When we think of TV Spin-off's of Doctor Who we usually think of two shows in particular those being Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures with us maybe sometimes thinking about that non canon K9 kids TV show from 2009 and the K9 And Company special from the eighties. However there is one spin off show that seems to have been forgotten and well with the Whoniverse launching a new more adult themed Doctor Who spin off next week not that you'd know about since they've barely been promoting it I thought that i'd take a look back at the first episode of this show to see if it was as good as I remember it being and so then join me as I review the episode that for a Doctor Who adult themed TV show is still shockingly violent with the episode in question being called simply just "For Tonight We Might Die" enjoy.
The plot of this episode is when students start going missing and an alien appears out of a crack inn thin air it's up to a bunch of students and there reluctant teacher to team and save the day with the help of an old friend of the teachers and one her students. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad with this episodes plot basically being the typical plot that you'd think of for a first episode for a spin off show as it does spend alot of time in setting up the characters and in setting up the main plot of the show instead of setting up the main plot of the episode and while the main location in this case being Coal Hill School doesn't need setting up as the location is that well known in the world and lore of Doctor Who it would have been nice if the episode did spend a bit more time in setting up the main plot of the episode as while it is understandable why they spent time in setting up the characters and plot of the show none of that would matter if the plot to this episode isn't as good as it was with the plot to this episode being a bit on the weak side as it's not the strongest plot that they could have used to start this show off on as you do want to start out with your best foot forward the episodes plot was a good as it was ever going to be and to the episodes credit it does know when to focus on the plot and when not to as even the episode does reveal things that would have been better saved for later on in the series they do still work in the context of this episode with the plot of this episode also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this episode is Greg Austin as Charlie , Fady Elsayed as Ram , Sophie Hopkins as April and Vivian Oparah as Tanya. Also starring in this episode is Katherine Kelly as Miss Quill , Jordan Renzo as Matteusz , Ben Peel as Coach Dawson , Shannon Murray as Jackie , Aaron Neil as Varun , Natasha Gordon as Vivian , Anna Shaffer as Rachel , Paul Marc Davis as Corakinus , Nigel Betts as Mr Armitage , Pooja Shah as Miss Shah , Alex Leak as Kevin , Laura June Hudson as Mrs Linderhof and Peter Capaldi as The Doctor.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. With all of this episodes actors turning in some really good performances something which is not that entirely shocking in it's own right as while yes granted alot of this episodes are at best very little known actors if you've seen this episodes actors in anything else other then this show of course then you'll know just how good that they could be which is very much the case for this episode as even tho in first episodes the acting is never as good as it would be in later episodes here the quality of the acting was already so high in the first place with all of this episodes actors turning in some really good performances and while it of course would be quite east to picture anyone playing the main characters the main actors in this episode do leave a long lasting impression on us the audience with even alot of them reprising their roles in the various Class Audio Adventures with the best actor in this episode being Greg Austin as Charlie as he is really likable as the character and yet at the same time there is huge mystery surrounding his character that makes you want to get to know more about him with Greg brining a certain boyish charm to the character and yet also showing a side to the character where he might have a more darker side to him both of which fit in really well with his character with the acting that's in this episode really being helped by the fact that this episodes script is just so good that all this episodes actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which s something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very episode.
Doin the CGI for this episode is the legends and the greats that are currently over at Milk , BBC Wales Graphics and Real SFX. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good with this episodes CGI more then holding it's own when compared to the CGI in Doctor Who with this being helped by the fact that whilst yes this episode is an effects heavy episode it oddly enough doesn't that much CGI in the episode with the episode using more of a blend between computer effects and practical effects which is great as it means that the episodes effects won't be dated as much as the effects are in few of the early 2005 episodes of Doctor Who for example and yet when the episode does use CGI it's done to create something that couldn't possibly be done for real like the way that the alien travels from his world to our world with the makers of this episode even adding in the little detail of there being a reflection on the schools floor whenever that method is used with the only thing that does let this episode down from an effects point of view being when the creatures want to kidnap someone as the shadow effect whilst it is very creepy looking doesn't look as good as it perhaps should have done and granted this was most likely because of the fact that this show wouldn't have had a huge budget and therefor didn't have a huge effects budget but for an effects heavy show like this there really should have been more effort put into that effect to make it as good as it could have been even more so when you take into account the aliens we meet in this episode are meant to be the series main villains.
As was noted near the start of this review this episode does feature Peter Capaldi as The Doctor with this episode being the only time that he appears in this show. While it does make sense for him to appear in this episode as he is the main shows main character he doesn't really do all that much outside of show up near the end of the episode to explain his connection to Charlie and Mrs. Quill and to charge Quill and the teens with defending the school in his absence and that's really it but to be fair tho that's all he really needed to do as he's not the main character of this show and having The Doctor appear to help out Quill and the teens is a good way to tell fans who aren't that big into the Doctor Who lore that the two shows are indeed connected to each other and it would have been far to distracting if he was in more of the episode as it would make the episode feel like just another episode of Doctor Who and not be it's own unique thing which for better or for worse was something that Class was successful in doing but it was fun seeing Peter Capaldi's Doctor interacting with the no nonsense Mrs. Quill with there back and forth near the end of the episode being really entertaining to see as was it being revealed that he rescued both Charlie and Mrs. Quill when Corakinus and the rest of his species called the Shadow Kin attacked there home planet killing almost all of it's inhabitants with The Doctor showing up just in time to save Quill and Charlie which was a nice way to give them a connection to The Doctor with that being something that he would do with him being mostly in character this episode as he does act how to expect this version of The Doctor to act altho he does act a little to dumb for my taste in this episode which granted he is prone to doing but here it kind of felt like that the makers of this episode kind of went over board with it where it became more of a way to tear down this truly iconic character.
