New TV show is a labour of love for former Marr College pupil.

A Troon man is producing a ground-breaking new BBC drama series.

Derek Ritchie, a former pupil of Marr College, is producer on Class, a spin-off from Doctor Who.

The series is set in Coal Hill Academy, who have to deal with the stresses of everyday life, including friends, parents, school work, sex, and sorrow – and invading aliens! The show has been created by popular young adult novelist Patrick Ness.

It’s currently available only online at BBC3, but will be given a broadcast on one of the main BBC channels.

Derek, who went on to study Film and Television and English Literature at Glasgow University, said: “Class follows a group of teenagers and their teacher, who have been given the responsibility of preventing strange things from coming through cracks in space and time, and invading our world.

“What’s different is that they’re students at Coal Hill Academy, and they have to deal with their lives as well as the crazy things that might break through. We follow their journeys.

“We have a very exciting, very emotional and rewarding drama. The audience will follow their journeys as they are put in terrifying and fantastical places.

“We’re unashamedly saying it has Buffy the Vampire Slayer as a reference point. The humour and the heartfelt storytelling of Buffy are at the heart of Class.”

Derek, who has worked on other TV shows including Taggart, Being Human, Wizards vs Aliens and Doctor Who – is responsible for ensuring everything runs smoothly between the various departments involved, financially and practically, including costume, make-up, scripts and effects.

He explained: “It was late last year when I met with (executive producer) Brian Minchin a few times to discuss the project and discuss the scripts. I met with Patrick in December, and after that I officially got the job.

“It’s really fantastic to be attached to brand-new show, where we’ve a chance to make a drama with its own look and style, as we’re starting completely afresh. It’s a really fantastic opportunity, and a privilege, to make something new in the Doctor Who universe that I love.

“It’s been a really fantastic year to get my teeth into.

“While we were shooting, in the second week, we already had people following us around, getting autographs and taking pictures.

“There was a Twitter feed about where we were filming, which was pretty amazing because they were doing this before we even had one episode in the can! We’ve got a fanbase already, who are calling themselves Classmates, which is great.

“Right from the start, in our earliest days, the fans were getting excited about the show and wanted to learn what it was about, to get a sense of what a new Doctor Who spin-off would be like.”

There’s a big change in the way TV is viewed in the 21st century, which BBC3 – now only available online – takes cognisance of.

Derek said: “BBC3 has an established demographic, and that’s who we’re making the show for. but we would never be reductive and exclude the rest of the viewing public.

“It’s going to appeal to a wide spread of the population, not just the ready-made fans. It’s out there to reach a new audience.

“The thing about BBC3 is that it’s a different kind of viewer. There’s people who are not always watching television, as they will steam shows online and watch through digital platforms. Hopefully, they will enjoy Class and take a look at other shows, such as Doctor Who.

“We’re really trying to reach a different audience in some respects, but I want the Doctor Who audience to enjoy it as well.”

Although Doctor Who is intended as family viewing, Class is aimed at a slightly older age group.

Derek explains: “Really, it’s aimed at the BBC3 demographic, which is people over the age of 15/16 and upwards. It’s a little more adult that Doctor Who, but it’s not a gratuitous show. There’s no gore, violence or violent scenes. We’re not going out to shock people.

“But we’re able to age things up a little bit and push the drama a little further. We can do shocking things to the characters but we’re not eviscerating every episode.”

Was Derek able to put anything into the series from his own time in Troon?

He laughed: “I don’t remember that many alien invasions at Marr College!

“With Coal Hill Academy, one of the tonal words we’ve used is ‘aspirational’ – we wanted to represent what the school experience is like for our audience these days.

“Schools on TV are so often defined as being dusty old 1970s comprehensive buildings, but these days, so many schools are modern, bright, incredible pieces of architecture with beautiful spaces – hence the Barbara Wright Building in the show.

“There’s an American feel to it, in a lot of respects, and Patrick was very keen on us having that. Patrick felt a lot of British people use the phrase ‘school was a bit rubbish’ when they were there, and it’s always something that’s down played. We want it to be more truthful to modern teenagers, who feel their schools are exciting buildings and put value in what happens to them.

“I can’t wait for the audience to see it and find out what people think of it . We really want people to engage with the stories that we’re telling and be excited by them.

“I watched the first cut of an episode and made no notes at all because I was so hooked by it, so I had to go back and start again.

“It’s a very nerve-wracking and exciting time!”

Here is a sneak peek at Class Episode 3: ‘Nightvisiting’ This episode will premiere on Saturday 29th October 2016 on BBC Three in the UK.

Jon Pertwee always fancied having his own blue plaque – preferably during his lifetime! – his daughter Dariel jokingly revealed yesterday. Well now, 20 years after his death, he finally does have one, thanks to the Doctor Who Appreciation Society. They’ve arranged for a plaque to go up permanently in his honour at the New Wimbledon Theatre.

It’s a fitting location. Over the decades Pertwee appeared in various productions at this south London theatre, including, famously, a successful Doctor Who stage show in 1989, for which he re-created the role of the third Doctor that he’d first played in the 70s.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the DWAS and they’re delighted to pay homage to the man who was the society’s first Honorary President, and who still commands a legion of fans two decades after he died in 1996, aged 76.

