just what the doctor ordered

ATTITUDE GOES BACKSTAGE AT THE BBC’S NEWEST SCI-FI SERIES TO EXCLUSIVELY MEET SERIES WRITER PATRICK NESS AND THE HOT YOUNG CAST OF CLASS

WORDS: JUNO DAWSON

IT’S SEEMS almost inconceivable now, but 20 years ago the words Doctor Who were only whispered in the corridors of power at the BBC. The show had, unfairly, become synonymous with wobbly sets, unconvincing papier mâché monsters and hammy acting.

TOP OF THE CLASS: Charlie (Greg Austin), and, right, Ram (Fady Elsayed)

This overlooked the fact that the premise — an enigmatic alien, travelling through time and space with his (mostly) human companions — is one of the most compelling, enduring and potential-filled concepts ever.

Indeed, when Queer as Folk maestro Russell T Davies revived the format in 2005, he comprehensively proved that the show’s appeal was timeless. The Doctor, currently played by Peter Capaldi, is having a year off but such is the clout of the franchise, Doctor Who is spinning-off once more. This time with the hotly anticipated Class.

I visited the set just in time to see Ram (Fady Elsayed) dragging a bleeding stump down a purpose-built school corridor. His leg has just been amputated by a very big Arock-alien-monster thing with a sword. I’m told this is the most blood there has ever been in the Whoniverse.

While shooting continued, I had a chat with showrunner Patrick Ness. “The producers of Doctor Who approached me about writing an episode for them, which was an amazing opportunity,” he tells me. “But it came exactlyrock-alien- at a time when

I had just finished a ton of work for other people, and I was itching to do something entirely my own.