Class - Ep4The new head teacher has some surprises up her sleeve as April receives an unwanted visitor…

Class doesn’t hang about – no sooner have we learned about April’s father than he appears, adding an extra complication to her life at the same time as her link with Corakinus is starting to cause real problems. It’s Sophie Hopkins’ turn in the spotlight as Patrick Ness throws a complex set of emotional traumas for April to deal with – her relationship with her mother is put to the test too – while coping with some very unusual mental and visual manifestations of her link to another dimension. Watch for some interesting parallels drawn in the latter part of the episode as the sci-fi elements and normal teenage problems intertwine.

While Ram is caught up with April, the rest of them have other issues to tackle, and it’s interesting to see Charlie not coping well with being challenged by people that should be (but clearly to him at times aren’t) his peers – particularly when one of them is his lover. The dynamic between Charlie and Matteusz, and Charlie and Quill is obviously going to develop quickly over this series. Speaking of Quill, it’s good to see her on the back foot…

Ness keeps a lot of plates spinning throughout this instalment, and there’s a lot to resolve in episode 5 – but there’s no doubt that you’ll want to know what comes next!

Verdict: Plenty of interesting developments – and some intriguing questions. 8/10

Paul Simpson