At a starry gathering on Sunday 23 October, Pertwee’s old friend Colin Baker (the sixth Doctor and the DWAS’s current Honorary President) was asked to MC the proceedings. He read out citations from actors who couldn’t attend such as Jim Dale and even Peter Capaldi, who called Pertwee “a hero for ever”.

Many of Jon Pertwee’s Doctor Who chums had time-travelled to be there: principally, Katy Manning who played his adorable companion Jo Grant; John Levene and Richard Franklin who played Unit soldiers Sgt Benton and Captain Mike Yates; 1970s lead writer/script editor Terrance Dicks; directors Timothy Combe, Michael Ferguson and Graeme Harper; as well as actors well known to Who fans – Peter Miles, Stephen Thorne, Bernard Holley, David Banks and Prentis Hancock.

Also in the building were Who aficionado and Dead Ringers star Jon Culshaw and many senior comedy greats: June Whitfield, Barry Cryer, Fenella Fielding, Lorraine Chase, Derek Griffiths and Pertwee’s co-star from The Navy Lark, Heather Chasen.

Barry Cryer recalled Jon Pertwee with great fondness, telling RT: “I wrote a flop he was in. A revue. We toured all over the place and then got a booking at the Duchess Theatre in London. I got crucified by the critics but Jon stayed loyal to me. He could have thought, ‘I’m out of here. It’s a flop.’ But no, he said, ‘I’m sticking with you, Baz.’ He was the only one of the original cast who stayed. Dear Pertwee stuck with me. You don’t forget loyalty like that.” Then Barry lifted a glass to his absent friend. “Cheers, Jon!”

Steve Dillon, the legendary British comic book artist, known for his work on Preacher, Punisher, and 2000AD’s Judge Dredd has died aged 54.

His brother Glyn confirmed the death on Twitter, saying his “big brother and hero” had died in New York City.

Dillon was a prolific artist who began professional work at age 16, drawing for Marvel UK’s Hulk magazine.

He was best known for his US collaborations with writer Garth Ennis, creating classic cult comic titles.

In his Twitter profile, Dillon, originally from Luton, describes himself as: “A comic book bloke. Co-creator/Artist of Preacher. Co-founder/Editor of Deadline magazine. Artist on Punisher, Judge Dredd and many others.”

He was born in Luton in Bedfordshire in 1962. When he was 16 he embarked on his first professional job, drawing the character Nick Fury for Hulk Weekly.

In the 1980s his career started to take off and he regularly contributed to Doctor Who Magazine, creating the character Abslom Daak.

More work followed and he was on the comic anthology Warrior from its inception in 1982.

He also drew for the British sci-fi and fantasy comic 2000AD, where he was perhaps best-known for his work as an artist on Judge Dredd.

US breakthrough

Dillon arrived in the United States in the late 1980s, where some of his most popular strips were created.

The Hollywood Reporter says it was at DC’s Vertigo imprint that he collaborated with author Garth Ennis, first on the critically acclaimed Hellblazer and then on Preacher.

Vertigo Comics paid tribute on Twitter, saying: “We lost a giant among creators and artists today. He will be missed by all of us here.”

The Preacher strip inspired the US television series of the same name. In a statement, TV company AMC said: “Steve Dillon was an enormously talented illustrator who, with Garth Ennis, created a cult classic comic we were so proud to bring to television.”

Dillon and Ennis then worked together on multiple series of the Punisher at Marvel, who have described the artist as “a great storyteller” on Twitter, and said they will remember his “incredible work”.

On his blog of British comics, Lew Stringer who describes himself as one of Dillon’s “legions of fans”, paid tribute, saying he had: “A natural talent for drawing pages that were easy on the eye and told the story superbly with a fantastic drawing ability.”

Black Mirror is currently terrifying viewers across the globe, and it seems Charlie Brooker could have been doing the same to a Saturday prime-time audience.

The writer has revealed that he was approached for Doctor Who by the BBC, which sounds utterly perfect given Black Mirror has seen him dabble in sci-fi previously, even if his take on Doctor Who would probably be seriously dark.

“I was approached for Doctor Who and I just didn’t have time. It was really annoying. I was really busy and they haven’t asked me again since. It was a bit like the Home Office asking you to do something,” Brooker told The Independent.

As for what’s next for Brooker after Black Mirror season four, which he’s currently writing, he’s keen to do more “goofy comedy stuff” like A Touch of Cloth and, most excitingly, potentially seasonal specials of Black Mirror like ‘White Christmas’.

“I wouldn’t mind doing a Halloween one. I’ve been thinking about that. One of the reasons we shot ‘Playtest’ up in the running order is because we knew Halloween was coming and we thought it was perfect for that,” he explained.

And he even found the time to tease the upcoming Screenwipe end of year special. “Even the fun stories have a horrible thing attached to them, so we’re working out what to do,” Brooker outlined. “That’s one of my next tasks. It’s always a f**king headache.”

Brooker recently revealed which Black Mirror episode he’d do differently and how the show has changed since its move from Channel 4 to Netflix.