LONDON, April 4 (UPI) — Katherine Kelly will lead the cast of the young adult “Doctor Who” spinoff “Class.”
BBC America announced the 36-year-old English actress will play a teacher at Coal Hill School, where companions Ian Chesterton (William Russell), Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill) and Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman) previously taught.
“Coal Hill School has been part of ‘Doctor Who’ since the very first shoot in 1963, but this new show is anything but history,” “Doctor Who” and “Class” executive producer Steven Moffat said. “‘Class’ is dark and sexy and right now.”
Greg Austin, Fady Elsayed, Sophie Hopkins and Vivian Oparah will co-star as four students with “hidden secrets and desires.” The characters will navigate “friends, parents, school work, sex and sorrow” as they also confront the possible end of existence.
“We searched far and wide for this amazing cast, fantastic actors who understand what we’re aiming for with this show,” series creator and Chaos Walking author Patrick Ness said. “And how lucky we are to get Katherine Kelly.”
Moffat also described “Class” as a British version of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” The series will see Kelly’s character and her students contend against monsters in a world where “the very walls of space and time” have become thin due to time-traveling.
“I can’t wait for people to meet the heroes of ‘Class,’ to meet the 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,” Ness previously told the BBC.
“Doctor Who” debuted in 1963 and ran for 26 consecutive seasons before being revived in 2005. The sci-fi drama will return for a 10th series in 2017, with “Class” slated to premiere the same year.
Kelly is known for playing Becky McDonald on British soap opera “Coronation Street” and Lady Mae Loxley on “Mr. Selfridge.” She will next appear in the BBC/AMC miniseries adaptation of “The Night Manager” with Tom Hiddleston.
