Cast Set for Doctor Who Spin-Off

NEW YORK: A roster of young actors has been added to the upcoming drama Class, a spin-off of the BBC international hit Doctor Who.

The cast will feature Greg Austin, Fady Elsayed, Sophie Hopkins and Vivian Oparah as students at Coal Hill School, with Happy Valley‘s Katherine Kelly starring as a teacher. YA writer Patrick Ness created the BBC Cymru Wales production, with BBC America and BBC Worldwide co-producing. The title will air on BBC Three in the U.K.

“We searched far and wide for this amazing cast, fantastic actors who understand what we’re aiming for with this show,” Ness said. “And how lucky we are to get Katherine Kelly! She’s been stunning in Happy Valley, The Night Manager and Mr Selfridge, just wait until you see her here.”

Steven Moffat, executive producer of Class and Doctor Who, said: “There’s nothing more exciting than meeting stars that nobody’s heard of yet. We had the read through of the first few episodes last week, and there was a whole row of them. Coal Hill School has been part of Doctor Who since the very first shoot in 1963, but this new show is anything but history. Class is dark and sexy and right now. I’ve always wondered if there could be a British Buffy—it’s taken the brilliant Patrick Ness to figure out how to make it happen.”