The Coach with the Dragon Tattoo

"What are we supposed to do? We're not superheroes."

Writer: Patrick Ness

Format: TV

Broadcast: 22nd October 2016

Series: Class 1.02

Featuring: April, Ram, Tanya, Charlie, Miss Quill

Synopsis

Ram struggles to cope following events the Prom, isolating himself from the others. But when the school is faced with a dreadful new threat, the gang must unite to fight it.

Verdict 

The Coach with the Dragon Tattoo was a very good and solid second episode of the brand new Doctor Who spinoff series of Class. We see the four main young characters having to deal with an alien threat for the first time without the help of the Doctor and I think we got to know these characters better now the focus was solely on them. That can be particularly said for Ram who was the main focus of this story. He initially didn't want any part in the whole save the universe gang and even went as far as being a stereotypical bully to Charlie but dumping his textbooks on the floor in the school corridor. But with his footballing ability now severely declined due to his prosthetic leg, Ram was having all sorts of problems and it must be said that football was the least of them. He was still feeling the effects of watching his girlfriend die right in front of him and he really wasn't dealing well with everything that went on in For Tonight We Might Die. I can't say I blame him and I liked how the others comforted him. The name of the episode was quite clever and an obvious play on a famous film/novel and the idea of the tattoo was very intriguing. It wasn't anything like what we saw in Face the Raven but I was surprised by the revelation that the Dragon that was going around and doing the killing was not the same as that tattooed on Coach Dawson. Miss Quill had her own little agenda in this story with an inspection and I'm just loving her character. The moment she tried to hook up with the silent inspector was good but her reaction to him being a robot was hilarious. When she learned of the Dragon involvement I thought it was brilliant that she was trying to get a reaction out of her actions. The mystery behind the Governors looks most intriguing too. I was quite surprised that April didn't have much to do in this episode but her comment about being mischievous was bloody wonderful. I still think she's terrific and the way she's not happy about the deaths is excellent. Tanya had another good episode and her understanding of what Ram was going through was really great to see. Their video messages will become a common theme I imagine but I'm still struggling to buy into her being a fourteen year old. For the second episode in a row I was surprised by the gruesome nature of a death and Ram getting sprayed in blood again really made me sympathetic. He had to watch the cleaner die but I was more so surprised that Mr Armitage was killed after his appearances in Doctor Who itself. The resolution with Ram speaking his way out of trouble, to a Dragon of all things, was pretty impressive. Overall, whilst the story wasn't quite as good as the first episode I thought it was still very enjoyable and just a very solid continuation of the spinoff series.

Rating: 8/10