What wasn't expected and was to be honest quite distracting was the fact that they mentioned both The Vampire Diaries and Buffy The Vampire Slayer within two maybe three minuets of each other. Which was only done because of the fact that this shows creator and this episode writer Patrick Ness wrote young adult fiction books before writing this show and that's really it which is fair enough but Buffy wasn't on the air and hadn't been the air for close to ten years when this episode was being made so it really makes no sense for him to have a line where the characters mention the show by name and even say that Coal Hill School is like the Hellmouth for that show as realistically the odds of them even knowing about the show aren't the best whereas they would know about and possibly even watch The Vampire Diaries with the line where they both get referenced just screaming of someone who is trying to hard to capture the young adult fanbase whereas if he just told a good story and cut out those references which do date the episode pretty badly then he would have been able to get that same audience more naturally but in saying that tho given that he has written for the young adult audience in the past he was the best writer to lead this show as no one would that target audience better then someone who was written several books for them them and to his credit that line where both of those shows get referenced are the only kind of cringy lines in the whole episode as the episode does have some rather mature elements to it all of which do work really well and are things that could only work in this more mature show as in Doctor Who they would just feel out of place given the more child friendly nature of that show.
Speaking of the shows more mature nature this episode really does hit you over the head with just how mature that it could be. With a character straight up getting stabbed in the back by Corakinus with the episode not only showing her being stabbed but also showing Ram her boyfriend get covered in her blood before he then losses is his own leg in a fight with Corakinus these are things that Doctor Who would never be allowed to show as that show is kids show whereas the main target audience for this show is teen to adults and with that does come the freedom to get away with alot more things and heck even Quill , Charlie and later The Doctor talk about committing genocide on the Shadow Kin with Quill being all or it and Charlie and The Doctor being dead set against it where as in Doctor Who while they would have characters talk about committing genocide just look at The Doctor's speech in Genesis Of The Daleks as proof of that they were always few and far between with those kinds of discussions never lasting all that long and being forgotten about by the very next scene where as in this episode it is something that does come back into play alot of the time with it always being brought up by Quill which is something that dies make sense as those were her people that were killed of as well with her always feeling angry for what happened and of course when the chance for revenge does come in this episode she would of course be the one that's all for taking it. It could even be argued that Corakinus's plan is also pretty mature as well as while we don't really get to find why he wants this Cabinet Of Souls one can assume that it's because he doesn't want the rest of Charlie's and Quill's race to come back which is something that does make him a good villain with the thing that makes him a terrifying one being the fact that not only does he kill a character in cold blood but that both he and April now share a heart thus meaning that neither can be killed with out killing the other.
Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly fifty minuets and twenty three seconds. Which for this show is pretty much there bogstandard running time and to be fair to this episode it really does need that amount of running time in order to set up both the plot of the show itself , the episodes plot and all of the shows main characters as well with the episode having more then enough plot there to really cover that amount of running time in the first place but does let this episode down is the fact that this episode really doesn't use it's running time all that wisely as this episodes plot isn't as well developed as it really could have been with this being due to the fact that the episode does have so much to set up and it can't do that and still tell a good story when what the makers of this episode should have done is set up the main plot of the show in the next episode as that would free up room for the episode to further develop it's plot as it's no good in setting up the plot for the show when the plot of episode one isn't that well developed in the first place with this also kind of effecting the episodes character development but here it's also due to the fact that the episode does understandably have alot of references to Doctor Who which is something that does make sense for a first episode of a Doctor Who spin off but at the same time it does get in the way of us finding out things that develop the characters and make them more memorable then what they already are in the first place as the characters right now are decent but they do feel undercooked with us not really finding out all that much about them in this episode but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this a action show that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. While this episode doesn't have as much action as the typical Peter Capaldi episode of Doctor Who has what little action that this episode does has works really well with it being made clear as day that the makers of this episode are having a blast with coming up with creative ways for Corakinus to stalk and take out his prey with the episode feeling more like a high budget horror show then an action show alot of the time but yet when the episode does have some action then it is something that works really well in context of the episode with the best action scene in the whole entire episode being when Corakinus attacks the school during the episodes third act as that's when we get to see just how violent that he is with him killing of a character and brutally injuring Ram and yet even so the whole gang plus The Doctor do find a way to defeat as when April threatens to stab herself with a chair Tanya and The Doctor turn up all the lights in the school's gym and force him and his allies back into the void back to there own planet with it being Ram and that forces Corakinus back to his home world by hitting him with a chair with this being something that does show that an action can be made with a school setting and while it would have been nice if we got to see just how bad*s that Quill is instead of just being told it this episodes action does still work really well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall while we will have to wait and see if The War Between The Land And The Sea is any good or not what can be said is that this episode does prove that you really can make a more adult modern Doctor Who spin off and still have it be good time for all involved in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in his very episode in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally sued in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Amazon . Co . Uk Tardis . Wiki and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very review being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.