Gifted review [Roy Gill]

When a talent scout arrives in Shoreditch, Ram sees an opportunity to further his goals, whilst April strikes up a friendship with new boy, Thomas Laneford. Their choices draw all three to Carterhaugh House – but who is the mysterious Mab that waits for them there...?

When?: Ram and April are together, so this takes place between Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart and The Lost. It's 2016.

The Doctor's Case:

• A Good Quotation:
• "I've got all the grace of a drunk hyena."
• "She even took my phone. Do you know how dull it is just sitting?"
• The April-Ram relationship was an extraordinarily weak part of the TV show. It was difficult to buy into the impassioned love-making of Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart and the relationship that followed with Ram being unlikeable and April being boring. There seemed no reason at all that these two characters would like each other and they had next-to-no chemistry during their solo adventure in Brave-ish Heart. That's where Big Finish comes in, restoring the intelligence that April had early on in the show before it was sacrificed for Tanya's genius (a fourteen year old hacking Kate Stewart's UNIT?) whilst jettisoning the silly heart-sharing device and smoothing out Ram's edges a little and showing some kindness to Tom. They tease one another.
• Mysterious and unusual new kid at school is a tried and tested trope that was inevitably going to be used at some point in Class. Rhys Isaac-Jones's Tom is a sympathetic and likeable enough character that shares an interesting relationship with April, quickly bonding with her over poetry. I choose to believe that the reveal that he's from 1967 isn't supposed to be a twist because it was far too obvious.

The Valeyard's Case:

• A Bad Quotation:
• "Don't you recognise class when you see it?"
• Sophie Hopkins starts off sounding a little awkward and uncomfortable with the audio format.

Roll of Honours: Tom is aged by Mab and then killed by her using vines.

I'll Explain Later:

• Were Ram and April ever this close in the TV show?
  
  

This Reminds Me...:

• April says "just biscuits", a line delivered by a Russian lady in Thin Ice that I quote a lot in what I like to believe is a good impression.
• Deirdre Mullins previously played Effenish in The Very Dark Thing, Naomi Davies in Charlotte Pollard: Series 2 and Osen in Beneath the Viscoid.

The Inquisitor's Judgement: I will never pretend that I was a fan of Class. I watched it out of loyalty to Doctor Who and a fondness for Katherine Kelly and I never looked forward to watching it. The Metaphysical Engine, or What Quill Did was definitely the best episode and the only characters I had any fondness for were Matteusz, Ram and Quill, although the latter two could frequently be unpleasant. However, I bought both volumes of Class: The Audio Adventures because I have faith that Big Finish can take the ideas and characters from the flawed show, streamline them and colour them in and make a decent audio series. My optimism was, as I expected, well-founded with even April being a believable and interesting character rather than the sword-wielding cipher from the show. Like with the Torchwood Main Range, the characters are given time to shine and develop by limiting the number in a story and letting them share some chemistry. There's a solid plot, some great characterisation and a memorable villain. The Audio Adventures is looking like it might be Class's Children of Earth. Gifted is good and earns itself a B.

Class: The Audio Adventures - Volume 1

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