The BBC has commissioned a young adult spin-off of the science fiction show Doctor Who, entitled Class set in contemporary London.
In South Africa and across Africa the iconic British series has been seen on BBC Entertainment (DStv 120) on MultiChoice's DStv and will be seen on BBC First (DStv 119) when that channel launches on 18 October.
BBC Worldwide's so-called "global" Doctor Who tour last year infamously shunned Africa and went to every big inhabited continent except for Africa when neither Johannesburg, Lagos, Cape Town or Nairobi were good, safe or important enough for Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman and executive producer Steven Moffatt.
Now Doctor Who is getting a spin-off with Class which is produced by BBC Cymru Wales in association with BBC Worldwide, written by young adult author Patrick Ness.
Class will start filming around Wales and is set for broadcast in 2016 with a first season of eight 45-minute episodes.
Class is the 4th Doctor Who spin-off, following Torchwood which ran for four seasons before getting cancelled, the animated series K-9, and The Sarah Jane Chronicles of five seasons.
"No one has documented the dark and exhilarating world of the teenager like Patrick Ness, and now we're bringing his brilliant story-telling into Doctor Who," says Steven Moffat in a statement. "This is growing up in modern Britain - but with monsters!"
"I'm astounded and thrilled to be entering the Doctor Who universe, which is as vast as time and space itself," says Patrick Ness.
