show , but I ' ve just spent so much time doing work for other people , and I really want to do something of my own . And they said , well we have this idea for setting a spin - off in a school . And it was like , ' ding ' ! It ' s been fantastic , I ' ve got six weeks of filming to go . The cast are great , and it ' s been a fantastic experience . I can ' t wait for you to see it . Fingers crossed ! It ' s going well . " Rumours . On Twitter , Ness jokingly confirmed that Class would feature the return of Quatermass , an all - nude episode , , , a dream episode , and otter s . It was rumoured that the 2016 " Doctor Who " Christmas special would be a " Class " crossover , but this rumour turned out to be false . Future of the series . On 4 June 2017 , Patrick Ness announced that the future of the series was uncertain , and that even if it were to be renewed he would not be taking part . On 7 September 2017 , Radio Times spoke to BBC3 controller Damian Kavanagh about a future return of " Class " , in which Kavanagh said : " No , no . There was nothing wrong with it , I thought Patrick [ Ness ] did a great job , he explored an amazing world . In honesty it didn ’ t really land for us on BBC3 ; some shows don ’ t and I have to make decisions about what we ’ re going to do from a drama point of view , and what we did after " Class " was " Clique " which worked really well for us . " Novels . Three books set during series 1 were released on 27 October 2016 :