Doctor Who: Class is going to be seen in 2016 or 2017 depending upon where you live.
In a somewhat perplexing move, the BBC has decided to launch their new Doctor Who spinoff series, Class, on dates months apart in the U.S. and the U.K. Fans in the U.K. can expect to see the series on BBC Three starting Saturday, October 22. On the other hand, U.S. viewers have no idea exactly when it will air other than, “alongside Doctor Who in Spring 2017 on BBC America.”
When Doctor Who rebooted in 2005 under the direction of Russell T. Davies, the series used to debut in the U.S. months behind its U.K. premiere. Back in those days, the show wasn’t even on BBC America. It was on the SyFy Network.
Although the airing gap was tightened up considerably in series 4, which featured the Doctor and Donna Noble, it wasn’t until the Matt Smith years that the show aired on the same dates in both the U.S. and the U.K.
The same was true with previous Doctor Who spinoff series, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures. They never quite reached the same popularity on either continent as did the original show. Their seasons were often spread apart by months in the U.S and U.K.
Now, all of this isn’t to say, as any fan of the BBC show Sherlock knows, that viewers haven’t managed to see the show whenever they wanted. Whether it is via torrent sites, or a good old VPN (not that I ever have used such a service myself or anything), plenty of fans see the show when it first debuts. This then begs the question: Why schedule the show months apart on BBC Three and BBC America? What is to be gained? We aren’t talking days or weeks here. We’re talking months.
In any case, whenever and wherever you manage to watch Class, Peter Capaldi will be in the first episode as the Doctor to kick things off. YA writer and Class creator Patrick Ness stated, “Though there are still many, many secrets to come. Many. Like, a lot. But of course, the Doctor is in episode one! That’s how these things are done. Truly, though, I can’t wait for everyone to see the show; we’ve worked so hard and I’m so proud of it. Soon, soon…”
Here’s what the show has to bring to the table according to the BBC:
Four Coal Hill School students who have hidden secrets and desires, navigate a life of friends, parents, school work, sex, sorrow – and possibly the end of existence. Coal Hill School has been a part of the Doctor Who universe since the very beginning, but that has come at a price. Time traveling over the years has caused the very walls of space and time to become thin. There’s something pressing in on the other side, something waiting for its chance to kill everyone and everything, to bring us all into Shadow.
Now, if you happen to have tickets to New York Comic-Con, BBC America is having a series of panels at The Theater at Madison Square Garden on Friday, October 7 at 10:30 a.m. During their stint, they will have panels and a world premiere screening with the casts and creators of Doctor Who, plus new original series Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency and Class.
Hypable will be there, and we’ll hopefully have more details like an exact U.S. air date.