The BBC is to launch a Doctor Who spin-off series aimed at a Hunger Games-loving teenage audience which will be written by award-winning young adult author Patrick Ness.



The new eight-part series, called Class, is set in contemporary London at the fictional Coal Hill school, the scene of the very first episode of Doctor Who broadcast in 1963.

Class is described as having all the “action, heart and adrenalin of the best YA [young adult] fiction [such as] Buffy the Vampire Slayer [and] Hunger Games”.

The BBC3 series, which will air next year, will be the first TV series to be written by Ness, author of acclaimed YA books including the Chaos Walking trilogy and A Monster Calls.

“I’m astounded and thrilled to be entering the Doctor Who universe, which is as vast as time and space itself,” said Ness, who was won two Carnegie awards. “I can’t wait for people to meet the heroes of Class, to meet all-new villains and aliens, to remember that the horrors of the darkest corners of existence are just about on par with having to pass your A levels.”

The new BBC3 series is set in Coal Hill School which has made timely appearances throughout the history of Doctor Who.

The school was the setting for the very first episode of Doctor Who in 1963. It featured again in the sci-fi show’s 25th anniversary season in 1988.

It also appeared in the 50th anniversary special, The Day of the Doctor, where the Doctor’s companion Clara Oswald becomes a teacher at the school.

The world of Class is described as one where “incredible dangers are breaking through the walls of time and space. With darkness coming, London is unprotected.”

“This is growing up in Britain, but with monsters,” said Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat. “No one has documented the dark and exhilarating world of the teenager like Patrick Ness, and now we are bringing his brilliant story telling into Doctor Who.”

US-born Ness, who lives in London, has written the screenplay for the big screen adaptation of A Monster Calls, which stars Liam Neeson and Sigourney Weaver and is due to be released next year.

“We’re excited to give Patrick Ness this opportunity to work with us at BBC3 and the Doctor Who family,” said Damian Kavanagh, the BBC3 controller. “Patrick understands young audiences and I’m delighted he will use his incredible skills as a storyteller to delight audiences on BBC3. BBC3 will always innovate and offer opportunities for brilliant new talent.”

The show will premiere online with a follow up broadcast on BBC1, assuming that the corporation’s plans to scrap the BBC3 TV channel and make it online-only are approved.

Given the enormous popularity of the Doctor Who franchise, the series is likely to be a flagship the corporation will hope to use to validate its decision to move BBC3 online.